Meet Meerim Mamatova, The FACE Excellence Prize Award Winner. She studied for a BA in Fashion at Kingston University.
How do you feel about winning a GFW22 award?
I felt honoured and grateful for getting selected to the top 12 and being able to present my work in front of the judges with such established names in the industry. This experience along was extremely rewarding.
But receiving an Award among other remarkable talents was validating not just for me and my work, but my culture and place where I came from, which was an inspiration for my final major project.
What was the inspiration starting point for your award-winning FMP?
Coming from Kyrgyzstan, the land of Nomads, I have been fascinated by the history, lifestyle, and habitat of Central Asian citizens, and that laid a foundation for the direction of my graduate collection. My inspiration drew from the idea of nomadic people, people who are in constant motion, traveling from one place to another, stepping a foot on one land or another, and despite that, it never stopped them from creating a feeling of a home in every single one of them. Carrying their cloth and yurts, they have always found a home in the place they stood, on land they stepped.
What skills did you learn and develop during the production of your FMP?
I think starting from the very beginning of the creative process such as research, design development, fabric selection, and coming to actually make the clothes, styling them, and working on the promotional package, overall the development of the whole collection from the start till the end was a huge lesson for me. For me as a designer who enjoys not only the concept development but also making part, was very crucial to sew all the garments myself. I took this opportunity to learn and explore the construction of a variety of garments from shirts, skirts, and dresses to trousers, jackets, and coats. That was also my first time designing and making menswear clothes, and I have discovered that I enjoy it as much as making the womenswear look.
What were some challenges that you faced in producing your FMP and how did you overcome these?
Despite certain making moments, focusing my final major project on my culture, which is not very well known to others yet, and sharing it with people who are new to it, means that I introduce them not only to me and my work but also to the country and people that laid as inspiration for it. Becoming a “representative” I felt the responsibility to portray it most authentically, trying to stay true to the research while emerging it with my outtake on design.
On that, I want to say a special Thank you to my tutor David Frizzell from Kingston School of Art for supporting and leading me throughout the whole process of collection development. His guidance and teaching approach helped me to find the right balance and left me with the desirable outcome.
Are there any messages or major themes in your FMP that you want people to take away? If so, how did you choose to communicate them?
With the name of my final project “Name My Land - JER” which translates from Kyrgyz to “Land”, I wanted to convey my understanding of the relations that we share as humans. We are all more or less a Nomads, who are in constant movement, sharing one big house, a land that we all should feel welcomed at, a place that should feel like a home, no matter where we are and who we are.
What is an aspect of the fashion industry that you want to help improve or have a positive impact on?
Diversity and equality are very crucial topics that should be discussed, especially within the fashion industry, which only wins with its richness of it. As creatives who always strive for inspiration, we should help each other to discover new places and share new sources of information and potential inspirations that could bring a beautiful outcome in the future. And I will try to play my role within it. But of course, we also shouldn’t forget about the environmental responsibility that we hold as creators and do our best to contribute to the development of better and more sustainable life.
What form does your FMP take? Is it a collection of clothing, book, presentation, etc? If relevant, how did you source the materials for the project?
My final major project presented in a form of 6-look clothing collection that consists of 20 garments, promotional package that includes editorial and look book shots, and digital portfolio.
What are your plans for the near future (further study/ internship/ work?) now that you've finished your BA?
It is just a beginning, there are still so many things I want to learn and experience. The fashion industry is huge and full of amazing people, so I’m looking forward meeting them and learning from them and continue growing as a designer. I’m planning to get to know the industry better, right know I’m in process of applying and finding a right place to start my new journey at. But of course I will continue working on my own independent projects, perfecting my skills and exploring a new themes that excite me.