From the studio to the London catwalk to Design Assistant

Mary Sinclair Gibson graduated from BA (Hons) Fashion in 2017, with her collection closing the NUA Graduate Fashion Week show.  In this blog, Mary shares her journey from studio to catwalk and to her position as a Design Assistant at H&M.

From studio to catwalk

My collection and ideas really started to fully come together after New Year. It was around 4 months until the Graduate Fashion Week selection where I had to present to Hilary Alexander and Betty Jackson.

I had been experimenting a lot with different fabrics, colours and silhouettes but everything really fell into place once I draped my final look from my collection, the Ishioma dress.

The day of the catwalk show

After selection the catwalk felt like it came around so quickly. I had spent the last couple of days running up to the show designing and making jewellery to complete some of the looks.

I was still finishing my ear cuff pieces backstage during the walk through before the show. This was intense but I feel like some of my best work has come from when I’m really under pressure!

Seeing the designs come to life in London

It was such a liberating experience seeing my designs come to life on the catwalk. I was selected to close the show, it was an emotional build up seeing everyone’s collections before mine and I felt very proud of what we had all achieved. 

My journey after Graduate Fashion Week

Showcasing my collection and portfolio at Graduate Fashion Week opened up many amazing work opportunities and collaborative ideas, including my 12 month graduate placement with Karen Millen’s design team.

That internship really gave me insight into how a high street brand works. It was really interesting to experience the whole process of creating seasonal collections from themed concept mood boards, designing, sampling and finally seeing the final product in store.

To Sweden!

After I finished my placement I moved to Stockholm to work for H&M as an Assistant Designer on Womenswear.

My overall experience of Graduate Fashion Week was really great. It is such a good platform to showcase my work and meet people within the industry. I am really looking forward to flying back for the 2019 show!

Photos by Kerry Curl and Denisa Ilie

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