On Friday 27th June, Sneeky Fox will launch its first pop up shop for one week located in an area that the brand classes as its home, Digbeth, the creative quarter of Birmingham that has fuelled inspiration and direction for Sneeky Fox to date.

The shop will act as the launch for the new Sneeky Fox staple collection, a 12 piece range of wardrobe essentials all designed, cut and sewn with Digbeth street life in mind. Minimal branding and high quality materials play a key part in this collection.

On the launch night they will be offering 10% off throughout the event. Past collections will be available with up to 50% off the ‘Home & Away’ collection on the night, then a generous 30% for the rest of the week.

Alongside the apparel, there will be a host of well known Birmingham artists exhibiting their work, including G87″, Newso and Zoot, with a live showcase of street art on launch night.

To top it off, there will be free beer and doughnuts, along with The Record Store and friends providing the soundtrack for the evening.

Friday 27th June, 18.00 – 22.00, Boxxed.

www.sneakyfox.com + facebook event page

The University of Wolverhampton opened its doors last weekend to friends, family and the general public to celebrate the work of their students. This has been a tradition in their building since 1969 with over 8,000 students taking part to date. The degree show is on until Saturday 14th June.

The Birmingham Institute of Art and Design Graduate shows are also on until Saturday 14th June with dates and activities varying across location and subject areas, please check the website to find out more. With the main subject areas spanning art, visual communication, fashion & textiles, 3D design, architecture and jewellery – there is a lot to go and see.

Staffordshire University’s annual Art and Design show opens Friday 13th June and will be open to everyone until Saturday 21st June. The show is a celebration of a range of work across their Art & Design courses. To find out more about ‘Show & Tell’ please visit their website.

We hope that the graduate shows for University of Worcester and Coventry University went well and wish all the Art & Design students the best of luck! We look forward to seeing your work.

Get down to Digbeth this weekend for the sale and exhibition of thousands of vintage sneaks and fresh apparel brands all under one roof.

The Sneaks and Peaks event runs from 12pm – 7pm at Boxxed – an amazing venue at the heart of Birmingham’s creative quarter.

There will be street food from the best of Brum’s providers, an exclusive street art exhibit, and a roster of local DJs to set the tone.

As a special treat, Boxxed are hosting the final of the Birmingham series of Secret Walls. Check it out to see the best of Birmingham’s street artists go head to head for the crown.

Birmingham International Fashion Week lands at the Banqueting Suite in Victoria Square on Friday 28th February.

The inaugural 2013 event saw 12 runway shows showcasing international designers and labels. This year sees the launch of the Show and Sell Designer Showroom including accessory sales and exclusive installations.

As always, the CiB family are shouting about the best that Brum has to offer. Make sure to check out Christopher Michael Shellis‘ label The House of Borgezie.  Shellis has over 25 years’ experience in design and creating bespoke fine jewellery. His design philosophy revolves around rendering the beauty of the natural world into the form and texture of his work.

Tickets for Birmingham International Fashion Week can be found here.

The nine finalists are…

Frilly – Has invited the people of Birmingham to share with them secrets of the city, all of which have inspired 2D imagery used to fill a giant cat’s cradle.

Yu-Hsin Chen – The Adventures of Rice Boy is a fairytale for the public using cute and quirky illustrations.

Kate Bufton – Using old books from libraries around the city centre has created a display to try and make people aware of books in a totally different way.

TNT – The work is a series of 25 specifically mixed paints with colours sampled from the 1956 Hannah Barbara carton, Geewhizzzzz.

City Dressing – Owner and founder, Jeremy Rucker, works with temporary graphic and light installations and has created the ultimate virtual shop.

Glenn Anderson – Discarded objects from in and around the city have been transformed into a ‘found’ wooden character.

Stitchs & Hos – Showcasing the Birmingham market in the form of a knitted market stall.

Simon Doughty – A large scale cut out and scenic painted sculpture of Birmingham’s cityscape has been created.

Midlands Fashion Designer Awards – In the Great Western Arcade you can see designs from three winners from the Fashion Designer Awards; Alice Moore, Sarika Pancholi and Tamara Joseph.

Remember to check the map and find out where all the installations are. You can find out more about the project here.

Bread & Circus is a blog by two Birmingham based designers posting mainly about travel, design, fashion, music and food. Dotted amongst their travelling posts which include Budapest, Istanbul and Ibiza, you’ll find gems about Birmingham based happenings, such as the recent Eye Candy Festival in Southside, the third Birmingham Royal Ballet/Claire Hartley design and illustration collaboration Pointe Blank, and as we mentioned recently on CiB, new boutique menswear store ‘resource for the restless’ PROVIDE in Digbeth (pictured above.)

Midlands Fashion Designer Awards have their 5th annual fashion event on Friday 19th October at the Birmingham Botanical Gardens in Edgbaston. It showcases some of the most creative emerging fashion talent from across the Midlands, the UK, and for the first time, international designers. The botanical gardens are a beautiful location so I should imagine this will be a great event if you like fashion, Birmingham creatives and nice scenery, of which I like all three.

The boutique plans to give customers the opportunity to purchase unique lifestyle products and gifts that would not usually be available on the high street. As well as the opportunity to purchase, customers will also be offered live demonstrations from some of the designer makers to allow them to see how the products are made and giving them a hands on experience by being able to take something home they have made.

There are quite a few individuals featuring in the Boutique but here are a few of my favourites;

• Serendipity Candles, based in Sutton Coldfield, they make beautifully scented soya wax candles in the finest Vintage crockery and glassware.
• Daniel Jones, who trained at University College Birmingham, is an award winning Chocolatier! He will be doing a live demonstration on Saturday 13th October at 1pm.  This coincides with National Chocolate Week!
• Vintage-Lovelies, also based in Sutton Coldfield, ‘upcycle’ vintage furniture and home furnishings.
• Weave and Stitch who make one off creations made entirely from paper!

The boutique will be based in the Mailbox and will be open 7 days a week from 11am – 6pm. If you would like to find out more about the live demonstrations and courses running throughout October and November then please give Tracie Bedwood a call on 07972 176 024.

Visit them on their facebook page or follow them on twitter for live updates!

FAKE is a brand new independent publication launching this Summer.  We will be showcasing young creatives primarily in the field of fashion; but also including design, photography and illustration, along with many other interesting projects.  FAKE aim to promote local talent and independent businesses.

FAKE isn’t what fake is.

There’s lots of good stuff on their website which is well worth an explore.

And, since I first drafted this post, I’ve seen they’re having a launch event at 6/8 Kafé on Friday 27 May. Here’s the flyer for that:

Last Friday evening saw the launch party of Zellig‘s newest residents, LeKeux Events. The vintage, rockabilly inspired team put on an evening of treats, live music, dancing and discounted beauty services, transforming guests into glamorous vintage style pin ups.

With their new premises officially christened, they’ve announced a list of events, workshops and salon services taking place over the next few weeks, which include beginners hair tutorials, afternoon tea drop ins for mums and toddlers, 40’s dance classes and pin up photo shoots. Their in-store salon offers make-up, manicures and hair styling from a variety of inspiring eras.

Teaming up with the Boutique Baking Co. (very good cakes, I recommend) they’ll also be hosting tea parties and cake decorating classes, plus private hires for hen parties and such.

For a full list of what they’ve got to offer, take a look at their website and facebook page.

Photos from the launch are taken from their Facebook Page – I forgot to bring my camera to take my own.