How This Up & Coming Designer Broke Into The Fashion Business

It all started with cutting up my mum’s Next catalogues. I would sit on the floor, cutting and drawing, and I would make pompoms with my nan. I find fashion is a way to express my feelings without having to actually talk about them. My journey truly started in 2016, though, when I took a GCSE in Textiles. I then went on to study fashion at Milton Keynes College. 

It wasn’t long before I discovered the craftsmanship of Savile Row. When the time came to look for university courses, my interest lay in construction – the technical process, from sketching to finishing. I stumbled across the London College of Fashion bespoke tailoring course, and it really helped me carve out my niche. Originally, I wanted to be a traditional tailor, but my path evolved. I do think learning something so specific has set me apart from other designers.

Covid was a blessing in disguise. I graduated in 2021, having spent my second and third year in lockdown. I had to fit and cut everything on myself, which was a challenge, but it’s made me more curious and independent. I was very grateful to secure a design internship at Hobbs straight away, which was eye-opening for me. For anyone starting out, I highly recommend getting industry experience. I wish I was able to do more at university, but lockdown didn’t make that possible.

I loved my time at Hobbs and stayed with the business for just over a year. I then decided I wanted to go back to university to train in design and find myself as a designer. I was so surprised to receive an unconditional offer for the postgraduate diploma at Central Saint Martins. It’s an intense, entirely fashion-based year that throws you into the deep end, which is something I knew I needed.

Part of my work is about expressing my working-class roots. My dad is a builder, my brothers are plumbers and I have a long line of tradesmen in my family. I really appreciate the DIY and craftsmanship that goes into hands-on careers, and I value this within my own work. The collection I entered for the competition was ‘Heritage with Posterity’. It’s a collection inspired by my country upbringing, blended with city elements. It looks to the future of what British heritage fashion could be, not what it has been. I love hardware and felt inspired to create my own. I looked in unconventional places, such as my brother’s plumbing toolbox and my dad’s garden shed. 

My advice for finding your style as a designer is to stick to your own lane, go at your own pace, and be in your own race. I come from the country, but now I live in the city. Seeing and understanding working class and luxury, I’m trying to find my place within all of that. It’s very easy to get caught up in what other people are doing, but it’s so important to stick to your guns. If you have a concept or idea you keep coming back to, see it through.