Interview: Winner Designer Incubator
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Q How does it feel to walk away with the big prize? A Really quite surreal. I woke up yesterday morning with the feeling that I had just experienced a rather nice dream. I was then pulled back down to earth after spending three hours on a delayed train back to Coventry. I am really exited about the next few months and seeing the collection go into production. Q What inspired you to embark on a fashion career? A I found fashion later, than most I think. Clothes really started to become important to me when I got my first job at sixteen.
It was around this time that my social life started to come to life, and as I was quite shy, I used fashion as a way of communicating with others. Back then I had never even thought about making clothes. It was only when I started to go to nightclubs that I felt the urge to create and then it was simply due to not being able to find what I wanted to wear in shops. I kind of stumbled into a fashion BTEC when I was told I couldn't study A-level art, due to lack of formal art training and I have never looked back since. Q When you were a teenager, what was your fashion? A As a teenager I was a total nerd. I can’t really remember having a particular style. I was a bit of an outsider and therefore tried to fit myself into lots of different groups.
I suppose in my late teens I had become a bit of a club kid and would dress accordingly to go out and party. Q And who were your favorite designers? A When I first went to study fashion I loved Antonio Berardi, Jeremy Scott, Alexander McQueen. Q Where do you take your inspiration from? A I look at so many things when I'm designing. It can be anywhere really; it just needs to grab my attention. I hardly ever use current fashion images. Over the past couple of years my work has looked mainly at more social and political issues, but I will usually reference many different sources of information to build a clear picture in my mind of where I want the work to go. Q What are you influenced by? A I guess I'm influenced by my life. I keep a keen eye on what is happening in the fashion industry and work from there. I enjoy my friends and family so much and they have a huge impact on the work that I produce. Q What would you do if you didn’t work in fashion? A I really don’t know. I've not considered dedicating my time elsewhere for many years. When I was in High School I wanted to be a bank manager.
Though I'm not sure I would enjoy that so much now! Q What are your plans for the future? A I plan to keep working and to embrace any opportunities that may develop. I enjoy making and designing clothes so much. It would be great to put together another collection soon and I look forward to working within the fashion industry.
Image: Kevin Geddes and models