#FindOutFriday with LEXIE SPORT FOUNDER & DESIGNER, LILY RICE!

Last November's StartUp Fashion event introduced Yours Truly to some seriously amazing new talents and contacts that I'm still enjoying getting to know. One in particular stood out for many a reason and I could barely wait for her to finish speaking publicly before I pounced, business card in hand.

Miss Lily Rice is the Head Designer and CEO of Lexie Sport - a Womenswear Design company with a real difference - not just the tagline kind. Creating functional, yet flattering gym clothes that obliterate the lines between practical and Sexy; this is a woman who literally took fashion off the bench for comfortable exercise attire and made it the star player of the team. I really couldn't control that themed pun. It took on a life of it's own.

Methinks that's my cue to introduce you to Lily...

Welcome Lily, to the #FindOutFriday hotseat! I've been looking forward to talking to you since we met in November!

1. To kick things off, I’d love you to introduce yourself and the 'Lexie' Sport brand to my readers:

Lexie Sport CEO, Lily Rice and
BBC3's 'Be Your Own Boss' Host, Richard Reed

Thanks! I'm Lily Rice, I'm 25 and the founder and designer of 'Lexie', a trend led women's sportswear brand. 'Lexie' was born in the summer of sport 2012 and focuses on bringing fashion to the sports arena.

2. Now with every start up label I've ever come across (including Yours Truly), the need for the product stemmed from one specific moment or event. Can you take us back to the turning point when you came up with the ‘Lexie Sport’ brand – what inspired the idea?

The Lauren Tee, Veronica Short
and Gloria Hoodie

I think 'Lexie' has really evolved as an idea from never being able to find the kind of sportwear I wanted to wear; moments of being really frustrated or disappointed that the kit on offer is boring, unflattering and defiantly not fashionable.

'Lexie' as a brand was something I started working on lightly just after I graduated; building a business plan and then of course it really accelerated with 'Be Your Own Boss'!

3. What about the inspiration for the name – where did ‘Lexie’ come from?

I've always loved strong female names, 'Lexie' is the shortened version of Alexandria, which in turn is the female of Alexander. If you Google the meaning it comes up as ‘Defender of Mankind’ which is pretty cool!

4. I'm honoured to have a Central Saint Martins Alum grace the blog this week. Your designs are far from typical; what did you study there and combined with your former role at Umbro, how have you applied your training and practical experience to the ‘Lexie’ brand?

Thanks! I studied for my foundation there, which gave me a great base (no pun intended) for my education and really opened my eyes in terms of creativity. I received a distinction from CSM and then went on to Falmouth University to study Performance Sportswear Design, which is the only course of its kind in the UK.

Umbro gave me a much better knowledge of the market and how a business and brand really works, a lot goes on behind the scenes!

You presented to representatives from some of the UK's biggest High Street chains, during the 'Meet The Buyers' panel at November's event. One of the things that struck me most, was how meticulously prepared you were! I got the same e-invitation only a few days prior, so know exactly how little lead time you had! I'm going to guess that either some of your presentation materials are pre-prepared or, you've got a great team in place at 'Lexie' HQ, who club together when the pressure's on?

5. How many people are involved in your set-up and how did you go about assembling your support base?

Ha! Erm, well there’s me and erm….Me? I'm pretty much the team, but I have a really supportive group of friends and family who have helped out in different ways; for example I have a great graphic designer (Aron Jones), who designed the logo and helps out with lookbooks and my friend Francesca Milano shot the photos. Special mention also has to go to my fiancé who really digs in (despite being a paramedic student, not a designer!) and listens to my pitches etc. He knows more about a fashion brand than any future husband should!

I know during the show, Richard was fairly worried that I was a 'one-woman-band' but I think it has it’s upsides; I'm able to go with what I believe and make decisions quickly. It also means I can execute an idea how I envisioned it. That said, if it’s the route you're going down, make sure you surround yourself with epically, brilliant people!

6. Your first collection was featured on BBC3’s 'Be Your Own Boss'; how has the experience affected the ‘Lexie’ brand?

'Be Your Own Boss' was pretty crazy, a TV show was never something I was aiming for! It was a great experience though and gave the brand some credibility. Obviously I also got investment and Richard from it, which has been amazing!

Lily with BBC3's 'Be Your Own Boss' Host and 'Lexie' Sport Investor, Richard Reed

The downside to TV, or any exposure, is that you’re basically inviting people in to comment, both on your brand and yourself, which can be tough. The beginning of a brand or business is when you really want to take on advice and suggestions and it can be hard to filter through and stay true to what you want and where you want to take the brand.

7. In terms of colour range, the aesthetics of your collection is actually quite simplistic, but you managed to find a way to make your designs visually appealing and sexy. Can you talk about your Art Deco influences, as well as any others that inspire you?

The 'Audrey' Crew and 'Grace' Leggings

The birth of Women’s sportswear was really around the art deco period and a lot was starting to change for women in that era. I'm a big Downton Abbey fan and a huge part of that show is how the female characters change from the 1900s through to the 20s and how their wardrobes change with that. It’s a great illustration of how women were progressing.

I try to interpret that style through shape and colour, reworking it for performance. The female shape is very inspirational and I work very hard on fit and comfort. There’s no need to make things baby pink for women!

8. Judging by your response from the panel, the celebrity following and media coverage you've received so far; your idea seems to be a hit with whoever it comes into contact with! Can you talk about some of the projects you've worked on so far and what’s going on at the moment?

'Lexie' Sport kicked off 2013 with a mention in the highest
echelon of the fashion hierarchy...

I think 'Lexie' is so popular because there is a huge gap in the market and it’s a rapidly growing market. Obviously we were featured on 'Be Your Own Boss', but we are also going to be on Cherry Healey's new BBC3 show - she’s a big fan. Jacqueline Gold (of Ann Summers) also awarded us her WOW award in December and we were in the Vogue January issue!

The 'Mae' Vest

We have a few trendsetting celebs who will be wearing ('Lexie') in the coming months (we never pay celebrities) so that’s really exciting to see!

9. Your audience are buying into more than the look though - what’s the core message behind the brand that you’re building and how have you gone about it?

'Lexie' is a strong, female brand. No 'shrink it, pink it' (Bleurgh!). It’s important that we have strong female role models wearing the clothes and we’re not into slimming vids and fad diets! We're building this message through our designs, imagery and language. We will also be carefully selecting retailers to make sure the end-wearer gets the gear in the way we want!

10. You've put a heck of a lot of work in and it seems like it’s paying off. What can we expect from ‘The Icon Collection’, when will it be released and what does 2013 have in store for 'Lexie' and Lily?

'Lexie' is really going to grow in 2013, in fact we're calling it the 'Year of Lexie'!

We're looking forward to a new range, more stockists and some brilliant designs.

We've had lots of great suggestions from our fans so we will be implementing some of those and just generally moving forward.

Look out for 'Lexie'!

______________________________________

Thank you Lily! 'Look out' we will! I don't know about you Dear Readers (I would really like to though - share in the box below), but I loved learning more about the 'Lexie' brand and Lily's personality, especially! Did you relate to her as much as I did? Tell us both about it!

I've connected with Lily and the Lexie Sport Social Media catalogue, now it's your turn:

Lexie Sport Online:

Twitter / Facebook / Website

As an extra special thank you for reading, I'm sharing a little something special from my new gig as MyFlashTrash Brand Ambassador...

Click to bag yourself 15% OFF some MFT Goodies!

Happy 'Lover's Day' shopping and I'll see you soon!

ES ;)

Watch Your Mouth...Post Smart!

Good Evening Lovely People!

I felt the need to drop a little something different, inspired by events that have really bothered me in recent times.

There seems to be a very happy, casual throwaway attitude to comments, attitudes and offensive material placed online of late. 

Paul Chambers recently had what I considered to be a more than fair verdict overturned for recklessly tweeting about blowing up Sheffield airport in a 'moment of irritation'. A deluge of racist tweets have been the focus of speculation in the football world for quite some time, but in particular, since former Bolton Wanderer's Fabrice Muamba's frightening on-pitch heart attack and the on-pitch dispute between Chelsea FC's John Terry and Queen's Park Ranger's Anton Ferdinand; that resulted in a Crown Court trial as well as a still ongoing Independent Review by the Football Association. 

Olympic Bronze medallist Tom Daley received a shockingly hateful tweet about his Father, recently deceased during the recent games. Just last night, I personally saw a highly offensive video, where a young man was rude to an elderly woman and now there is a story dominating today's news about the Police being too heavy-handed in their sentencing for Twitter and online trolling.

What strikes and worries me the most about every single one of these cases, is not just the apathy surrounding the serious nature of what we're seeing online at the moment, but more the outright support of rudeness, negativity and in some cases, the blatant hostility.

Personally, I fail to see how Paul Chambers was unfairly treated, as was the claim by so many since his case came to light. Supposedly his tweet was an 'angry joke' and he is entitled to his Freedom of Speech. That's fine; but perhaps the decision to overturn his fine should have considered whether any of the families or survivors of 9/11 got the punchline?

When it comes to football, there could not be a more disinterested person on the planet Earth, than I. Being a devoted Aunty to several footballing nephews, aged from a spirited toddler to a 19-year-old semi-professional player, however; rampant racism across social media that my 8-year-old nephew can access from school is an issue I consider, quite serious.

It's only a few weeks since British Diver Tom Daley received an outrageous tweet from a 17-year-old who cannot be named due to being underage. I suppose you could chalk that one down to age, but I would love to know if his Father is proud?

Last night I caught a video that I will not post here, because I refuse to add support by directing web traffic to it. A young man had his friend film, as he spoke quite rudely to an elderly Jehovah's Witness through his intercom. As the daughter of a Witness, I'm by no means saying that what occurred was the most offensive act I have ever encountered - far from it. However rather than simply saying "I'm not interested, Thank You. Please have your Organisation remove my address from your Ministry list", his response was to try to 'outsmart' her with Scripture (he failed); before resorting to verbally bullying her with more Scripture and determined ignorance from behind what I can only describe as a 'Back 2 Africa' stance (which still did not support his ill-thought out argument and showcased his lack of knowledge on the subjects that He raised).

I'm from a very traditional background, so manners toward anyone, especially one's elders, is automatic. Although I was disturbed by the discourse that occurred; the fact that the action was taken towards a Jehovah's Witness is not the worst infraction here; I would view the behaviour in the same light, no matter the faith involved. It was the blatant disrespect by a young person of their elder, that disgusted me.

As someone heavily involved in online content on a daily basis, many of the things that I see offend me but, for the most part I have  trained my eyes to go blind to it because trolling and online abuse are fast becoming the accepted norm, for one thing. For another, if I stopped to engage every offence, I would get nothing else done! At the same time, I'm quite mindful and concerned that by keeping silent on so much of what I'm seeing, I am, albeit unwittingly, contributing to it.

For reasons I fail to understand, it is perfectly acceptable to agree with online trolling and abuse, support it and repost it; but if you speak against it, then YOU become the one in the wrong. The Police are currently under fire for acting against the above offences  (barring the video) when shamefully, the UK is in fact, one of the most lenient Countries in the world when it comes to these cases.

Yes, everyone is entitled to their own opinions, but there is also a little something called Social Responsibility that is far too overlooked in this day and age. We are all responsible for the  messages and content that we post online. Not only do we need to think about who we're influencing with our content, but we also need to recognise, that the same way that some are free to share things of a questionable nature; those still insight of their moral compass are free to speak against them.

Richard Bacon's 'The Anti-Social Network', first aired on BBC3 earlier this year, perfectly sums up the growing problem of what's happening today. Unfortunately, the episode is no longer available from the BBC, but catch it on an independent YouTube here:

Catch you next time, folks.
ES ;o)