From the designer who has dressed Lizzo and Michelle Obama to the protégé of Haider Ackermann — the four participants of Net-a-Porter’s spring/summer 2020 Vanguard programme are redefining what it means to be a fashion designer.
“I’d like to see a true increase in the number of younger brands championed [by the industry], especially people of colour and queer designers. It would be great to have more people pulling them for editorials and [to see] stores take on a few units of their work, even just to test it out. That would give [the younger designers] more ability to function.”
Your clothes offer a comment on how we get dressed, focusing on the ‘raw’ essentials. What staples do you feel most inform a wardrobe today? “Crafts and the act of creation has always been crucial to how I think about life. Creating something with your hands and working with other people is most important.”
You were a protégé of Haider Ackermann and student of Central Saint Martins’ rigorous Womenswear MA. What’s the best piece of career advice you’ve received? “I always try to focus on shape, textures and silhouettes. Brutalist architecture informed this collection as I liked its principles of inclusivity and frugality. Autumn/winter20 offers an appreciation of materials in their pure way and an exhibition of geometric structures, while still wanting to keep it feminine.”