Fashion has always played an important role in my life, even as a small child I was always dressed in beautiful dresses and the current fashion trends, as my mother had been inspired to follow fashion by my great granddad who was a very successful tailor, specialising in men’s suiting.
My first job was working for La Senza when I was just 16 and since then I have worked for Coast, Oasis, House of Fraser and am currently working at Karen Millen. Growing up I was always interested in fashion and only wanted to work in retail but I never thought I would pursue it as a degree until I was at college and did an A Level in Art and Design where I fell in love with fashion illustrations, textiles and designing. It was at that point that I knew I wanted to take it further as I was very sheltered at school. The main reason for this being that I attended an all girls private school from the age of three until sixteen where I felt I was never allowed to express myself properly as I was always moulded into what the school expected, I grew in confidence the moment I left and went into a co-educational college, where I think I began to become who I am today.
Being part of a large family, I have always had to think about other people and how what I do will affect them, this has helped me with my attitude to design as I try to design garments that will fit every shape, size and height as I think it is important to cater for everyone’s needs. Working in retail for so long I have also experienced what customers have to say about clothes and what they would like, so I receive first hand customer needs and wants, which inspires me in my designs. I get a lot of inspiration from Karen Millen as I spend all day working with the clothes. The main inspiration is to do with the finishing’s and detail on the garments, the use of buttons, zips and studs, in a classy way along with the extra stitching lines and use of fabric that make the garment different and stylish. I think Karen Millen is a prime example of a brand that knows what its customers want and makes them look expensive, elegant and sexy, which is what most women want!
A designer who I have only recently been interested in is BodyAmr, who first came into the fashion industry in 2005. I saw Amr’s collection recently as it was showcased at London Fashion Weekend, when I attended. I was really inspired when I saw the garments as I felt I had a connection with him as a designer as I understood the garments and the image he was trying to portray. His collections are simple yet express femininity, sexiness, elegance, colour and shape. He describes his signature style as ‘solid colours for a sharp-witted woman who embraces both her masculine and feminine sides and who loves to laugh. Her style timeless because its all about attitude rather than current trends.’ This is so inspiring as these are the sort of philosophies that I want to portray in my brand. I love the fact that it’s not all about trend, but what looks good and fits properly!
One of my passions is attending fashion shows and shopping, looking at other peoples designs, illustrations and the way things are made, this is where I get a lot of inspiration and ideas of how to improve on my own designs. In my spare time as well as going to the gym, I love to do random illustrations or draw things from still life, this is sometimes where I get ideas that I take further. I also like to go for walks as it allows me to take time to think on my own and generate ideas that I can then go home and work on. I have a lot of interest in what going on around me; I like to know what’s happening around the world and what’s new. I love anything thats pretty or feminine, whether it be an object, image or place.
I want to specialise in women’s wear as I feel I get more out of designing and constructing the garments. I love the way clothes look when they are on a woman’s body as they can change the way you see their shapes. I think it is easier to be outrageous and play around with different design features with women’s wear as with men’s I feel you are more restricted to making the garments too camp. I also feel that as I am a woman I should know what people want. When looking at pattern pieces for women’s clothes you can already see the shapes of women’s body that the clothes are going to enhance, which makes it exciting the closer you are to finishing the garments.
I was so pleased with the digi-print that I created for my leggings in the previous project and would like to experiment more with digi-print this year as I really enjoyed working with a fabric that I had partially created and the out come was really strong. Prada’s A/W 2010 collection has used a lot of digi-print with simple designs but the print and choice of colour is what makes the garments. Another aspect that I want to focus on this year is my illustration as I want to improve on it so that it becomes a strong feature in my work.
Throughout the last year I have progressed immensely and I know now that this is exactly what I want to do. My construction is what I feel I have improved on the most as I overcame things that I have never done before and set my self goals that I achieved. This year I want to push myself further and work harder than I ever have before because I need to give everything that I can in order to do well and get a good degree. One of my main goals is that I want to focus more on my finishing’s and designer features that will make my garments stand out and be different. I intend to fulfil this goal by practicing and looking at other garments I see in shops and in magazines to give me inspiration. If I can get this right then I think my garments will improve dramatically as the base is there I just need to work on the finished product.
My design philosophy is all about being feminine, pretty, elegant, expensive and using a lot of shape and colour. I want my garments to compliment a womand body making them look and feel sexy, confident and expensive.
