Young designers

It takes a lot these days to be an independent fashion designer. But when stylist Lulu Bullock curated this list of the 10 most exciting ones working today, she found a common thread in their work: an unwavering commitment to craft. From Six95 and Joshua Ewusie’s leather work and Cecile Tulkens’ approach to knitwear, to Ellen Poppy Hill’s blending of art with fashion and Aminat Seriki’s ingenious use of metal off — cuts , all of them create work from the most fundamental building blocks, stitch by stitch, cut by cut. That, in turn, speaks to something else: a true believer’s faith in what they’re doing.

“There is a vital sincerity in the work each of these people make,” says Lulu. ​“I see all of these pieces as artefacts of a strange time. A proof-of-life in a time of fascism. We are all creating to make sense of our realities and to maintain a small sense of autonomy over our lives.” And, in her gathering together of designers from Lagos to London, Barcelona to Bristol and Eastbourne back to London, another common thread emerged: ​“It’s important to me to make images that treat the subject with dignity — I think that all of these designers engage with that concern, too.”

Describe your practice.

I predominantly make one-off clothes out of vintage and pre-loved things, focusing on storytelling, performance and the joy of making. I also have an art practice where I draw, paint and do costume design.

What gets you out of bed in the morning?

The sun! If it’s raining or grey, I need more convincing.

Describe your personal style.

It will match the character I feel like performing that day. Clothes are a costume and I like to play a part.

Who or what is your greatest inspiration?

Optimists, realists and storytellers.

What’s something you can’t leave the house without?

Coffee and a fabulous attitude.

Biggest misconception about being a designer?

That you’re constantly surrounded by people and chaos. I’m by myself having internal battles daily.

What do you remind yourself when it all gets a bit much?

I’m so lucky to do be able to do this!

Best thing about your job?

Freedom.

What gets you out of bed in the morning?

Ten alarms, the radio and two coffees.

Describe your personal style.

A shipwreck.

Describe your practice.

Emotional, process-based and heritage-adjacent.

What’s the design you are most proud of?

My knitted mohair bomber jacket from AW24.

Who or what is your greatest inspiration?

My friends and Giorgio Armani.

What’s something you can’t leave the house without?

My dog.

What do you remind yourself of when it all gets a bit much?

Eat some vegetables.

What’s something the world should know about you?

I’m a nerd!

Where’s the best place to go out and have fun these days?

La Camionera in East London.

What’s the best thing about your job?

Making things — the attempt is all part of it.

What do you reckon the future of fashion looks like?

Hopefully more domestic.

What would you like to be remembered for?

Perfectly mad knitwear.

Describe your personal style.

I just wear whatever character I feel like being that day. Sometimes I don’t want to be anyone, other times I want to be Lana Del Rey or some random redneck.

What’s making you excited right now?

Seeing some of my dreams become reality.

Who or what is your greatest inspiration?

Life itself inspires me. Teenagers and their way of speaking. The way people move and eat and smoke and drink. Whatever is pure and authentic, from a fork to a painting.

What do you listen to when you’re working?

A lot of crap. I also listen to exceptional music, from Salem to Papá Levante to Addison Rae to Susumu Yokota to Cocteau Twins.

What got you into fashion?

My grandma’s costume obsession got me into fashion.

What do you remind yourself of when it all gets a bit much?

That I can quit and do any other job in the world.

Where’s the best place to go out and have fun these days?

Wherever your best friends are.

What would you like to be remembered for?

This interview.

Describe your practice.

I work from observation and imagination — starting with objects, art or gestures and translating them onto the body through draping and movement to create intuitive,artistic and elegant pieces.

What’s making you excited right now?

To have everything still to build; to be at the beginning of something.

What’s something the world should know about you?

I’m a very sensitive person, easily moved by things, and I carry that feeling into my work, often staying connected to a sense of childhood wonder. I’m also Tunisian and Algerian — my family culture and religion are a big part of my life even if it doesn’t show in my work.

What do you listen to when you’re working?

Olivia Dean, Miley Cyrus, Prince, and a lot of classic French songs.

What got you into fashion?

My older sister was really well-dressed and I admired her a lot. Watching TV and being a very lonely, imaginative child, I would take whatever was around me and turn it into something to wear on my body.

What do you remind yourself of when it all gets a bit much?

To trust the timing of things.

What do you reckon the future of fashion looks like?

Less minimalism and quiet luxury.More surprising materials and volume. Celebrating individual uniqueness.

Describe your practice.

I work with offcut metal ranging from aluminium, steel or stainless steel, and essentially, [I am] giving it life again using traditional blacksmithing techniques including bending, forging, pressing and polishing.

What gets you out of bed in the morning?

TikTok.

Who or what is your greatest inspiration?

James Garner, owner of Flux Metal, introduced me to creative welding. He’s incredibly knowledgeable, full of ideas, and has inspired me immensely. Grace Jones — I love how unpredictable she is.

What do you listen to when you’re working?

Klein, James Massiah and Lauren Duffus.

What got you into fashion?

Definitely my dad, he has such great taste and is super open minded. He loves taking photos. I admired that about him. Images are everything and they hold memories.

Biggest misconception about being a designer?

That it’s just about aesthetics. That’s definitely part of it, but so is problem solving and storytelling.

What would you like to be remembered for?

For the different ways in which I blend and join materials together. I’m taking materials and mechanisms out of context and using them as decorative one-offpieces with elements of functionality.

What gets you out of bed in the morning?

Unfinished ideas. Getting out of bed feels like returning to an ongoing conversation rather than starting from scratch.

Describe your personal style.

Casual-tailored: cap, shirt, jeans, a wool jacket and a scarf. It’s basically my Simpsons uniform. If something works, I wear it on repeat.

What’s the design you are most proud of?

I tend to fixate on whatever I’ve just finished. But in this case, it’s a beaded egg headpiece with a solitary feather I created a few months ago, like an idea in the process of hatching.

Who or what is your greatest inspiration?

Julie Heffernan’s Self-Portrait as Not Dead Yet is a painting I constantly come back to. It’s theatrical and surreal.

What’s something you can’t leave the house without?

The thought that I might have left the iron on.

What got you into fashion?

Lady Gaga’s Bad Romance music video, 2009.

Biggest misconception about being a designer?

That it’s glamorous.

What would you like to be remembered for?

If I died tomorrow, my attention to detail. In 50 years, for my career and contribution. And in 100 years… well, probably just for dying as a supercentenarian.

Describe your practice.

It’s a very delicate take on sportswear, drawing from dance and inspired by choreographers like Michael Clark and Vaslav Nijinsky. Lightness and gesture are very important to me.

Describe your personal style.

A scarf tied to a handbag.

Who or what is your greatest inspiration?

I’m very into Oscar Wilde this season.

What’s something the world should know about you?

I’m single.

What got you into fashion?

As a child I had a rag doll that I loved so much. The shop I got it from would release a new outfit for her every season. My mum and I would get it religiously every six months.

Biggest misconception about being a designer?

Everyone thinks you are partying all the time, but there’s no time to do that!

What do you remind yourself of when it all gets a bit much?

I try to fight stress with pragmatism. What resources do you have? What skills? How much time? How can you utilise these in the most productive way possible?

Best thing about your job?

How tactile and real-world it is. Seeing an object come together in front of you as you make it is so great.

Describe your practice.

Narrative-led, crafts-focused and documentative.

Describe your personal style.

I like odd colours. Fit is important to me. My wardrobe has to be quite versatile, something that’s comfortable to wear in the studio but also put together enough to go for drinks after.

What’s making you excited right now?

The new clothes I’m making.

Who or what is your greatest inspiration?

1980s-era Britain. A lot of artists, musicians, directors whose work I love started their creative careers around that time, especially those from the diaspora.

What’s something the world should know about you?

I was born on the first day of Gemini.

What got you into fashion?

The women in my life.

What do you listen to when you’re working?

A lot of Solange.

Biggest misconception about being a designer?

That it’s easy.

What do you remind yourself of when it all gets a bit much?

That it’s never that serious.

Where’s the best place to go out and have fun these days?

Lewisham!

What would you like to be remembered for?

Doing fun things with leather.

Describe your practice.

A lot of my process is instinctive, reacting to materials, objects and limitations as they come up. I like working within constraints and challenging myself to create the most desirable object that I can within those boundaries.

Describe your personal style.

Big hair, old clothes.

What’s making you excited right now?

Meeting other creative people, participating in culture and finding my place as the founder of a brand.

Who or what is your greatest inspiration?

My mum. She was a prop-maker and is now a potter and she taught me the joy of using my hands.

What’s something the world should know about you?

I don’t know if the world needs to know anything about me.

What do you listen to when you’re working?

Mindless trash.

What got you into fashion?

An obsession with making — bodies became the ultimate exhibition space, everything I made had to be worn to be seen.

What do you remind yourself when it all gets a bit much?

We’re not saving lives!

Best thing about your job?

That you don’t know where it will lead.

What would you like to be remembered for?

Being kind and curious.

What gets you out of bed in the morning?

Anxiety, restlessness and impatience.

What’s the design you are most proud of?

Non-processed scarves. These scarves are created without any other process other than attaching labels. They are made from discounted unsold short lengths or damaged fabric purchased from fabric shops.

Who or what is your greatest inspiration?

People who cannot see things from multiple perspectives. Peer pressure. Contemporary art.

What’s something the world should know about you?

Please don’t know about Gil.

What do you listen to when you’re working?

The sound of the inside of an airplane during flight.

What got you into fashion?

There are many ideas and mediums that Gil wanted to challenge, and when Gil was working as a hair stylist and make-up artist, it turned out that Gil couldn’t do what Gil wanted to do, so Gil chose to create something like a brand.

Where’s the best place to go out and have fun these days?

Gil doesn’t go out at all.

What do you reckon the future of fashion looks like?

An increase in saturation.

What would you like to be remembered for?

A unique existence.

HAIR Virginie Moreira at MA+ MAKEUP Claire Urquhart at Julian Watson Agency CASTING DIRECTOR Nico Mao at Midland TALENT Bebe at Next PRODUCTION Drive Represents PRODUCER Anna Riazanova STYLIST’S ASSISTANTS Johanna Crafoord and Louise McDonald-Teriba HAIR ASSISTANT Shahiyan Mason