I recently believe I flirted with a flamingo through my lens…

…It went from a ‘I know you’re watching me and you like what you see, Gizelle’

…to ‘O Stop it! You’re making me blush…’

Suddenly… ‘to hell with the brain, I lead with my heart, let’s flirt!!!’

Me and that Flamingo got it ON.

Flamingos symbolize beauty, balance, and grace. Their femininity and innocence make their flirting bold. I’m captivated by the idea of this and it makes me feel powerful. Body Language and how we choose to portray ourselves to the world is so exciting to watch.

I wanted to extend this idea to my ladies’ pink leather gloves.

When designing my gloves, I envisage what I’m trying to empower my customer to feel. Below I describe three gloves that will take you through the emotions of the flamingo described above. And don’t forget, that flamingo is the same flamingo throughout. We all have a serious side, a side that makes us feel shy and then a side where we lose ourselves in the moment. That’s what I love about emotions, they make us feel raw.

The Demure; Beatrisa Ladie’s Pink Leather Gloves.

These pink leather gloves are lined to allow for warmth and comfort whilst the front U-shaped vent at the wrist allows the glove to bend in line with the wrist for free, unrestrictive movement. Perfect for someone who wants comfort and luxury as a collective. A classic ladies’ leather glove with a relaxed, subtle embellishment for the laid back approach.

The Shy; Philomena Ladies Pink leather Gloves

These ladie’s pink leather gloves flirt with the idea that creativity can be subtle yet visual because whilst you move your fingers you catch glimpses of the fun fabric. This handmade glove is perfect for someone who enjoys a classic glove with a bit of an shy edge. You can shop this glove exclusive with Elliot Rhodes Stores.

The Flirt; Izumi Long Red Gloves with Pink Buttons (please email to order, coming soon)

Red Long Leather Gloves to the elbow. Embellished with six velvet buttons and lined for ultra-comfort when getting on and off. The depth and length is incredibly sexy and the buttons hint a little bit of fun. Wear these with a black dress and all heads will be turning.

For me, style is about feeling empowered in whatever it is you put on today. So however you feel, I want to create accessories where everyone can feel they have a right to feel confident and energised through fashion.

Truly Raw,
Gizelle Renee

Okay, so that’s a little play on words to say the least. However, if I helped to get the blood pumping on this frosty day then I have done at least half my job here. The second part, is to seriously tell you about Elliot and I!Elliot stands for Elliot Rhodes and ‘belt me up’ stands for the extraordinary belts they create. All handmade and all with a precision and dedication to be nothing but the best belt makers around; which they are. The last piece of the jigsaw I refer to in my title is ‘hold me tight’ which are my gloves. And yes, they hold you real tight. Have you worked it out yet?! Elliot Rhodes and I have just completed an epic collaboration and they are in all three stores now. I do the same in relationships, I must have all three or I will get disengaged because I’m driven by my heart; rather than my head. Not always the wisest, but I wouldn’t change it for the world. As soon as I met Justin Rhodes; I knew there was a connection. Justin’s love for well made, luxury accessories speaks volumes. He cares about everything he does and he cares about doing it right. I’ve never been into a shop and felt so much warmth between the employees, genuinely like family. And it’s filtered down because of Justin.

Yes, I really did name my child after a pair of curtains. Why not. My second munchkin earned a WHOLE number in his age on Sunday. He turned 1. On both my son’s 1st birthdays I spent the majority of the day feeling distraught that I could no longer use the words ‘he is X months old’. One is a hallmark, and it’s incredible how much I still remember about the pregnancy and carrying Sebastian. I loved every single moment. So on that note…I’m going to tell you how I came up with the name ‘Sebastian’. I’m aware that for those that already know me, you think I’m slightly nuts anyway; and this only concludes your thoughts. I warn you. Upon finding out I was pregnant with our second little boy (soon to be Sebastian) we decided to make the move from a flat to a house so that we could have more room. Elijah, my eldest who is now 4 years old was super excited about this.
I was just as excited about the idea of designing the house as I was about being pregnant in all honesty.
I wanted to design all the curtains in the house and to make these a key feature in our rooms. Upon designing Eli’s bedroom I decided to applique his name into them. Why not have a pair of curtains named after you? People have stars named after them all the time?!
So I had ‘Eli’ appliqued into the curtains and used these colours as the palette for his room.

2017 is here and a happy New Year to you!

I’m super excited about what this year will bring as the company takes on a slightly more risky version of itself…one that I hope you enjoy! Just a LITTLE more colour and creativity….or maybe a tad bit more than ‘just a little’!

I wrote a blog towards the end of last year explaining that each year we will have a tag line that is unique to us; and we will translate that tagline through all that we do. This year the tagline is ‘Be You. Be Raw.’ And it will be seen on the back of all our labels like so:

The idea came about after an interview I did on the brand. I was asked, ‘What gives you inspiration’ and when I thought about what truly gave me that deep rooted inspiration that keeps you up at night and feeds that fire in your belly that creatives desire; it’s like a drug to the system; its essential in my life as I’m lost without it.

That buzz is rawness and that rawness comes from you. Anything and anyone that is truly raw. Being raw is an interesting concept I am excited to explore this year. It’s about being comfortable in your own skin, being proud of who you are and what you are. Striping back the job, materials, business of life and being honest with ourselves. When we do this, we can truly understand what our ‘rawness’ is made up of.

I have tried to translate this into my Autumn/Winter 2017 Capsule Collection this year by introducing the concept of animal masks. Within each of us is an animal we identify with. You probably already know yours. My Zodiac sign says I’m a Sea Star (you can find out yours here: http://www.primalastrology.com/animal-spirit-chart.html) and I agree and disagree with that for a number of reasons. But if I had to choose an animal I relate to, I would choose a Meerkat. Mainly because I’m told I look a little like one (?!) and I am constantly running around, looking from side to side and family values means everything to me. I am very social like the Meerkat and enjoy playing but I’m on guard if needed. I’m happy with being a Meerkat these days.