It may seem like the distant past now, but I’d like to speak a little about your Graduate Collection. I like how it plays with traditional male and female aesthetics. Could you tell us a bit about your process and influences in creating the collection? I like playing with the idea that men’s and women’s wear can in fact just be neutral. For example, a third of my wardrobe is menswear pieces. I also know a lot of girls that wear guys clothing effortlessly. But when you flip this idea, there’s hardly any men that could pick a women’s garment up and be like, ‘Hey, I can so wear that!’ So that’s kind of why I make such versatile pieces. Strong masculine silhouettes with a more feminine colour palette. Why do you think men aren’t like that about women’s clothes? Men seem to have this shield of masculinity that they try their hardest not to break or bend because it would make them weak or a target to be ridiculed. I think that, but mainly the issue is that women’s wear wouldn’t necessarily fit them, even if they wanted to wear it.
It’s two years since you decided to start the Badman brand. How do you think it has developed from that first collection?
Do you think being from a provincial northern town affected your style and has it been an inspiration for your work?
It’s changed loads, I have a diffused ongoing T-shirt line that I bring out and new mini ranges every few months. But at the moment I’m doing a lot of custom women’s wear pieces, building up to launching another catwalk collection in the new year.
I think being from Doncaster definitely has influenced my work. Being surrounded by such varied styles of people opens your eyes. I took two of my favourite elements like sportswear and tats and just kind of mashed them together, to create the theme for my Graduate Collection.
You take influence from pop culture, social media and slang terms to create humorous pieces. A lot of fashion seems to take itself very seriously these days. Is the fun element of your work a reaction to this?
So what’s next for you as a designer?
For me, having fun with what you wear is my main goal in life. I never take myself seriously and adore daft items of clothing, which in turn reflects on my work.
I’m working towards launching a new collection in the new year, which will in turn create a new diffusion line. So big things for 2015. End
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