Disco Pony According To Annika!!!

Disco Pony & The Silver Surfer by Annika

You know how some people like to put sketches fans do of them up on their blogs?! Well... I am a little bit obsessed with this AMAZINGLY BRILLIANT cute as balls iphone sketch Annika just made for me of Disco Pony & The Silver Surfer!!! IT HAS SEQUINS on it! I mean... WHAAAT!!! Have I told you lately that I love you?! Yes, yes I have- but I shall tell you again!!!! I might have to start doing my designs like this... way more fun! Orrrrr, Annika, you can be my new official design interpreter!?!! Please?! ;) xx

Zara V's Disco Pony

Obviously I cannot claim that Zara has been stealing Disco Pony designs... That would be rather ludicrous of me... BUT, I can rant about the highly annoying fact that they seem to be coming out with pieces that I had designed WELL, WELL in advance of their Zara arrivals... Perhaps I am just ahead of the game with things, but there is still a niggling feeling in the back of my mind that brings up flashes of a documentary about how the blue chip fashion houses actually hire people to scour fashion blogs in order to find the next designs. What do you think people? Am I just being crazy protective of my Disco Pony label? Or do I have a bit of a point?!

LEFT: My Black Sequin Disco Pony Mini Dress designed last year and sampled in February 2011.  RIGHT: Zara's Black Sequin Mini dress: Arrived just NOW! The shape is exact... minus a tiny button holding together the draped open back (It only takes a button folks to be a "different" design!)

LEFT: Amanda wearing my Disco Pony Silver Sequin Jacket: "Silver Surfer" Designed and Sampled in April 2011. LEFT: Zara Silver Sequin Jacket: Arrived in stores NOW! 

Either way, seeing these designs in Zara makes me want to cry/vomit everywhere! AND despite the fact that they are made in huge factories and recent claims of sweat shops in Brazil, they STILL CHARGE YOU MORE! Disco Pony is 100% hand made, and custom fitted. The amount of work that goes into making each piece is so huge, yet I refuse to over charge... I want people to actually be able to have some everyday luxe, and not pay through the nose unnecessarily for it! Saying that, in the USA people are sadly still finding my prices too high with the exchange rate... However, after months of market research into pricing of high street and designer, my prices are still some of the best around (and I'm not talking Primark or New Look here... I'm talking FCUK, Zara, Topshop end!)

I am highly aware that this could be total coincidence, but I am also highly aware of Zara's rep for poaching blog imagery for their own gain... think T-shirts here... Not that I would have much problem being on a T-shirt... But I'd still like a bit of credit/some of the profits thank you kindly dear Zara!!!

As any designer can tell you though, seeing your designs or similar ones elsewhere, is always a shitty feeling... Not just for the reason that, Disco Pony, as a sliiightly smaller company than Zara gets 100% less audience from the fashion world, and therefore, my higher quality, cheaper in price and painstakingly crafted designs fail to get donned by all the delightful fash pack out there who happened to wonder into Zara instead of Disco Pony (so well hidden within this blog- working on that peeps!) BREEEATH.... BUT ALSO for the reason that now my pieces are just a bit less special :( This is the saddest part!

I hope those of you who come across these pieces in Zara will decide that Disco Pony has in fact done a much better job of creating them, and well in advance of this too!!!
As my aunty has told me many times before... "You will always be copied, but you will always be creating something else, something better... let the bastards be the impersonators- you can be the original!"

Fuming rage, over and out! Thoughts much appriciated!!! xx

Photography by Albert Dedeu

Clémence Poésy in Disco Pony?!

Amanda is wearing: Silver Sequined Blazer "The Silver Surfer" By Disco Pony- and many other awesome things such as those JC Litas! <3

Okayyy okayyy! It's not Miss Poésy, but in fact Miss Amanda! But whaaat, HELLO! How good does she look in the Disco Pony Silver Surfer? It's these kind of treats that make me feel proud, oh. so. proud of my Disco Pony baby! This girl is a born rock star, and she doesn't even know it! When Annika told me she had let her little sister keep the piece for a while, I was totally chuffed- for not only has it been out on a wild Brooklyn night with the super star stunner herself, but now it gets to look this good too! Thank you guys! You are so beyond beautiful... I feel like I designed this jacket to be worn exactly as Amanda is wearing it now! Perfect styling too I should add... I shall now sport mine with a pussybow blouse and some super skinny pants- topped off with a lita perhaps! mmmm! Oh I cannot wait for the time to come where I can actually do this and not pass out from heat stroke!!!
I am actually pretty excited this particular jacket will have been in Hong Kong, NYC, Stockholm and Spain! That Disco Pony, such a globe trotter!!!
Thank you for letting me post these pics Amanda! Woah, you are so gorgeous! Wouldn't you guys agree!? xx

Photography by Annika Markland

Sometimes Disco Just Don't Go Right!

So last night, I told you guys I would share with you not only the ups, but indeed them downs of Disco the Disco Pony! And trust me, when you are starting out a brand new business, and moving to the other side of the world to do so, there are things, mannnnnyyyyyy things that don't go quite so accordingly!!!
I feel I have been pretty lucky for the best part (touch wood NOW!) Buuuut, there have been hickups... and the one that keeps me awake at night with pure grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr is this one!

THIS here is the real Silver Surfer:

And HERE is what my beautiful Annika got: A THOUSAND and BILLION more apologies!

This here is NOT! (Bold, Italic, Underline!!!!)

Now... Annika is erm completely STUNNING, so let's just put that aside for a second and look at the actual Jacket... As gorgeous as she makes it look, this is not anyyyything like my original design. The sequins are all wrong... The colour, the crunchyness, the weight... its ALL WRONG! Luckily it still looks awesome, but its awesome is not awesome enough... not for Disco Pony!!! Oh no no no!

So... WHY you ask has this happened??? Well! Agh, grrrr, I'm getting all hot and bothered just typing this out!
My last week in Hong Kong was hands down one of the most busy, hectic weeks I had... I was supposed to be sending out pieces all over the world, but the pieces were no where to be seen.
Lets rewind a little here... Lets go back, urmmm, one week.
So there I am, in the land of sequins and silks (Let's call this place China! - Coz, that's what it's called!!!) gathering up all my beautiful sequin cloths, when I get to the Silver Sequin lady... who has RUN OUT of my sequins.... GAH, panik... dramaaaa!!! She assures me however in my moment of mortified pallidness that tomorrow there will be more, so I am to take her to my tailor, where she will have some sort of conversation to make sure that the fabric will be in the tailors tomorrow morning... So, I pay her.... FIRST MISTAKE!
The pieces take much, much longer than expected.... and by my last day in the country, I have to find a way to get everything done whilst being on the other side of the world!!!
So, last day = MAYHEMMMM!!!!
I manage to organize everything to the last detail, and hope and pray that there is no problems when the pieces arrive. This almost never happens with samples, so I am hoping BIG here!!!
Now, let me tell you what my dear tailor and the silver sequin fabric lady did with their knowledge of my absence, and the absence of my marching back to China to have words SECOND MISTAKE (I should have just stayed a few more weeks, but this is another story for another time entirely!) ... They...wait for it... SWITCHED THE FABRIC! This is sadly the way things go when you are not around to watch over these things like a hawk... So, when I see the pieces all back in the office over Skype, I try my hardest to put the new colour of the jacket down to "bad reception".... I mean, nothing ever looks like it does in real life on Skype right!!!
I then had a number of nightmares (like actual night time mares... in the night, when you sleep!!!) concerning this issue... of which I could do nothing about, and hoped and prayed that it was solely my imagination and that the jackets would be the perfect sequin explosions that I had so carefully designed!

Well, there is in fact two of these faux Disco Pony jackets out there... Another somewhere in the heart of LA... probably on its way to New York! So, Natalie, you beautiful thing... I hope you can make do, until I can send you the real version... And Annika, you shall be united too with a proper, heavier grungier version of the Silver Surfer soon! And then you shall have TWO! ;)

So the moral of the story! Never leave the country! no, just kidding... Never leave the country mid important over seeing of your brand new fashion line venture!!!! They WILL swindle you, because you are most definitely a tourist who knows naaathing!!!! ;)

In a side note, those of you who ordered and want to order the jacket, I ASSURE you, you shall receive the best version, and not the faux one!!! I promise- I will be there now, and I shall not leave until I see everything at least a million times! :)
xx

The Most Beautiful Girl Surfing Those Silver Sequins Disco Pony Style!

Stunning, amazing Annika in The Silver Surfer by Disco Pony

The Disco Pony 'Silver Surfer' made it into Chictopia's Style Gallery! Yeah woooo!!!

Errr, is this not the most beautiful girl you have ever seen EVER?! Aaaand she's in DISCO PONY too! Let me introduce one of my all time favorite people in all the lands Annika of According To Annika. I am literally so proud and happy to see her rocking out my Disco Pony 'Silver Surfer' on the streets of Brooklyn... only my all time favorite place in the whole wide world! This is where the first ever Disco Pony store must be!!! It is decided! And Annika has made up my mind 100 billion percent! If you don't already read her insanely wonderful blog, then I have no doubt that after this post, you shall all leave me and become her biggest fans! Please dont leave me!!! Love us both!!! Make sure to go check out her blog and her Disco Pony post too! Eeek, I can't tell you how exciting it is to see somebody actually wearing your designs! And so well too! What a feeling! Thank you Annika! I love you :) xx