Get to know GFF Talent, Sally Stephenson. Sally is a fashion design and marketing graduate from Northumbria University, whose final major project is brand for 12-16-year-olds, which encourages the wearer to attach value and establish an emotional connection to their clothing. The first collection is inspired by the Lake District. Read more about Sally’s work below!
What is the most valuable thing you have learnt at university?
My four years of university has made me grow as a person as well as a designer. Most importantly, it’s made me build up so much confidence and I’ve learnt to believe in myself. For the first couple of years I felt insecure and used to compare my work to others, but after I returned from my placement year, I realised that there isn’t a set example of what your work should look like. I have embraced my own style which has made a huge difference to my work as well as my mental health. My placement year opportunity was incredible for becoming confident in my own work. Presenting was never a strong point of mine which definitely improved through my year in industry. I never expected to gain so much self-confidence at university, but I am so grateful that I did. I also learnt that it is crucial to take breaks.
Admittedly, I learnt this far too late into the course but the difference in creativity and work quality when you’re taking care of yourself versus when you’re working on very little sleep is huge. This was difficult to balance in final year due to the current situation but the motivation I felt after a full eight-hour sleep is unmatched. I had a small amount of experience in making garments before I started University, but I now have complete confidence in how to create a garment from beginning to end. Garment production is one of the most daunting parts of the course, especially pattern cutting. However, the technicians have taught it in such a way that it’s become an exciting challenge. This was highly beneficial when it came to the new adaptation of using my flat’s floor to pattern cut with limited materials and cut out fabrics. Four years of fashion design has been a challenge, but I’d happily do it all over again.
What was the starting point of inspiration for your final project? (300 words)
I've been specialising in children's wear since my second year and decided to also specialise in print. For this year, I decided to create for the unseen consumer of 12-16 year olds. Through primary and secondary research as well as personal experience, I noticed that this consumer hasn't got a specific brand targeted to them. This is why I created the brand Causeway which focuses on creating clothing specifically for this age range. It focuses on high-quality clothing to create memories with, to be handed down for generations. For my care labels, I included a QR code that would link to Causeway's website for the garment owner to submit their memories with the garment. The person it's handed down to can read previous memories and add their own, creating a story.
I love this idea for my brand as it creates a new meaning to hand-me-down clothing and provides more sentimental value. My starting point for the theme of my final major project was a trip to the Lake District in the summer of 2020. For the launch collection, I used shapes of wildflowers and hills in the Lake District to inform my silhouettes and prints, making them wearable for the difficult age range that I chose. I aimed for my launch collection to have a balance of casual and smart-casual garments which again helps to accommodate all of the age ranges styles. For the garments, I took inspiration from old mining uniforms which also informed fabric choices. The hardiness of the fabrics of the uniforms works well with my brand’s concept. I used screen printing and freehand machine embroidery to create the prints in the collection, giving a hand-done finish to them which adds texture and a personal touch to the collection.
What form does your final project take?
My final project is a range of five outfits. From that, I made two outfits due to the situation being challenging and unclear. We had very little university access in the first semester but were able to develop a lot of print samples which I feel really grateful for. The rush to create the two looks in last semester was really exhilarating and quite fun now that I can look back on it.
To showcase these garments, I was able to do a photography shoot at a reservoir in Northumberland which wasn’t the initial plan but still worked well for my concept and I really love the outcome. I used a washing line between two trees to hang the garments on. I was worried about the hanger appeal as the jacket and dress are quite bulky, but once there was a breeze behind the garments to make them flow, they looked really beautiful. The fact that there is no model is beneficial to my brand and its customer. I know that I used to compare myself to the models when buying clothing when I was younger, which is such a damaging habit; this photoshoot eradicates the chance of a consumer doing this.
What materials have you used and how did you source them?
Sustainability wasn’t a question when it came to designing my collection. The impact on the environment should always be at the front of a designer’s mind. I know from primary research that the target consumer for my brand is passionate about the environment and worry about Climate Change a lot. Due to this, my brand also has sustainability close to its heart. I used entirely cotton for my collection. For the garments I created I used organic cotton denim from the Organic Textile Company, and cotton jerseys and twill from Whaley’s in Bradford. Both smaller businesses in the UK which I try to opt for wherever possible.
Due to the lockdown, it was impossible to go to fabric shops and be able to feel the fabrics. This created a lot of trial and error when ordering swatches from various businesses online. I of course wanted my fabrics to be high quality which is difficult to tell from a picture on a screen. The sweatshirt jersey required needed to not be too heavyweight in order to gather for my original dress design. As for my denim, I didn’t want any stretch which made the search for the perfect denim much easier. I think I’d ordered from five different websites before stumbling on the gem that is the Organic Textiles Company. I didn’t use many trims in this collection. I knitted the cuffs and neckband for the dress using cotton yarn at University, and used a recycled button for the jacket and zip for the jeans, adding another story to the garments.
How has it evolved from your initial ideas and what have you learnt along the way?
I started the project with the idea of having removable, reversible panels which could be attached to any garment in the collection. Through 3D development on a mini mannequin, I realised that this would be impossible, and would require at least 3 different shapes. I wanted my brand to sell these panels with the prints of the season on so the customer would only need to buy one or two with their favourite prints. I then realised that this age range is still growing, so would potentially need to buy a new garment every year or two years as opposed to just the panels.
I also discovered that these panels would create a lot of wastage due to their shape, so then scrapped the idea. Alterations needed to be made to the sweatshirt dress whilst making it. The two toiles I made had no issues, but problems arrived when it came to printing the final sweatshirt material. Due to the three-layer screen print, the fabric became heavier and cracked when I tried to gather it. Due to the heaviness, the front and back yoke seams also became very bulky. After a third try of gathering the material, I made the decision to remove the gathering at the yokes. This was disappointing at first, but once the whole dress was finished, the design didn’t look much different but was far more flattering. It also made the print more impactful, and it speaks for itself without the gathering.
What are the messages and themes behind your project that you want people to take away? Do explore any topics like diversity, sustainability or politics in your work?
The most important message of my brand and its launch collection is to embrace hand-me-down clothing. I wanted to change the narrative on hand-me-down clothing. Second-hand clothing has, fortunately, becoming more of a trend in the past couple of years, but hand-me-down clothes still has a stigma attached. Adopting these purchase habits is crucial to transforming the fashion industry to become less harmful to the environment. Encouraging people to develop deeper connections with their clothing would also help with this.
This is why I introduced the QR code concept into the care labels of my garments with details on who made it, when they made it, how many they made as well as the usual care information. It also has a memory bank where whoever wears the garment can input the memories that they made. My brand also would hold workshops to teach it’s consumers new skills such as embroidery, lino printing, homemade screen printing and more. This will encourage customers to personalise their clothing or second-hand clothing to make it feel more ‘them’.
What’s an aspect of the fashion industry that you’re passionate about fixing or having a positive impact on?
I am completely passionate about designing childrenswear. I think that tackling the problem of sustainability within childrenswear is difficult due to the rate at which children grow, which is why I chose the hand-me-down approach. After researching it seemed like the only solution was adaptable clothing, but I decided I wanted to go about it another way. As mentioned previously, as a population we need to change our mindset on second-hand clothing, hand-me-down clothing and also change our purchasing habits. I definitely could have done more within my collection to be sustainable such as buying deadstock fabrics or repurposing second-hand clothing however lockdown did make this difficult. This would have matched one of my brand’s values to teach girls to embroider and print on their clothing, proving that you can make something new out of something old.
What is your plan once you finish your BA?
I don’t have a solid plan once I finish University due to the current state of the job market. My dream is to be a childrenswear designer or children’s print designer. The big dream would be to create my own childrenswear brand that begins to bridge the gap between childrenswear and women’s/menswear. I am open to other opportunities such as lingerie design which I have focussed on for my brands follow on collection. I specialised in tween lingerie for my third year which was an enjoyable challenge for me, so decided to showcase and push these skills further. My current plan is to learn punch needle embroidery and create large scale artworks to decorate all the walls in my family’s house and gift to friends and family. I had a successful Etsy shop in the Summer of 2020 which I plan to continue in my free time.