Click:Garment bag making machine
Graduate Fashion Week
showcased more than 1,000 fashion students and graduates and over the past
few weeks FashionUnited has been profiling the very best in the next
generation of fashion designers you need to watch out for.
Up next in our graduate profile series is triple GFW 2015 winner,
Edinburgh College of Art’s Melissa Villevieille for her creative ‘Fauve,
Moi?’ collection. The womenswear designer scooped the prestigious
Womenswear Award, Catwalk Textiles Award and the David Band Textiles Award
at this year’s Graduate Fashion Week.
Following the gala showcase, the French-American designer sat down with
FashionUnited to discuss the inspiration behind her collection, why she
decided to pursue fashion designer, as well as share her GFW experience.
What attracted you to a career in fashion?
I am a French-American designer, two rather confused cultures that have
given me a unique understanding on aesthetics and perception of beauty. My
interest lies in design and textiles, but less in terms of prints and more
in terms of how a textile moves and effects the body, the feeling, and the
look. How a garment reacts and changes to each woman inside will never
cease to intrigue me and is the driving force behind my design aesthetic:
the body to cloth experience.
Tell us about your graduating collection – what was the inspiration
behind it?
Originally inspired by a piece of music, Tchaikovsky’s Violin Concerto
in D Major, I became obsessed in recreating that feeling. He broke the
rules of classism of that time, playing flats, off beats, crescendos, all
to create an emotional, raw experience for the listener, the players, and
the conductor. Tchaikovsky translates his raw emotions through this piece
which transcends time. He was considered a fauve at the time, which led me
onto looking into the fauvist movement – a group of painters that would
express themselves through painting, with unpremeditated strokes and wild
colours that would immediately translate their feelings. I knew then that I
wanted my collection to have that raw feel to it, energy, and boldness.
It is also what led me to my textiles where I was determined to reinvent
classical methods of weaving, to make it more instinctual and in the
moment. Through two of my techniques I created a new, more immediate type
of weaving through both threads and cords, which allowed me, in a way to
paint with my hands. However, instead of paint, I used threads to create my
canvas.
What was your Graduate Fashion Week experience like – and how was
it to pick up two awards?
It felt incredible and most of all shocking to win. To be honest, I had
such a strong, emotional connection with these pieces that I had done it
for myself, rather than for others and how they would perceive. I’ve had a
long journey to this point, with massive struggle of self confidence and a
rather extreme fear of showing my work to others.
The only way I could make it through is knowing that the collection was
generated for my self, an expression for my own emotions, and almost as a
final chapter to my struggles in these studies. I found peace in it during
my final catwalk show with all my incredible friends (classmates) and I
couldn’t have asked for more at that point. So being chosen and recognised
after that was just an added burst of awe, shock, and happiness for me.
Did you have a specific audience in mind when designing your final
collection? Who is your target customer?
I base my designs on the space between the body and the cloth, therefore
the woman I design for is looking to enhance her dressing experience for
herself rather than for others. She wants to feel free in her movements and
regal in her environment.
What do you plan to do now that you’ve graduated? What are your
plans for your career in the future?
I hope to take on as many internships and job opportunities as I can. I
feel like I’m just beginning to learn about the industry and am excited to
learn more about different sectors. I would like to potentially do a
Masters if I find a sector in which I would love to specialise in, like
knitwear, textile futures, or design.
Where do you hope to see yourself/your label in five years time?
I hope to be working for a designer and an ethos that I strongly believe
in, where I am challenged creatively every day and am constantly innovating
and pursuing my own design ideas on the side.
What designers/labels do you most admire? Who would you love to
work or collaborate with?
A great example of the type of designer I admire is Issey Miyake, I love
how he designs for the ‘intelligent woman’ as he puts it and designs an
experience. He uses his textiles to dictate a design pattern and recognises
that movement, and freedom to be key features in every design giving a
garment a raw strength on its own.
What advice would you give to aspiring fashion designers?
Stay true to yourself! Even if you feel like a fish out of water it will
all make sense in the end. I was never the trend searching, Vogue all
knowing fashion student, and when I stopped trying to adapt to that and
started nurturing my own unique perspective I learned to truly love and
enjoy the process.
Images: Melissa Villevieille
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