Leah Gibson
Creative Portfolio leah .gibson94@hotmail .co.uk
Concept Generation
Concept Generation
Concept Generation
Concept Generation
My contributions to a group magazine project
Mary has a little lamb Irish knitwear designer Mary Callan gives us an world in the fashion design industry.
insight into her
Tell us a little bit about your fashion background. I did my BA in Fashion Design at Central Saint Martins. My specialism was knitwear. During college I did placements at Chloe in Paris and John Rocha in Dublin. After graduation, I spent two years working for Dublin knitwear designer Lainey Keogh. After that I moved to Brighton and worked for a swatching company called Knit One. We designed knitwear fabrics for Topshop among other labels. I started my business in 2011. How do you feel your line has grown and developed since the starting point? I think my work has become more streamlined and focussed since I started. In the beginning I had no concept of making money from my work! After a few seasons I realise now that the business must be viable, as money is needed to innovate the product and grow my line. My first collection at Belfast Fashion Week had so much time consuming hand work within it. When I showed it to factories they just shook their heads. This has had a big effect on my design process whereby I now design around the techniques available in commercial production. Modern knitting technology has endless possibilities so I’m not complaining!
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What processes are involved in creating your knitwear? What attracted you to the materials which you use? During the design process in the studio I use my manual machinery to design my fabrics. This is usually a trial and error process, experimenting with various yarns and knitwear stitches. I gravitate towards techniques that allow colourful surface pattern such as intarsia and jacquard. I love print and these are the closest knit comes to print. I also use a lot of partial knitting technique to create my textured dresses. I then take these hand samples to a knitwear programmer who converts my designs into computerised patterns. I love using natural materials, such as cashmere and merino wool. I’m attracted to their practicality, their luxury and I think there’s great integrity to materials that come from our natural surroundings. However I love to contrast different textures together. Really fascinating textures can be created from mixing wool with and lycra or elastic with lurex. Silk and viscose are great yarns if you want to lend a bit of drape to your garments.
What inspires you as a designer and influences your designs? My design brain never quite switches off and disparate elements from the world around me can send my work off in a certain direction. However there are a few staple inspirations that I return to time and again. These include African fabrics and tribal textiles; matt braided textures that you find in macrame and aran knitting; surrealism; graphic geometric patterns; early American sportswear design; Americana; street fashion… I have a weakness for the melancholy and romantic so I also am currently inspired by Wuthering Heights, 1940s film noir and Edward Munch prints. I also look a lot at documentary photography such as Perry Ogden’s “Pony Kids” and William Eggleston’s images of 60s America. I love when design mixes elements that wouldn’t naturally sit together but really work in the final product – a kind of counterintuitive ‘mash-up’ aesthetic. I think what keeps me interested and inspired to do this line of work is that you can communicate so much with clothes. Designers are story tellers in my eyes and this excites me. What does innovation mean to you? Innovation is word that gets used so much in design that it can stop having any real meaning. Fashion is the recycling of old ideas to make them new and relevant once again. I think the most innovative area in fashion now lies within the new technologies and ‘techno’ fabrics/yarns that are being developed. They reflect the fast paced technological era we live in and that’s really cool. Techniques such as 3d printing are now appearing in collections. I think these processes are currently defining innovation in fashion.
“My design brain never quite switches off.. ”
Can you let us in on any secrets or tips to designing a clothing line? Firstly having a lot of money for production and beautiful materials helps! I think it’s important to focus on your personal design strengths and put these to the fore of your collection. If you’re good at embroidery and terrible at pattern cutting, do simple shapes with incredible embellishment. Don’t try to be something that you’re not. It helps to not have too many techniques/colours/shapes conflicting with each other within a collection. This can make it have less impact when it’s shown. Also buyers are keen on collections where all the pieces can be mixed and matched. Don’t forget to put in a few boring plain pieces. These may not be the most exciting to work on but they sell! Try your designs on yourself and your friends. See how they look and feel in the ‘real world’. Be prepared to hate everything half way through. This passes! Tell us some highlights of your time in the fashion industry so far. Working backstage at London Fashion weeks and Paris Fashion weeks are memories that will always stay with me. There’s nothing like that buzz of seeing ideas from the studio materialise onto the catwalk. Another highlight was winning the Peroni Moda Awards last year and going to Milan Fashion Week to work with Marco di Vincenzo. I love his work and he was so kind and encouraging towards me. What is up next for you? I’ve just developed a range of super size scarves to be sold online. These are being made in Scotland and Ireland and feature chunky cables and graphic jacquard patterns. I’ll be launching the new website next month and the e-shop shall follow over the summer. I’ve a few other projects in the pipe line, some of which include 3d printing, but this is still all being mulled over.
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How far is too far?
As an avid animal lover and dog owner, the idea of treating my Jack Russell, Chihuahua cross as a member of the family is a frequent topic of conversation. Should pets be treated as equals in the family household? Or is the concept just absurd? Personally, I often forget that my four legged companion doesn’t share the same mental capabilities as me, and is not going to answer me when I ask “shall we watch a movie?” It’s undeniable that having a pet come into the household, whether it’s a dog, bird, rabbit or snake, is like gaining another family member. Although, letting them sit around the dinner table, well, maybe that’s just me. Where do we draw the line between allowing pets to look like humans, with miniature tracksuits and hoodies, and actually treating them like humans? It’s a well known truth that a dog is ‘man’s best friend’. Animals share many of the same characteristics as us such as loyalty, jealousy and guilt so it’s not unreasonable to consider sharing normal aspects of your daily life with them. The more time you spend with a pet, the more you begin to see their personality devel-
op. It can even sometimes lead to a heavy burden of unnecessary guilt when they are denied some of the simple things we take for granted like a warm meal. More often than not, I find myself sectioning off parts of my dish that I can sneak into the dog bowl after dinner. However, it raises a question on what affect this has on the pet’s behaviour, particularly dogs. While constant affection may feel right for the owner, it’s completely wrong for the dog. Proper emotional stability is needed in order for the dog to feel secure and happy in it’s ‘pack’ with boundaries and rules to follow, ultimately satisfying it’s instinct. It’s about getting a good balance between being a caring and loving owner and being a good leader. Allowing your dog to have a happy life but not spoiling it so much that it has human-like anxieties. At the end of the day, dogs are dogs, just like cows are cows. They’re supposed to eat on the floor and obey those in a superior hierarchical position. As the saying goes, treat your dog like a human and it’ll treat you like a dog.
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Digital Trend prediction Package
B URRED LINES
Womenswear Spring/Summer 15