We caught up with previous GFW designer and exhibitor Yasmeen Uddin, University of East London, to hear about her movie debut in Absolutely Fabulous: The Movie.
Graduate Fashion Week has always acted as a fantastic platform for new designers, with many students making contacts and links with key people within the fashion industry. One of GFW’s latest success stories is that of Yasmeen Uddin. Since participating in GFW 2015 – which Yasmeen now considers a must for any Fashion Graduate – many more doors have opened for her. From having received a personal invitation from Iris Apfel to a private viewing of her movie and requested ownership of the illustrated Iris dress, to now being asked to feature one of her designs in the Absolutely Fabulous movie out in cinemas on Friday 1st July 2016.
Q: Tell us a little about yourself and the story of your brand?
A: I am 23 years old and graduated the University of East London with a degree in Fashion Design with Fashion Marketing. I’m now currently working in quality at New Look where I plan to gain as much knowledge in the industry as I can, before going on to set up my own brand.
Q: How does it feel to be chosen for the Movie?
A: It was a massive surprise when I first found out, couldn’t really believe it, I still can’t! I am so proud that something I made will actually be used in a movie like Absolutely Fabulous. I just cannot wait to see it on the big screen!
Q: How did it all come about?
A: The films costume designer Rebecca Hale contacted me and just said that she loved the collection and would love to feature an outfit in the Movie, I said Absolutely! It all kind of went from there.
Q: Can you tell us about the concept or design process behind the chosen dress?
A: I have always had a passion for illustration, so when doing my final collection I really want to combine my love of that and design. I then decided I wanted to illustrate faces that were very distinguished and that were recognisable in the world of Fashion. (Yasmeen’s designed featured the illustrated faces of; Anna Wintour, Grace Jones, Twiggy, Coco Chanel, Rick Owens and Iris Apfel).
Q: What is you biggest achievement to date?
A: Having the opportunity to show at graduate fashion week is one of my biggest achievements to date, before I had even started university it was a dream, and really gave me something to work towards, so being selected was an amazing feeling. However, having a dress from my collection being selected to be in a Movie (especially one like Abfab!) was phenomenal and truly unthinkable.
Q: What is your biggest motivation as a designer?
A: My biggest motivation as a designer is seeing other people's reactions to my work; it’s a priceless moment.
Q: What are your plans for the future?
A: I plan to work on building my own brand, and hope I can get involved with a lot more projects like the Ab-Fab movie. Although at the moment, my main focus is to continue to learn more about the industry and building my website.
Graduate Fashion Week would like to thank Yasmeen Uddin for her time and we can’t wait to see what she goes on to achieve in the future.