Photo: Timo Jarvinen

And the winner is… That’s right, our very own Quiksilver Woman Bara Prasilova has just walked away from the final round of the Czech Grand Design Awards with the title ‘Photographer of the Year’ next to her name.

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Prague based photographer Bara won this prestigious award based on the beautiful images she snapped of our other Ambassadors wearing the Quiksilver Women Collection, and for a series of images taken for Esprit LN and the Krehky publication.

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Photo: Timo Jarvinen

We’d like to congratulate Bara on her award and thank her for her art, her vision and her passion for our brand!  We would also like to throw a special thanks to everyone that participated in the photoshoot in London: all the ambassadors featured in her pictures - Ellie Lawson, Leddra Chapman, Mahara Mc Kay, Ela and Charlotte O’Connor; the production crew: Bara Berdychova - Photography assistant, Tara Hickman - Make up, Lindsay Bown - Make up, Nicole Whittock - Hair, Alicia Samuels - Make up & hair assistant ; Julie, Meena, Hanna, Mathus, Katka and everyone else from the Quiksilver team that was there to make it happen!

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Check out the video below for a little insight on what went down at the Czech Grand Design Awards.

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Today is International Women’s Day (IWD), a global celebration of the social, political and economic achievements of women past, present and future, so it only seems right that Quiksilver Women mark this occasion too.
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The first IWD was on the 19th March 1911 and was recognised in Denmark, Germany, Austria and Switzerland, where more than one million woman and men attended IWD rallies in support of women’s rights to work, vote and to end discrimination. Unfortunately, despite significant success surrounding equality in recent decades fair treatment is still an issue and in many countries woman do not have access to the same standard of healthcare and education as men do and often suffer violence against them.
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Thankfully IWD is now an official holiday in countries such as Russia, China, Bulgaria and Mongolia where men honour the women in their lives with flowers and small gifts - much like we do for Mothers Day here in the UK. In addition, every year thousands of events are held the world over in celebration of IWD and the achievements of women including political rallies, craft markets, art projects, fashion parades and theatrical performances. The US have even declared the entire month of March ‘Women’s History Month.’

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In support of woman worldwide Quiksilver Women Ellie Lawson, Leddra Chapman and I are sending our old bras to charity via the Breast Talk Bra Appeal. A variety of charities such as Oxfam then distribute unwanted bras to woman who really need them both here in the UK and in countries such as Africa, where good quality bras are highly sought after. Additionally, old bras can also be used to raise funds for breast cancer research.

Bras are an item we all too often take for granted, but there are many woman across the globe that don’t own a bra or cannot afford one. Through bra donations such as ours reusable bras will go towards helping homeless and underprivileged woman, where as damaged bras can be recycled into quilts.
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Here in the UK over 70 per cent of woman are thought to be wearing the wrong size bra. I recently had my bust professionally measured and found I was far from wearing the correct size, but I’m glad I have somewhere to send all my old ones now. So why not get yourself fitted and rather than sending your old bras to landfill reduce waste and help support disadvantaged woman and the environment by sending your old bras to the Breast Talk Bra Appeal too!

Shop the looks : Sound Check Shirt, Daytripper Dress, Wonderwall Tank

Quiksilver encourages creative female talent and supports young artists on the road to success and we are very pleased to announce that our own Quiksilver Women Leddra Chapman, Ellie Lawson and Tennille Amor are sharing some tracks from their respective new albums with us.

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With three creative and talented artists and three awesome albums to discover what are you waiting for? To download some tracks from our ambassadors, just go to http://music.quiksilver-women.com and suscribe. Thank you for your support and thank you Leddra, Ellie and Tennille for sharing your music with us!

LEDDRA CHAPMAN Photo: Timo Jarvinen

ELLIE LAWSON Photo: Timo Jarvinen

TENNILLE AMOR

Finally it’s March 2nd; spring is almost officially upon us!  With spring’s warm breezes, one of our favorite new looks is following closely on its heels; the Oxford Shoe!  It’s the perfect lightweight shoe for the upcoming season and looks amazing with all of our Quiksilver Women’s spring styles, especially with the Daytripper Dress or Islington shirt dress.

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Browsing around one of our favorite local fashionista/Indie hotspots, The Lab in Costa Mesa, CA, we were able to snap a few paparazzi style photos of our favorite Oxford looks; we especially love the all grey patent leather style.

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Which look suits your style best ?

February was an enormously busy month for me; I was on a staycation. I hardly ever made it to bed before midnight, I slept in pretty much everyday and successfully procrastinated the few things that stood on my to-do list throughout the whole month. As I said… enormously busy. I mean seriously, did you know how time consuming procrastinating is? Especially after the invention of Facebook. That thing is to procrastinating what the board is to surfing – the tool to perform your hobby, the key to enjoy your leisure time activity. Not that I know too much about surfing, but I assume dropping into a wave over and over again gives you the same feeling of addiction as cyber-stalking your Facebook friends over and over again does. Then, right before you pick up the work you intended to do the sunset makes you realise you’ve just procrastinated yet another day away…

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Ela wearing the Karma Skinny Pant, the Arena Sweater Vest and the Academy Tank. We like it! (Photo: Timo Jarvinen)

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The lazy boredom of February had me perform procrastination by going through the photo albums of people I don’t even know. But this didn’t even matter, as I find it simply mind blowing and highly entertaining to see what people post on Facebook these days – photos of their childhood when they had the chickenpox for example. Chickenpox! You can be the Kate Moss of babies, and chickenpox still manages to make you look disgusting. Why would I want to photo proof to the world how disgusting I was as a baby? Or then there are these husbands who use their smart phones to post photos of their wives ten seconds after they gave birth. I would straight up ask for a divorce if I was them! Why should the world need to know how pale you look after ten hours of labour?

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What I found on Facebook while procrastinating my way through February made me feel vicariously embarrassed for others and I was convinced Facebook finally needed to launch a dislike-button in order to save people from their own awkwardness. I was sure this dislike-button was the only way to make certain users reconsider their posts, but then, after I reflected on it again, I eventually took sides against it. How drastic would the consequences of this dislike-button possibly be? People would definitely start hating. It would be some sort of revival of public outlawing, the tool to communal flouting, the condemnation of all chickenpox loving dads and moms in labour…

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Flouting can doubtlessly be fun at times, but honestly, I don’t know if I could personally deal with people disliking my posts. I have this one Facebook photo album for example, in which I only put pictures I consider enormously funny. I love this album. I sometimes catch myself going through it and peeing my pants laughing at my own captions… Call me morbidly narcissistic, or hopelessly pathetic, it’s probably what I am. But I don’t have spare money to spend on psychiatric sessions or self-help groups and this album makes me feel good about myself just as chickenpox and delivery room photos encourage others. So why should I let anyone kill my dreams by disliking my photo album and letting me know that I am most likely the only person on this planet that thought those captions were funny? The truth hurts and it’s sometimes unnecessary for it to be said. This is why I plead against dislike-buttons and ask you to use the like-buttons more often. I would even say they might go down in history as the antidepressant of the 21^st century… And you know what? I personally like this idea!

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Ela

Having wrapped up the Quiksilver Women’s Launch at Bloomingdales, I felt it would be fun to share with everyone who wasn’t able to attend the event, the in’s and out’s of the Personal Style Guide! So here is a peek inside, which should get you excited to start dressing up your spring looks.

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Signature style is what sets apart that one woman in the room and makes her impossible to ignore.  She is not just wearing the latest fashion, but is wearing something that is “so her”.  She has a defined, unique sense of style that transcends time and trends.  She is inspired by art, music and travel, and she pulls it all together with a laid-back, beach-born attitude.  She is an “it girl”; an icon-in-the-making.

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The Quiksilver Women’s brand celebrates that spirit of creative, sexy and effortless style. Here we explore three signature styles that make the Quiksilver Woman.

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Are you a Coastal Wanderer, the Downtown Rocker or the Pretty-Tough M.O.D?

Coastal Wanderer

Coastal Wanderer style is about carefree exploration, mix-n-match, beautiful imperfections, beach-in-your-blood and the perfect mix of earthy and luxurious.

Pretty Tough Jeans,Chancery Lane Tank

Soundcheck Button-up, Bancroft Road Skirt

Downtown Rocker

Downtown Rocker style is all about D.I.Y. and devil-may-care: skinny stripes, over-sized tanks, studded jeans, wearing your favorite threadbare tee, stealing your boyfriend’s shirt, piling on the accessories and throwing on some black boots.

Wonderwall Tank ,East End Hoodie, Crazy Love Shorts

M.O.D. (Model off Duty)

Models off duty just have that certain innate sense of style..it is all about nonchalant chic, equal parts independent cool and feminine pretty, effortless and sexy with a tough creative edge.

Knockout Jeans, Seven Dials Cardigan, Songstress Tank

Coldharbor Lane Dress

We just wanted to take a moment to share with you, dear readers, a bold and obvious truth:
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Music is amazing

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As a source of motivation and inspiration, Music is always there to give. As we make our grueling commutes and pyche ourselves up for the tasks each day requires of us … as we launch ourselves into each new day, each new design season, each new adventure — music provides a wealth of mood and vibe to guide and inspire. Old favorites and new discoveries are in our ears to aid us along as we work though each design, or fulfill the mudane tasks that are required to make each design come to life. Music is a motivator, a positive force that pushes us forward towards our goal of creation. It has so many forms and diversity, so many layers and emotions … it has something to move everyone — both emotionally and physically.

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Here are but a few of the sonic tidbits that we have stumbled upon lately, that are killing us with their musical genius. Check ‘em out …

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Quadron/ Average Fruit:

Egyptian Hip-Hop/Heavenly:

The XX Remix Florence and the Machine/ You’ve Got the Love:

Charlotte Gainsbourg (with Beck)/ IRM:

Photo : Timo Jarvinen

Our very own Quiksilver Woman Bara Prasilova has been nominated as Photographer of the Year in the final round of the Czech Grand Design Awards 2009.

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Prague based photographer Bara has been selected for this prestigious award on the basis of the beautiful images she snapped of our other Ambassadors wearing the Quiksilver Woman Collection, and for a series of images taken for Esprit LN and the Krehky publication.

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You can vote for Bara on the Czech Grand Design website, and we’ve got our fingers crossed whilst we wait for the results which will be announced on March 6th.

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Good luck Bara !

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By Ruth Carruthers, QSW Ambassador

Photo: Bara Prasilova

Photo: Bara Prasilova

You can download Leddra’s music for free from http://music.quiksilver-women.com/ or else her music is also available on Itunes.