Welcome to Beyond Fashion!
Ajena a la Moda
Calle Arfe Nº 11
41001 Sevilla, España
11.00 - 2.00 and 5.00 - 8.00, Monday - Saturday
or at your convenience through this website
(I do quite like Google Translate's suggestion of 'Oblivious to Fashion', but think it would probably be off-putting for most fashionistas... Comments?)
Before we start - a warning!
I'm actually writing this introduction personally for my English-speaking viewers, but the other pages with text on them have buttons for Google Translate at the bottom of the pages - which functions with rather mixed success. Very basic information (fabric, buttons, pockets, price estimates) does get across, but there is a lot of mistranslation, ranging from hilarious (especially if you do know a bit of Spanish) to downright confounding. So if you do get confused, please get in touch and I'll be more than happy to explain. For the record, there are no cross-dressers in the photos; Google Translate just doesn't know whether 'su' should be 'her', 'his', 'their', or 'your'. I will eventually translate the other pages, although I'd much rather be making clothes...
I'm English but grew up in the U.S., spent 21 years in Berlin in Germany and came to Sevilla 5 years ago. I studied fashion design, but found I really didn't like the industry. I was part of a collective 'boutique' in Berlin for a while, but the wall came down and the rent sky-rocketed... I do a lot of theatre design and make dresses and skirts for myself, friends, and friends of friends. Now, with this web site and shop, I want to see whether there are other women, girls and ladies who would be interested in having clothes especially designed and made for them by me.
Why BEYOND fashion?
Because I create clothes which are timeless, which you can wear until 2025, or until they're quite literally falling apart from wear. For this reason, I've included the year I made the piece next to the photo, to demonstrate that when a piece suits you, it suits you - regardless of its age. Being 'chic' isn't a question of copying the latest novelties from Paris or being as uncomfortable as possible - it's a question of style: yours.
What type are you? Opera buff or pub crawler? Army boots or stilletos? Or both? 25 or 55 years old - or between? Too thin or as curvey as a Ruebens? Have a look at the photo pages - all the women are normal people, not professional models - and let me know what you think - perhaps you'd even like to have your very own piece designed and made to order - just for you.
The prices listed are guides - many of the pieces shown already belong to people. The price of your piece is made up of the cost of the materials (fabrics, buttons, etc.) and cutting/sewing time (€15'- per hour). For now, I am not charging for consultation, drawing or shopping time (but that could change). The price of your fabric greatly affects the price of your piece, but I'm quite happy to use fabric that you already have - as long as you realize that not every fabric works with every style. If you would like to order something over the web site and have me send it to you in the post, that's absolutely possible, but not styles which are very closely fitted - unless you can pop down here to Sevilla for a fitting? And finally, Spanish postage is outragous - it cost €25'- to send 2 winter skirts to Luxembourg. If you know of any alternatives, let me know.
