Meet ASOS stylist Stevie Hockaday Stevie Hoc kaday is o n e o f Doncaster ’s f i nes t ex po r ts . Hai li ng fro m Bent ley, h e s in gle ha ndedly fo llowe d h is d re a m o f b e comi ng a styli s t wo r kin g w ith ce lebri ti es and m a j o r la be l s a f ter he star ted pickin g up i-D Magazi ne at W H Sm ith ’s in Doncaster. H e p rais e s D o n ca s te r College and hi s tu to r, La ura Green, fo r i nsp i ri n g h im to th in k b ig and create hi s d re a m ca re e r. How did you st ar t yo u r j o u r ney into t he fashion wo r ld? I went to Don Valley H i g h Sch o o l , t hen after my GCSE s wen t st raight to Doncas ter Co l lege to study BT EC Fas h i o n D es i g n . I t hen took a year o ut o f ed ucati o n before m ov ing to Lo n do n to s tud y Fa shion Design at M i dd les ex U niversity. I was taught by L aura G reen at Donny Col lege. Sh e i s an am az ing wom an. I s ti l l co un t any su ccess I ’ve had in th i s i n d us tr y [a s being] down to h er. Sh e’s ve r y m otiv ational an d w h en s h e bel ieves in you it real l y h el ps yo u b el ieve in yours el f. E d ucat ion is ever yt h i ng , i sn’ t i t ? Yo u know what ’s re a lly sad? I heard recent ly on ly 3 0% o f k i ds from Donny go to u n i n ow du e to t he inc rease in fe e s. How di d co llege and u nive rsi t y he lp yo u get into t he indus t r y? The lecturers were real l y e nthusiastic abou t us getti n g o ut there straight aw ay to s tar t ge tting exper ience, s o th at’s jus t w hat I did.
Yo u are good f rie n d s ’ with J a de C la r k (fe at u re d i n Do n co po l i tan i s s ue s 5 & 9, cove r ar t i s t i s s u e 17 ). H ow d id you m e e t a n d h a s fa sh i o n a l way s b e e n a b ig p a r t of yo u r fr i e n d s h ip? We were a t col le ge a rou n d t h e s am e ti m e , w it h a ye a r or t wo d i fference . We n eve r k n e w e a c h o th er bu t v a gu e l y re m e m b e r e a c h o th er. We f i rs t m e t a t Prior y, actual l y a l it t le l a te r on , w h i c h w as a p l a ce t h a t b rou gh t a lot o f o ur f ri e n d s grou p toge t h e r aro un d t h a t t i m e . I t b e c a m e a l i ttle m e cc a to u s . We ’d t r y a n d tur n o u t s om e look s t h a t , look i n g back, we re n ’ t re a l l y t h a t gre a t . Fas h i o n h a s de f i n i te l y b e e n a m as s i ve b on d b e t we e n u s . W h e n s h e s tud i e d a t D e Mon t for t i n Lei ces te r, I wou ld go to b e h e r f i tti n g m ode l , a s s h e s t u d i e d m en swe a r. I n h e r f i n a l col le c t ion , I s tayed w i t h h e r to h e l p h e r f i n i s h a n d worke d t h rou gh m a ny al l n i g h te rs . W h e n s h e s h owe d at G rad u a te Fa s h i on We e k in Lo n do n , I w a s t h e re w a tc h in g an d cr i e d . Th e n w h e n i t c a m e to m i n e, s h e m a s s i ve l y re t u rn e d t h e favo ur a n d s t aye d w i t h m e righ t un ti l my s h ow d ay, work in g on f i n al bi t s a n d b ob s . Wha t dre w you to f a s h ion ? N o th i n g t h a t h a s eve r s t u c k in my brai n , b u t I w a s p a r t of t h a t ear l y s oc i a l m e d i a m ove m e n t , w h en My s p a ce w a s b e gi n n in g to get h uge , a n d i t op e n e d my eye s up to va ri ou s d i f fe re n t s ce n e s an d yo u n g de s i gn e rs t h a t we re real l y hav i n g a m om e n t a n d I j u s t w an ted to b e p a r t of i t . I do n ’t k n ow if I re a l l y k n e w w h a t I w an ted to do ex a c t l y - I n eve r d i d un ti l I got to u n ive rs it y - b u t back th e n a l l I k n e w w a s de s i gn , s o th at’ s w h a t I we n t in to.
Photography courtesy of Stevie Hockaday.
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