Today I went along to the Liberty open call, an event where Liberty open their doors to all designers who would like to showcase their work in this prestigious London department store. Everyone has just three minutes to convince the panel to take them on so it was important to get my pitch right - Kathy Morris a specialist in this area gave me a helping hand before I went so I felt confident that they would understand what Holly Young Headwear was all about!

I had a long wait ahead of me so I made the most of it by meeting some other designers to seeing what everyone had to offer. The very first people I met were also from Cornwall (small world!)... Richard Vasey and his wife make bespoke yacht sculptures and Trophies, they currently have work in Harrods and have made trophies for the Olympic British sailing team! From Liverpool was Ilsa Parry, a 3D designer of innovative products, she is pictured below with a walking aid that helps the user to get up from a seated position, so clever!

Also in our queue from Belfast was Emma Majury of Longshot Press with her unique set of illustrated card designs.

After two hours of chatting and swapping stories we reached the inside of the building, little did I know there would be a further two! At least once inside it was warm! We then got divided into our specialist areas and I went to wait in the accessories area where I met Johanna Fleming a talented silk scarf designer from Scotland and Marie Hayden a hair accessories designer all the way from New York!

After a nail biting wait it was eventually my turn to see the panel.

I first showed them my photographs which were taken by both Andrea Pennington and Sarah Falugo. They absolutely loved them and especially liked the styling from Sarah Falugo Nordic/woodland shoot. They liked my vintage inspired bridal accessories and said that my strength was also in my sculptural fascinators. It was very friendly and informal and they gave me some really useful feedback. They said they were looking for something more crazy and Avant Garde but they thought my style would suit Fenwicks!

It was a great experience and would recommend it to any designer.

Next stop Fenwicks!