The first thing I noticed about Alice England’s Graduate Fashion Week 2010 collection was her colour popping designs in figure hugging fabrics; a big nod to the 80’s fashion and a good indication of the quirky imagination from this designer.
Alice England knew from an early age that she wanted to be a Fashion Designer. The desire to break away from the ‘norm’ of school uniform and the ‘cloning’ system was an early indication that this designer had a sense of personal style and thankfully she went on to pursue her dreams of Fashion!
Attending Liverpool John Moore University (LJMU), Alice has produced 3 collections, The first being “bum bags and furry dice” for her second year at University, then the “Me and Mrs Jones” graduate collection: A/W 2010 club wear collection inspired by the 1980’s shapes and forms, gaming culture and the infamous rubik’s cube and lastly “After Eight” an intriguing all black collection, based on Victorian lampshades, the nature of light and dark and the sordid affairs of goings-on in the dark corners of a drawing room. The last collection was designed purely for the Young Northwest Designer of the Year Award for which Alice England came second.
Inspirational people for the designer include Azzedine Alaia, Herve Leger, Mark fast, Nathan Jenden, Gareth Pugh, Helmut Newton and Rankin and her favourite piece from all her collections is her 3-dimentional patent-leather Pacman skirt from the “Me and Mrs Jones” collection. I’m a big fan of this skirt too and I would also like to own one of the fab dresses from the collection – I think my wardrobe needs one!!
The designer states that fashion is all about sex and her cheeky, flirtatious character is reflected in her designs. Alice says, “ I want to emit cheeky, sexy, fun in the wearer. For example, I use a lot of Power mesh, which creates strong connotations of sexuality and voyeurism”. Her personal style is often described as 80’s infused but she also has a love for anything from the late 1960’s to the early 90’s. The palette is often black but states that when she wears colour, she wears a lot and her “Me and Mrs Jones” collection expresses her style the best.
Alice England is currently working on her new collection “Go Faster” which is inspired by road signs and she confesses that she is literally inspired by anything. A single idea can launch a whole new collection, which keeps her designs fresh, real and fun. Favourite fabrics can be seen throughout the collections such as mesh and lycra and black is also a common denominator with bursts of colour. Debbie Harry and Rihanna are strong contenders for the position of ‘muse’ for the designer.
Overall, the designer shows great dexterity and I am looking forward to seeing the “Go Faster” collection when it débuts along with the launch of her own label in the future.
Graduate collection is now available to buy at www.artistspringboard.com
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