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00 33 683022517 My Name is Gill Connon and I am originally from Edinburgh, Scotland, and am now living in small village called Hendaye in Southern France. I have always had an interest in hats and clothing an interest in making my own clothes and recycling vintage pieces that belonged to my great aunts and other things I picked up from here an
d there and since 1990 I have been working making creations for various different places and people. My use of fine silks and and other natural materials being new or recycled vintage from pieces I have been collecting over the years is a passion every piece is handmade and unique to itself. I studied fashion in Glasgow and then moved back to Edinburgh before heading off with my sewing machine to look work in Madrid in 1988, I stayed and starting working with Liz Hurley, we began making hats in the early 90's which since then has grown. I moved to the North of Spain in 1992 and began to work with various small shops, one of them being Marigori with whom I continue to work with . In 1992 I moved to New York and worked with the Costume makers Penn and Fletcher, making a few pieces for off Broadway shows and working on projects such as the Ringling Brothers circus costumes, I also did a couple of shows in Donostia in Artisau 1993 showing with other artists and artisans then with an artisan group Lur during the Christmas fair of 1993. In 1994 I started in Vera Wang Bridal atelier and although working in the finishing and pressing of the dresses and veils I worked with the Brazilian veil maker and head dress designer and had a great 2 year experience. In 1996 I began work with Olatz, a Fine linen designer also in New York City there I stayed for the next 9 years working with embroidery investigation, cutting and sewing the linen, sourcing materials and then working in the Clarkson Street, Her New York Shop all of which was an absolute pleasure. It is incredible the artisans that you can still find in New York City, there are surprises where ever you go, from an old family business that makes all and I mean all sizes of piping to a little old workshop with a little 80 yr old lady working away at quilting ... by hand! So a story or two to tell i suppose I have of a wonderful trips through the streets and Ateliers of NYC and Madrid . I moved back to the Basque country in 2005 and since then have been dedicating my time to my design which I hope you will enjoy, each one has a little tale to tell as some the materials I use have been collected over the years from antiques from the 1800 to 1960's to 1990's vintage and others using crisp new silks,satins,cottons and linens ....and so my story continues.. Since writing this in November 2010 I have organised and presented my work in private showing sin my atelier and in San Sebatian,Donostia in a private show and in a shop called Atlantis,which is shown in an earlier post and a showing in Edinburgh which I hope to repeat next spring/summer . Now 2013i hope to start a shop online ,I continue to be working with Elizabeth and Atlantis doing pop up spaces from now and then . I leave you with my pictures which I hope you enjoy and will follow soon with new pieces and projects .
