I am a student of the University for the Creative Arts in Epsom, nearing the completion of the second year of my three-year degree course in Fashion Innovation Design;
Although I have always been an enthusiast of design and the arts, it wasn't until I left school that my talents were lead into the fashion career path, and with it my passions for sustainability and devoted love of nature, and to this day I have channelled my design energy into ecological fabric sourcing and construction methods.
During my national diploma course, specialising in fashion, I was involved in the production of Mary Portas' BBC series 'Mary Queen of Charity Shops', in conjunction with a project we completed on recycling in the studio;
this work features a collection of hybrid garments, deconstructed and re-thought, which excited me greatly; the involvement I had with the programme, window-dressing and styling and taking part in live window-models, dressing the shop and catching the interest of potential buyers, gave me a more structured approach to my ambitions of an entirely eco-based company, and from then on only bought my clothes from jumble sales, boot fairs and vintage or charity shops, so that my personal look and individual style made a statement of how I felt about the current state of the infrastructure of fashion with the economy, consumerism and the contrast of fashion and style.
In Epsom I have been volunteering at the only local vintage stall Vintage Rocks, which sources second-hand designer and vintage wear from stockists and markets and targets more of a niche market, and when visiting my home town of Herne Bay in Kent often help my friends' businesses of AnnaTommy, an independent design company using vintage-sourced prints for 50's-inspired bespoke outfits, and 'Victoria Gayles Interiors Ltd.', which uses off-cuts of upholstery fabrics from top London stockists to finish furniture, interiors and accessories.
All my construction projects at university use unwanted bi-products from mass-producing companies, or damaged and discounted fabrics, which I feel highlight the creativity involved in the transition from something unwanted to something desirable and beautiful.
The British Heart Foundation’s Passion For Fashion scheme allowed me to practice this further, this time in womens’ wear, rather than my usual menswear designs, and I hope that my enthusiasm comes through during the catwalk show, in which I am also modelling, and that my clothes find a happy home with an equally enthused wearer.
