Dear all,

I have been away from the blogging scene for quite a while now because of a very exciting project that I have undertaken which is taking up a fair bit of my time.

At uni this term I am doing a ‘fashion consultancy’ unit which means that we become fashion consultants for a brand for around 3 months. Always up for a challenge, myself and my awesome partner in crime Aoife, decided to steer away from the norm (many students work with major high street names such as John Lewis, HOF, Dorothy Perkins etc), and work with a company that would really benefit from the project and had what we called ‘heart’…this is when we came across ‘The Alternative Limb Project’. (Massive thanks to my lovely friend Fran who originally told me about T.A.L.P!)

‘The Alternative Limb Project’ is a unique brand set up by the amazing Sophie de Oliveira Barata. As you will notice from the images below, she is one talented lady! She makes bespoke alternative limbs for amputees reflecting the wearer’s imagination, personality and interests. From a leg covered in sparkle, to an arm with a secret compartment in it, the possibilities are endless! When we first visited Sophie’s studio we were blown away by her work, and I think you’ll agree, it’s pretty amazing!!

The performer Viktoria Modesta (seen above with the speaker leg and on the red carpet) is a regular client of The Alternative Limb Project and wore a dazzling crystallised leg sponsored by Swarovski in the Closing Ceremony of the Paralympics!! (below)

I could talk for England about ‘The Alternative Limb Project’ and how amazing it is, but to prevent this post being solely writing why don’t you check out the webpage here or this really great article on CNN.

As part of our project we are researching into the markets that may be interested in The Alternative Limb Project, and with myself being a volunteer and strong supporter of Help for Heroes, we are doing a lot of research into getting wounded servicemen interested and involved.

At this point I ask you to consider if you know of anyone who is an amputee? If you do, please pass on this post!! Re-tweet, share on facebook, email it – whatever you want to do! We want as many people to know about The Alternative Limb Project as possible! If you are an amputee and you’re reading this, whatever your thoughts, whether you like the idea of an alternative limb or not, please click HERE to take a short survey and tell us your thoughts!!

Thanks for reading and I shall blog again soon to let you know how the project is going. If you want to know more or want to message me, I have added a contact form to the bottom of this post. Would love to hear what you think! Have a great weekend x