Dot to Dot London is a friendly environment for small independents to exhibit and buyers and press to visit. This edition visitors are reported to be up by 35% with a large increase in international buyers from Germany, Sweden, Korea, and Saudi Arabia to name a few.

The Vinyl factory in Soho with its brick walls serves as a fitting backdrop to the exhibiting brands. If you are a young creative UK brand entering the children’s market this is the show for you. Both founders Nicole and Carly really do their upmost to champion their exhibitors.

Collections ranged from home interiors, clothing, baby products to books representing a truly diverse spectrum of products. There was lots of colour, and plenty of embroidery and fringing in evidence. The space was divided into two rooms with display tables and rails. At the end of each rail waited an enthusiastic designer poised and all too ready to talk through their collection.

The show left us encouraged by the talent coming out of the UK, with many labels having found family run British manufacturers to produce their items. In fact in some cases pieces were designed around manufacturing capabilities, smart.

Some of our favourite picks:

RaspberryPlum

AW17 is an incredibly strong collection from RaspberryPlum founder and designer Alekzandra. Warm rich colours, beautiful quality and brilliant detailing. More on the Aw17 Raspberryplum collection to come later on Pirouette  …Dot to Dot-43 copy

 Little Fox

If you haven’t seen this fringing jacket pop up yet on your instagram feed I’m sure you will soon. The lovely ladies from Little Fox are set to have a good year. It’s fun, bold and crazy in equal measures but it really works. Each collection brings something completely new, we can’t wait to see SS18. Fun collection, and a very cool lady.

OTTI

This collection is the first collection for designer Lotte Goodwin, based on fuss free functional clothing for children. The collection is made from strong cotton denim to make each piece durable, robust and long lasting. Interestingly Lotte’s photographer for the lookbook was her boss whilst the models were her charges as a nanny. The clean styling and fuss free shapes stood out – less is more vibe.

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Sas and Yosh

Creatives, Sarah and Yoshie work together on all their designs, using a mixture of hand drawn illustration and digital processes. Their collection is a lovely mixture of illustrated and designed lifestyle products. Their wallpaper at the show really caught our attention, designed for cool kids, adults and gorgeous homes.

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Honey and Toast

Emma’s leather bags are super quality, the new monochrome and nude version is lovely. The good news is there is an adult size version in the pipe line. Yes, please.

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Lulu and Nat 

 Lulu & Nat started ten years ago when designer Lulu and her husband set out on a life-changing adventure by moving to India. On their travels they met a block printer and embroidered called Sabiha, her support and guidance led to their first small production run of products. Today, Lulu and Nat is a homeware store with a thoughtfully designed collection for the whole family. Using traditional techniques with skilful craftspeople across India.

Apolina

After working in the fashion industry for 10 years, Caroline became disillusioned with the fast fashion cycle, with the birth of her daughters she was keen to create something responsible and meaningful. The collection is heavily embroidered and seasonless. Caroline’s aim is to create minimum waste and to help remove the idea of disposability in fashion. The new collection launches 15th of Feb.

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Pirouette One to Watch Winners Dot to Dot

Children’s Design
Owl and Dog Playbooks

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 Fashion & Accessories
Mini Stiches 

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More to follow about our #Pirouette12watch winners at Dot to Dot London …..

Feature picture, left Hannah & Tiff, right Wild Hearts Wonder 

Trade show photography for Pirouette blog, Fiona Murray