FASHION designer Andrea McWha set the catwalk alight with her collection at London Fashion Week.
The 25-year-old from Churchtown impressed former Gucci head and taste-maker extraordinaire Tom Ford and Christopher Bailey, design director of Burberry, after reaching the final stage of Fashion Fringe - the search to uncover new talent.
Tina Miles speaks to the former Southport College student about wowing the industry’s fashion gurus, rubbing shoulders with top super models and designing for Coast.
How was London Fashion Week?
It was mental! It was exhausting but it was definitely worth it. The whole thing was brilliant, it gave me such an adrenaline rush! My mum and dad nearly passed out when they saw Claudia Schiffer and Naomi Campbell sitting in the front row.
Tell us about the Fashion Fringe contest?
It was created four years ago by Colin McDowell, one of the most respected people in fashion, because he wanted to support young talent.
I beat off 164 other applicants to make it into the final four. We presented our capsule collections at London Fashion Week with the world’s fashion press in attendance.
How much time went into designing your collection?
The design process was done in one weekend. I didn’t go to bed for a whole weekend when I was making the outfit I entered for the contest, but it’s a labour of love and there’s nothing I’d rather be doing. I then spent three months making the collection.
How did you get on?
I didn't win but I was over the moon to have made it so far – the level of competition was so high. Since London Fashion Week, I’ve had a lot of companies, like Selfridges, approach me and show interest in buying my collection. I’m not in a financial position to sell it yet because I don’t have the funds to purchase the fabrics and make it, but it has certainly given my confidence a boost.
You’ve designed the limited Fairies and Tuxedos range at Coast and enjoyed business class research trips to New York, Paris, Milan and Hong Kong. What’s next?
I’m freelancing for a range of trend companies in London at the minute, I’m hopefully going to do some freelance for Coast too. Fashion Week was so exciting but I was really busy, so I needed a bit of down time. It’s nice to take a step back and work out what I want to do.
DON'T miss part II when we get Andrea's tips for promising young designers and ask if she's ever come across any Miranda Priestlys or Wilhelmina Slaters?
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