Blandine Bardeau - Womenswear
Describe your graduate collection.
It’s about transformation, people who are unconventional and who have chosen unconventional routes. People like Bjork or Coco Rosie. I also wanted to talk about evolution. What does it mean to be a boy or a girl? These days being human is almost unacceptable, so I decided to create those creatures, who are like animal human beings.
What films / books/ tv programmes / moments inspired your designs?
Movies by Michel Gondry, Jean-Pierre Jeunet and Emir Kusturica. My collection was particularly inspired by this book I read for my dissertation called “Transformations” by Grant David McCracken.
Describe the moment you realized you wanted to be a fashion designer?
I’ve wanted this since I was a kid. I remember I was always dressing up and putting on theatre plays.
Who is your all time fashion idol?
Bjork.
Which designers do you respect?
Bernhard Willhelm and Jean-Charles de Castelbajac.
If you weren’t a fashion designer who would you be?
An artist or illustrator.
Phoebe English - Fashion Knitwear
Describe your graduate collection.
The collection is quite archaic. It’s based on a book called “Gormenghast”, which is a beautiful gothic novel by Mervyn Peake. The novel is very epic and it has those unbelievable hand-drawn illustrations inside, which really inspired me.
Describe the moment you realized you wanted to be a fashion designer?
When I was 15, I was taken to the opening of Radical Fashion at the V&A. I remember staring at a glass box with McQueen’s red feather dress inside. I was completely mesmerized by his work and that’s when I decided that I wanted to provoke the same feelings in others with my own designs.
Who is your all time fashion idol?
Mr Pearl. I worked for him when I was 18 and then last summer. He’s an amazing person and his work is extremely sublime.
What designers do you respect?
Peter Pilotto, Alexander McQueen, Alaia and Balenciaga.
Where do you see yourself in ten years time?
Hopefully in Paris, far away from smelly London!
If you weren’t a fashion designer who would you be?
I would have a drama degree.
