This Tuesday, GUM attended a highly anticipated fashion show organised by online fashion boutique the Pokey Hat to celebrate the arrival of the Jeffrey Campbell shoe collection into the Pokey Hat stores. The fashion show was in trendy new club FabrIQ on Queen Street. After being seated in front of the catwalk, I looked through my goody bag, which featured candy jewellery – my favourite kind. The show started with a bang, dancers with black lace dresses twirling and whirling on the catwalk so close you could touch them. Then came the models wearing Pokey Hat clothes; a collection of both vintage and modern clothing by Scottish fashion designers. The models were wearing Jeffrey Campbell shoes with its characteristic wavy shapes and studs. It was difficult to know where to look as both the clothes and shoes were stunning. Our favourite piece was a woollen hat with spikes which is a must have this winter, making you feel warm and look cool at the same time. Who said fashion can’t be practical?
There was also a raffle to win a pair of Jeffrey Campbell shoes, I bought a ticket but didn’t win. I almost ended up crying in the corner, but the fact that my feet were already bleeding from a pair of ordinary heels almost made me grateful I didn’t win.
After the show, GUM spoke with Pokey Hat owner Jennifer Welford. She felt that the fashion show was: “Amazing. Even better than it could have been, the clothes and the girls were amazing.” She wasn’t boasting, and we completely agreed. The show really was amazing. However what was it that made Jennifer start up the fashion show?
She explained: “The website has been up for year and a half. Jeffery Campbell has been the biggest thing that happened to us so why not celebrate it.” The Pokey Hat was set up by Jennifer on 6th of June 2011, born from humble beginnings as she began her venture with an Ebay store. Now she has even more plans for the growth of the business as they are currently adding more brands. When selecting these brands what Jennifer considers the most important is the “opportunity to work with young Scottish designers.”
For those of you who were wondering, Pokey Hat means ice cream cone in Scots, therefore it was surprising to find out that Jennifer does not like ice cream. So where did the name come from? Jennifer tells us: “My papa used to say, you want a wee pokey hat hen?”, but Jennifer didn’t know what it meant so as a fussy child she’d always refuse. But later on, she explains: “I wanted to pick a Scottish word for the name of the shop. When I found this one I closed the dictionary because I knew it was the right one. So the shop is called The Pokey Hat not because I like ice cream but because I like my papa.”So who is The Pokey Hat girl? Jennifer smiled at the question. “The Pokey Hat girl is a wee bit like me, a young girl who likes to have fun, likes to go out wearing something different and bold.” And as for the future, Jennifer says: “I want the website to be recognised, feature pioneering Scottish designers, stay local but take it to the rest of the world.” A noble goal Jennifer, we hope it works out. But considering the success of this fashion show we’ve got a feeling it will.
Visit: http://www.thepokeyhat.com/
Words: Olivia Vitzakova
