It’s been just over a week since we moved to the lovely Kentish countryside and we’re loving it!

The move was mostly triggered by the imperious need to get more space as Caradiaz grows fast. But on a personal level, my husband and I also wanted to improve our lifestyle and enjoy a more relaxed, family-oriented environment away from the stresses and strains of ‘the big city’, a better place where our daughter can enjoy life as she grows up and be happy. So here we are.

The new place is really lovely, a rather large Victorian house set amidst beautiful mature gardens – I’m beginning to sound like an estate agent!!! The only downside is the decor. The previous owner kept the house in really good condition over the years but didn’t do anything at all on the decorating front. So it is a bit of a 70s timewarp and it’s now down to us to bring it up to the 21st century, something we are looking forward to as the house has great potential and we really want to put our mark on it to make it ‘our home’. But it is a huge project and is going to take time, effort and, of course, money… lots of it.

So… I’d better get cracking with work to keep those Caradiaz sales rolling in!

Sissinghurst Castle Gardens

Michelle Obama arrived in London on Tuesday just as elegantly dressed as she had left Washington hours earlier.

Mrs. Obama boarded Air Force One in a ‘chanel-esque’ ensemble by Thai-born / American-raised designer Thakoon (one of her favourites) and ‘jade’ Jimmy Choos. When she re-appeared at our end, she did it in a stunning chartreuse silk crèpe sheath dress by another one of her favourite designers, Jason Wu, combined with a black coat by Michael Kors (a ‘new’ favourite) and a belt by Azzedine Alaïa.

Countless articles have been written in the fashion press on Michelle Obama in the past year, most of them praising her simple yet elegant sense of style. But, of course, she hasn’t escaped criticism. You just can’t please everyone…

Yesterday, whilst taking a break from my Caradiaz duties, I was reading the extensive coverage of the Obama visit to London for the G20 summit on various websites and came across an American fashion forum that claimed: ‘Michelle Obama has no sense of style and needs to drop 40lb’. Ouch! Harsh comments - I thought - so I decided to follow the thread out of curiosity and, although there were mixed comments on the topic, most people seemed to disagree with the title statement just as much as I do.

I think Mrs. Obama is actually quite a stylish person. As she told André Leon Talley in the interview she did for last month’s American Vogue, she chooses clothes that she likes, she’s comfortable in and make her feel beautiful – what a wonderful breath of fresh air she is! It’s what fashion should be all about: feeling great in the clothes you’re in.

Regarding the 40lb, well…I think it’s very sad the way people seem to be obsessed with weight. Personally, I don't think there is anything wrong with Mrs. Obama's weight or shape. She is not a fashion model, she is a woman in her 40s, a mother, wife and now America's First Lady, a position that, for good or bad, has turned her into one of the most - if not the most - scrutinised and photographed women in the world. So she’s bound to have both admirers and detractors, no matter what she does or doesn’t do.

I, for one, find Michelle Obama inspiring and hope she doesn’t sucumb to the pressure and the criticism and stays true to herself.

Picture courtesy of www.catwalkqueen.tv

It's 3pm local time in sunny Valencia, my beautiful home town. We're at Manises airport waiting for our friends, Salva and Jordi, who usually come to meet us and take us to our house in the outskirts. They just called to say they are stuck in traffic near the airport due to an accident - a lorry stuck under a bridge! So we are enjoying a wonderful café con leche and a delicious donut while we wait.

We were here only about eight weeks ago but, my God, what a difference in weather. It's Fallas time and, along with the fiesta and the loud bangs of petardos (firecrakers)and mascletaes (lunchtime fireworks daily display), comes the warmth of early spring. It's a wonderful time of the year to visit the city, with the streets full of colour and light and music. Gosh, it feels good to be Valencian!

Every time we come for Fallas, we invite along friends or relatives from the UK, who are unlikely to have experienced anything like it. A couple of years ago were our friend Sophie (owner of yours2share) and her partner Larry and they had a blast, pretty much literally. We attended what probably was one of the best mascletaes I've ever seen. The King of Spain was the guest honour for the display that day and the fireworks master had been allowed by the Town Hall to use more powder than usual to make the show louder. I don't know about the King but poor Larry had a deaf ear for days afterwards....

This year we have invited my brother-in-law and his wife (they are actually arriving on Monday) and although we are less likely to be out and about all day this year because of our little one, we certainly hope they enjoy their visit.

But it's not going to be all fun and games. I have work to do as we are going to shoot next season's catalogue for Caradiaz. Our model, Marian, has been booked and I just hope the weather stays as it should be at this time of year, sunny and warm, so we can have some beautiful, bright outdoor shots.

Fallas 2009
Picture courtesy of Salvador Aleixandre

For the past 25 years, British fashion has produced some of the most influential and talented designers in the world, with names like Paul Smith and Vivienne Westwood hailed as true pioneers of British style in their own particular way.

Later came John Galliano, Alexander McQueen and Stella McCartney, three brilliant examples of the kind of talent that can come out of Central St. Martins but also three clear examples of the lack of support British designers face. All three of them were welcome with open arms in France by big investors (luxury retail holdings such as PPR, LVMH and Richemont) and, to this day, all three of the are showing their main collections in Paris, not London. Oh, and let’s not forget Matthew Williamson, another Central St. Martins graduate who, in 2002, decided to take his collections to New York.

Defection? No, mere survival. British fashion is not getting the support it deserves and talent keeps deserting it. But with a textile and clothing industry worth £4 billion and a £40 billion retail industry, one would have thought that events like the London Fashion Week are key for the British economy. Even the Prime Minister’s wife, Sarah Brown, has now taken an interest in the issue and was recently quoted in the press urging the Royal Family and Mayor Boris Johnson to help promoting the London Fashion Week at an international level.

Let’s hope something can be done about it and British talent ‘migration’ can be prevented going forward.

The girls at Isabella Oliver have just lauched their first non-maternity womenswear collection, Isabella Oliver 365, and I got the catalogue in the post a couple of days ago.

Taking a little break from my duties at Caradiaz (the new pieces for this season had started to pour in that morning), I made myself some tea and went to sit down away from my office to chill for a moment and have a look at the catalogue.

First impressions? Very 'Isabella Oliver' indeed, (except this time the models don't have bumps!). Loved the Parisienne, Mia and Sevilla dresses, the striped shoulder top, the pencil skirt and the mac. Not so sure about the multiway dresses and the hooded tank tops though. Ties may work well in the maternity collection as they make clothes versatile but, personally, I always found them a fuss to deal with, so I really wouldn't want them in my non-pregnant, day to day wardrobe. But leaving those pieces aside, very impressed with the collection, simple but sophisticated.

Tea break is up now - another delivery van is pulling up outside so... back to business.

Picture: Isabella Oliver 365