Firstly, a huge congratulations on winning at Graduate Fashion Week 2019! What award did you win?
Thanks a lot, even though it is going on for 5 months ago now since winning the award at GFW it still feels pretty fresh, the award that I won was for the Fashion Publication sponsored by Drapers.
How did it feel when your name was read out during the show?
Incredible! I didn’t think I would win. To even get to that stage felt unreal as I was up against so many other talented students, the whole experience of GFW was enjoyable and winning the competition really topped it off.
Which university did you attend and what course did you study?
I attended Norwich University Of The Arts and studied Fashion Promotion & Communication, really pleased with the course and how they guided me throughout the years, my tutors, did a great job of letting me find myself within projects so it was all self-directed but were also greatly supportive when I needed it.
….What is the most valuable thing that you learnt there?
The most valuable thing I would say I learnt from my years at NUA is to always experiment and to not always stay in my comfort zone as well as pushing myself further with my ideas and projects so I am thinking beyond.
Tell us about your story. What lead you to fashion and choosing that course?
So I will start with when I left school, I really wasn’t sure of what I wanted to do, I mean who exactly is at that age? I knew I wanted to do something creative as I enjoyed Art & Design and other creative subjects, but I made the decision to do an apprenticeship within bench joinery and carpentry as my family were pushing me towards that and it seemed the only option at the time as I was put off by sixth form as you had to study more than one course.
I then made the bold and true decision to leave the carpentry trade after a year and I went to study Art & Design at a college in Bristol which I was at for 2 years, I knew I was on the right path once I had finished college, but wasn’t truly sure on what sector of the creative industries I wanted to delve deeper into, majority of universities that I looked at were for courses like illustration or surface pattern and design, it wasn’t until I went to Norwich that I was told about the course Fashion Promotion & Communication which lead me into having an interview for it and that’s where I made my decision.
I chose the course because all of the work that I was making within college was fashion related and had many cultural and lifestyle references throughout which seemed that it suited this course more, I also was intrigued by it being a creative course that you have design projects but at the same time develop and learn about marketing and the business of fashion and so on.
What themes do you explore with your final year project? And what do they mean to you?
The main themes that I explored within my final year project came from all my personal interests which I guess have naturally just been part of my life since my mid-teens and those themes are music, art and fashion-based and the culture and lifestyle which surrounds itself around it.
Talk us through your final project presented at GFW. How did that come about?
My final project at university which I presented at GFW and won an award for was for a platform/ magazine titled AVNT.G which is short for Avant.Ground. The Magazine celebrates the vibrations of Avant-Garde culture from the underground scenes of the UK Bass music generation. Bringing you everything within and in-between Dubstep, Grime, Drum & Bass, Jungle, Hip Hop, Garage, Bashment and all the other sounds within the scene. The magazine was heavily filled with exciting blends of features and interviews with the most supreme, respected and rising artists within the industry.
The magazine also had a large focus on Fashion and Art featuring independent designers and labels and interviews with graffiti artists, other artists, and photographers.
The magazine came about from my passion and love for the underground music scene of the UK, growing up in Bristol I would find myself at raves when I was about 16, the passion for the Bass music is engraved in me, I wanted to show my love in creating something that many others would seek interest from and also find a place within the market.
What sort of work did you undertake and how did you decide to work this way?
The work that I undertook to create my final project was a big workload especially when I created the whole magazine solo, but of course, I couldn’t have made it without the help of the talented industry individuals for letting me interview them.
The ingredients and journey that it took for me to come out with a 168 perfect bound publication started with idea-generating with what I actually wanted to create, once I had idolised completely the foundations of what the magazine AVNT.G was going to be about, I started to think about the content and structure of the magazine. Once I had a good idea of who I wanted to approach artist wise to start building content, I got in touch with them over Instagram or email. This then leads onto me doing recorded interviews over the phone with artists and also in person which I also would shoot them as well. This process of getting in touch with artists interviewing and shooting them took up a lot of my time but was also the most interesting part. Once all the content was coming together, this is when I had to start designing the magazine which took a lot of time but once I started it came together pretty fast.
I decided to work the way I did is because it felt the most logical way, even though I could of done with a bit more time towards the end, I feel like I went about the project in the best way that I could have.
Do you explore any political, social or historical notions through your work? If so, what messages do you hope to convey?
I would say I explore a great deal of social and cultural notions throughout my work, which I would say I am documenting and celebrating as I feel like it needs to be heard and there is a wide growing audience who would be of interest.
Many say that the industry is undergoing a huge change, with sustainability, diversity, and responsibility becoming huge themes. Do you have any opinions on these movements?
My opinion on all of these changes is that they are all positive movements and are completely needed within the world at this very time. When it comes down to the health of the planet things are looking pretty bleak compared to what they should be, the industry needs to be at the forefront to talk and encourage these themes to the public and businesses for the hope they listen and make changes too.
Mobile App Plans
How would you describe your personal style? What influences you the most?
My personal style is quite hard to explain, its easier to explain my interests and inspiration more, I guess I am inspired by culture the most and I like to observe certain things which are happening within it, the music and rave scene are big inspirations of mine which have impacted my inspiration for my designs in my clothing line, my love for shooting documentary photography and the magazine that I created.
How are you hoping your work will evolve in the future?
I feel that I want there to be more quantity of work, so this means just creating new material and setting myself new projects, it is hard to say, but I guess I would hope for it to evolve to being more experimentative and to have more graphical content, meaning to better my illustrator and photoshop skills. But yeah I think a lot is going to change within my creative journey which I am excited for.
Do you have any upcoming projects we should look out for?
I am trying to push and develop my documentary film photography by going to as many music events and fashion events, I then plan to keep arranging to meet up with industry artists and interview them and shoot them as well, the plan is then to create my own editorial platform that I release the interviews with the artists onto. My fashion label HydenSeek is an ongoing project of mine, which I also release the majority of my creations through. I hope to release more designs and products within the next few months.
Where do you hope to be in five year’s time?
In five years time I hope to of had 5 years worth of great industry experiences, which would have landed me in a great job that I am passionate about, and is heavily culturally driven.
Graduate Fashion Week provides a platform for fashion graduates to showcase their work regardless of the specific discipline. Which area of the industry are you hoping to pursue, and what informed this choice?
I have many interests within different sectors of the fashion/creative industry, I feel like once I start gaining experience within a certain job roll it will make me wiser and knowledgeable if its what I want to pursue longterm or if I should go and try something else. At the moment I feel like I want to work for an editorial platform or publication, but I am pretty unsure of what part of that I would like to be, of course, I would love to be an art director, but that comes after years of experience so that would be the goal.
Winning his award at GFW 19
What one thing would you recommend our visitors do whilst at GFW?
I would suggest that you look at as much as you can and also speak to lots of people, I would suggest to go to the different guest speaker talks as they are very interesting.
If you could give one piece of advice to yourself in first year at university, what would it be?
To attend every session/lecture even when you are tired and to keep motivated and focused, keep exploring, get in a good routine straight away, use the library it’s very useful.
What top five tips would you give to final year students?
1. Go to every session timetabled and always make the most out of walk-in sessions with your tutors.
2. Plan out your final year projects as best you can, you have a good amount of time in your final major project so plan it out so you have deadlines to meet throughout, as it is easy to lose track of time.
3. Try and venture out of your course projects and do something on the side, which applies your creative self but in a real-life experience, for example setting up your own event/making your own clothing line or putting on an exhibition, it’s all extra experience which also can be related to your uni work and you can hand it in to be graded.
4. Explore your uni city more in your free time.
5. Network with as many people as you can.
Work portfolio by Ciara Neale