Fabulous Fittie Fashion Fest brings a summer splash of colour
Over the past few weeks, we’ve seen loads of colourful social media posts about the upcoming Fabulous Fittie Fashion Fest. So, intrigued, we got in touch with organiser Laura Mears-Reynolds. It's great to see new events happening in the city. We wanted to find out what she had planned, and a little about her background too.
The event is a unique festival-themed shopping experience in Fittie Community Hall. The newly renovated hall located near Pocra Quay and New Pier Road. It takes place on Saturday 20 August.
What can people expect as they arrive at Fabulous Fittie Fashion Fest?
On arrival, you will see that the Open Road team and I have gone to town decorating the beautiful, newly renovated Fittie Community Hall with festival and Ibiza vibes. You can expect bright colours, disco balls and a sequin wall supplied by Lombardi Events to compliment the stalls of our Aberdeen Creatives.
We are showcasing my own work, HATHOR, Wardrobe Foxes Vintage, Prolong and Aubin. And to top it all we have the incredible Rhiannon giving tarot readings. All this to the backdrop of classic house and disco beats from local DJ Angela Michael. We're a local creative girl gang joining forces to champion local creatives, raise awareness about ADHD, and boycott fast fashion!
What inspired you to host this carnival of couture?
I’d been trading at festivals such as The Secret Garden Party and events in Ibiza for a decade when the pandemic hit. Lockdown ruined everyone’s plans and completely halted every aspect of my industry. I plummeted into a mental health crisis. This resulted in discovering I’d been battling through life, like so many women, with undiagnosed ADHD. Post diagnosis and treatment, I felt stronger just as the world reopened.
Having been amazed by Zandra Rhodes’ exhibition at Aberdeen Art Gallery, I serendipitously bumped into her on my Fittie doorstep and felt inspired to carry on Zandra’s Aberdeen fashion mission.
Why did you choose Fittie Community Hall as your venue?
What better place than the colourful and creative village of my chance meeting with the iconic Dame Zandra Rhodes? She loved Fittie so much!
You chose to raise funds for ADHD Adult UK after your diagnosis. How have they helped you and other adults who have been diagnosed with ADHD?
Dr James Brown and Dr Alex Conner have greatly supported my late ADHD diagnosis journey. Having both been through the same, they offer information about the disability and diagnosis online:
https://www.adhdadult.uk - via their peer support group for adults with ADHD and invaluable knowledge via their podcast: The ADHD Adults Podcast; which was the inspiration for the one I created with my neighbour Dawn Farmer.
Your podcast has gathered a bit of a following of its own. Tell us all about it and where people can find it.
Dawn and I moved to the same street, at the same time, at the same age, with the same undiagnosed disability, what are the chances?! After the shocking discovery that we had both been battling through life with brain disorders, we were further horrified to discover just how common an occurrence this is! Many women go mis or undiagnosed, and if missed in childhood the average age for a woman is 36-38!
We decided to use our voices to raise awareness, break the stigma and share our personal experiences in the hope that they help others… and we’ve achieved exactly that. Daily we receive messages from listeners all over the world on our Instagram telling us we’ve helped those in desperate need seek diagnosis, treatment, help in the workplace, at university and to feel validated and less alone.
Unbelievably in just three months since launch, we’ve hit 30K downloads and #31 in Spotify’s Top 50 Podcast Chart for Society & Culture GB and #28 in Australia! We can’t believe it!
Do you have plans to hold more events in the future?
I hope that visitors love mine and Open Road’s efforts to create this unique shopping experience, enabling us to put on more events in the future, so fingers crossed!
Remind us when and where Fabulous Fittie Fashion Fest takes place.
Fittie Community Hall on New Pier Road (NOT to be confused with the Mission Hall in the Squares!) Saturday 20th August 11 am-3 pm. It’s a FREE entry event, though we would love any donations to ADHDadultUK on the day. We are unable to take cash payments, so please remember your bank card.
We have upcycled hedonistic headwear and festival accessories, vintage clothing, one-off bags handmade from trash, and jewellery made from sea glass and discarded objects found on Aberdeen Beach.
On top of that, you don’t want to miss the raffle! Each creative has donated an item and local businesses have also donated; including a £50 voucher for The Silver Darling Restaurant! It’s a seriously fabulous raffle with all proceeds donated to ADHDadultUK and The Fittie Community Development Trust.
And where can people keep in touch with you on social media?
Follow us on Instagram and join the event page on Facebook.
Big Up the Doric | Aberdeen creatives' Christmas collab
Aberdeen creative businesses Big Up the Deen and Doric Skateboards are working together to form 'Big Up the Doric' a new collaboration which will pay tribute to those who have inspired and supported them.
Ica Headlam and Gary Kemp first met in 2018. They had known each other online for some time, but met in person for the first time when Ica invited the Doric Skateboards founder to be the first guest on his now highly respected Creative Me Podcast.
Both were regular faces exhibiting at North East pop-up events. Gary as Doric Skateboards and Ica as his clothing range, Big Up the Deen. They soon became good friends. While both had collaborated with a number of local artists, it wasn't until 2020 that they decided to work together on this new joint project.
In December of that year, arts organisation Look Again invited both to use the window of their exhibition space in St Andrews Street to display goods for sale over Christmas. While they set up, they started making plans as to what they would do if they had full use of the space. They used it as a springboard for a big collaboration event.
What is Big Up the Deen about?
Their hard work together will finally come to fruition on 9 December. They will open doors to the public in the St Andrews Street pop-up shop for a four day Big Up the Doric weekend extravaganza where they will launch their highly anticipated new skateboard.
So what is the collaboration about? Ica and Gary will celebrate everyone that has supported and inspired them over the past few years. The people who do things in Aberdeen that have made a big difference to them. People that brighten their streets, their minds and their social media feeds. They want to pay homage to those that challenge and stimulate them.
It's also about their relationship with the press. It's easy to criticise local media for being doom merchants. However, whenever they write something positive, we still manage to criticise them for that too. Nothing is ever perfect…but Gary and Ica see those that are making the effort to make this a better place for us all.
Big Up the Doric aims to throw a light on local institutions, from charities and organisations to retailers, crafters, printers, artists and writers. They'll do this in the hope that visitors will find someone they weren't previously aware of. It's an acknowledgement by two people that they are proud of their home city, and they want you to jump on board too.
Details
Where: Look Again Project Space, 32 St Andrew Street, Aberdeen AB25 1JA
Thursday 9 Dec 6-8pm | Big Up the Doric Launch Night with reveal of collab board. Then the Pop Up Continues:
Friday 10 Dec 10am-6pm
Saturday 11 Dec 10am-6pm
Sunday 12 Dec 11am-5pm
Selling the full range including Skate Decks, Tees, Prints and Tote Bags. Both will have their full range of 'Doric Skateboards' and 'Big Up the Deen' merchandise on sale.
Find out more on the Big Up the Doric event page.
