I had a strong image of how our first ever lookbook should look. I wanted it to be feminine, informal and timeless without looking twee or saccharine. I wanted it to be the right balance of masculine and feminine and for it to represent where our brand is from. I knew how I wanted it to look and knew that I had to find the right people to make that happen.

I knew that I wanted my beautiful sister to model for me and was over the moon when she agreed! Love & Squalor is so personal to me and I wanted the photoshoot to convey this. I wanted to choose people and places that were close to my heart so that the images had a sense of intimacy. I decided to shoot across two locations- in our shop in Glasgow and in the stairwell of my flat. Glasgow is famous for beautiful tiled stairwells (or closes as they’re known here) and mine is a prime example of this. With its rich, buttermilk yellow tiles and stained glass windows I knew it would be the perfect backdrop. I also liked the hardness of the concrete steps and cavernous proportions. I love that it shows where our company is coming from as Glasgow is such a vibrant city and is a constant source of inspiration. Our other location- the shop- was an obvious decision as it is the heart of everything we do. Its dark blue-grey walls are the perfect backdrop to show off our handmade garments.

The next choice to make was the photographer. My sister had worked with Emma McBride, an old school friend, on other shoots before. I’d seen her pictures and loved her style and attention to detail. I was so happy that she was up for coming on board and knew very quickly that I had made the right choice. She got what we were trying to achieve instantly and was a joy to work with. Even on freezing cold mornings in a stone stairwell, we all had so much fun creating the images which you can see throughout the website.

To see more of Emma’s work, have a look here: https://www.instagram.com/ehmaserahmicfoto/?hl=en

We always have fresh flowers in store and I knew that this was something to carry on into our lookbook. They’ve become a part of our image and I love the touch of romanticism they give to our clothing which can be almost utilitarian at times. The wildness of the displays against the hard stone steps sums up what we are all about- hard working, feminine and honest.

I hope you all enjoy these images as they really were a joy to make.

Rebecca