Al Fresco!

A Lifestyle Interiors collection inspired by my travels around Italy last summer, exploring key aspects of Mediterranean lifestyle. Al Fresco to mean ‘in the fresh air’, represents a movement for cultivating outdoor spaces and communal dining that serves as a purpose to reconnect and reflect. Influenced by the unhurried pace of coastal life, the collection aims to convey the essence of leisurely evenings filled with warmth, laughter over shared meals, connection and simple pleasures.  I wanted to create a strong narrative through each of my prints, to encompass and celebrate a lifestyle that essentially values the enjoyment of life itself. 

Exploring Drape for a Lightweight Curtain

Journey: Creating a Collection

The process from ideation to creation develops over time through use of colour, mood boards and research, testing, printing and assimilating it all together.

Last Term’s Work:

City Calling

Inspired by my experience working in the heart of London on my Placement year, I was immersed into the fast-paced dynamics of London and the urban environments. I was exposed to numerous aspects of the city, which prompted me to want to explore a diverse range of ideas as London is not just one thing- but an amalgamation of culture, tradition, and history.

My visual inspiration derives from my personal experience of London such as movement of people and transport, urban textures I saw around the city, and iconography synonymise to the city. I also wanted to develop a contemporary twist on traditional heritage patterns like a tartan or pinstripe/ stripe shirt. I am exploring graphic styles, questioning how to interpret movement within prints. I want the collection to be a mix of contemporary and traditional, creating an aesthetic of quintessentially British in fashion silhouettes, textures, and materials, with an essence of Punk movement pushed through colour and prints.

Due to London’s diverse climate, I felt the collection best reflected a contemporary male and female trans-seasonal collection that capitalizes on a capsulewardrobe for use all year-round. My Target Market is accessible to European consumers and city goers due to the blurring of seasons- there is less of a structured summer/winter wardrobe now. Adapting and innovating future collections in face of future climate uncertainty and accessibilities. The collection re-enforces the idea of loving your wardrobe, and wearing clothing numerous times and ways, investing in high quality pieces. They are long life keep sake pieces that are not defined by micro trends, especially in the climate of cost of living and financial scrutiny. Prints also serve as multi-purpose in their designs, focusing on reversible garments for different seasons and occasions, for the ‘on the go’ consumer. It is stylish while being fun, classic and a hint of timelessness.

Work Experience

As part of my year on placement, I worked as a showroom and design Intern for Milliken, in their carpet tile devision. I learnt how to use their programming, as well as how to utilise commercial and statement prints within a collection. My main project that I worked on over the year was creating a collection based off of my second year work, which was then launched as part of Clerkenwell Design Week 2023.