I was giving my daughter her supper this evening when the 7 o'clock News on Channel 4 opened with the sad news of the death of Alexander McQueen.

My jaw just dropped in disbelief. Only last night, I was showing my husband a picture of the infamous 'armadillo shoes' he had made for his Spring/Summer 2010 fashion show.

The circumstances sound tragic and headlines full of speculation are flying on the internet - together with pictures of the body(!!) being carried out of the designer's flat on a stretcher...

Alexander McQueen was one of the most talented British fashion designers ever but he was also someone's son, brother, partner, friend. So today our thoughts are with those who cared about him and are now mourning his loss. May he rest in peace.

Alexander McQueen, Autumn-Winter 2007 show, Paris
Image courtesy of Condé Nast Digital UK

With romantic, floral prints and accessories as one of the key trends this season, you’d better not suffer from pollen allergy!

Yes, flowers, flowers and more flowers were seen on the Spring/Summer 2010 catwalks: Erdem, Moschino and Stella McCartnery, amongst others, showed them in beautiful printed dresses, Dolce & Gabbana dared with multi-floral shorts and corsets, Marc Jacobs did gorgeous printed silk skirts and Ralph Lauren showed a few 'Little House of the Prairie' kinda looks.

Oh, and let's not forget the accessories! Chanel made a 'to die for' floral version of the 2.55 bag, John Galliano opted for oversized flower brooches to adorn cleavages, waists or lapels and Viktor & Rolf did beautiful flower sandals.

With such a 'garden party' going on this season, Caradiaz couldn't stay behind and therefore our new collections include florals too in beautiful leather and semi-precious stone statement necklaces and brooches decorated with ovesized dahlias and camelias. Each item is individually hand-made by craftsmen specialised in leather goods and it can take a much a five hours to complete a piece. They are just fabulous!

So... are you going to embrace your inner ‘flower girl’ this season?

Red Dahlia necklade from Caradiaz
Picture: Caradiaz

We are absolutely delighted to have our beautiful Seychelles Necklace featured in today’s London edition of Metro as part of a boho-themed fashion piece.

This is the first of (hopefully!) many upcoming features on Caradiaz after appointing fashion PR expert Claire Doherty, of Grapevine PR, to take care of Public Relations.

Well done, Claire!

Picture courtesy of Metro/Associated Newspapers Limited

Just before the summer last year, the original face of Caradiaz, model Marian Masiá, announced that she was quitting modelling in favour of a professional career outside fashion. So the search for a new, fresh face for our catalogue started – those of you who follow us on Twitter may have come across our ‘scouting’ days.

Luckily, we didn’t have to search for long. On a bright Saturday morning last September, whilst doing some shopping with my sister and niece, a young woman by the name of Alice Phillips caught our eye.

When we approached Alice and offered her the job, she agreed immediately. A few days later, we shot the first pictures and Alice was absolutely wonderful. She is a truly natural beauty – hardly any make up was actually used for the shoot - and she has been recently compared to Harry Potter’s star, Emma Watson. But in addition to a beautiful young woman, Alice is also extremely down-to-earth, fun and carries herself really professionally during the photo-shoots.

We are absolutely delighted with Alice’s work with us so far and look forward to continuing to have her on board!

Alice's first shoot for Caradiaz wearing the stunning Rania necklace
Picture: Caradiaz

One of the things on the agenda following our move down to Kent was to explore the fashion scene in the area and check out the independent boutiques that might make perfect business partners for Caradiaz on the ‘bricks and mortar’ front.

So once we sorted our new premises, finished redecorating, etc., our Sales Team hit the local High Street to introduce Caradiaz to the local fashion business owners and quickly struck our first local deal with a designer boutique called Swans Fashion, owned and managed by über-stylish Wendy Goody.

Wendy has been in the fashion business for over 10 years and stocks beautiful clothes by internationally acclaimed designers, such as Annette Görtz, Paul Costelloe and Clemente. She loved our jewellery from the moment we stepped in her shop – our Sales Rep was wearing our Manhattan necklace and she almost had to leave it behind! – and agreed to the deal straight away. Since then, she has successfully been stocking, the Celestia necklace in silver, the Assabica necklace ands matching earrings, the Diva bracelet (now sold out) and, of course, the Manhattan necklace, to name a few.

We are absolutely delighted with this new business relationship and would like to say a big "thank you" to Wendy for putting her trust (and cash!) on Caradiaz.

Other fashion retailers that have previously stocked Caradiaz include Panache in the West Country, Maya Maya in the Lake District and The French Rooms in Northern Ireland.

Detail of Swans window displaying Caradiaz jewellery
Picture by: Marisol Douglas