GRADUATE Q+A MEET LEAH MOSS HER STUNNING COLLECTION AND HOW SHE FACED THE CHALLENGES OF COVID-19

Meet BA Fashion graduate Leah Moss, of birmingham city university. COVID-19 has hit this years students hard, unable to complete their final collections without access to the usual resources, and equipment required was a tough challenge.

Having worked for 3 years on her degree, the heartbreaking cancellation of her Uni’s final show was devastating for Leah. But, she picked herself up, dusted off the disappointment and has conquered the challenge! [Applause]

Thankfully Graduate Fashion Week and her University have provided vital support, pivoting to shift online to offer tutorials and guidance. Graduate Fashion Week has been postponed until September, but has, and continues to provide a series of online events and virtual windows for the students to show their work! I personally can’t wait to welcome all this years students into our industry, I hope readers you will do the same and lets together support the next generation!!

When did you realise that you wanted to pursue a creative career?

I have always had a love for the theatre. Going to mainly see musicals and especially seeing the costumes. I was so admired by seeing the creativity from the designers. How they interpreted the characters and how they creating the costumes for that specific interpretation. From then I always knew that I wanted my career to be creative somehow. 

Why did you choose Fashion?

I was originally all planned to choose Costume Design and study this through into University. At college I studied Fashion Design, mainly because there wasn’t an option specifically for costume design. And soon realised that I enjoyed creating my own concept and developing this to create your own collection. I relished the idea that there was no boundaries what so ever with Fashion Design. If you had an idea, you could create it. It came to me choosing what pathway and what University I was going to go to. In the end I picked Birmingham City University. The reason being that they explored all pathways in the first year, then for the second, you start to pick and select the projects that suit you best. Then in the final year you then decide which pathway you want to specalise in. This felt the best option for me as I could still explore the two different pathways. And after the projects we completed, I soon realised that Fashion Design just peaked more for me. I felt that I was pushed more with Fashion Design to create more unique and unusual pieces. 

How did the COVID-19 pandemic affect your studies? And how did you overcome?

COVID - 19 affected me really badly in all honesty. Mainly because I felt all my hard work that I had completed leading up to COVID - 19 wouldn’t be showcased. Graduate Fashion Week had always been a dream of mine when I first starting studying Fashion Design at University, and to hear that dream came true but then to be taken away from you was extremely hard. We had to re evaluate our projects and the work that we would need to hand in. But I just couldn’t get myself geared up to continue. I did feel that I had lost all mentality, and that was because whenever I looked at my work it just kept reminding me of what wasn’t going to happen. 

I think overall it took a couple of weeks to get fully back into gear and to carry on. One of our new requirements for our Final Major Project was to create a digitally based look book for our collection. I think this really helped me to get back into the workload as I got excited into how I could use CAD to create an effective Look Book that reflected my collection. This requirement really pushed me to create some of my best work and that really helped me to keep going and to finish the degree. 

Tell us all about your final collection?

’Strike a Romance’ explores the narrative on all matters through the Miners’ Strike. I took a lot of inspiration from the life my Grandad lived, as he was a miner based in South Yorkshire. The collection also explores the subculture of the New Romantics. The main inspiration in focusing also into the subculture was the music groups that were formed in my hometown of Sheffield. I focused on the scene of the ‘Blitz’ and the individual styles that were seen around the club. 

What inspired your collection?

My first inspiration for my collection came to me whilst I was on my placement year in New York. I had gone to see the exhibition Pink: The History of a Punk, Pretty, Powerful Colour at FIT. I remember seeing a Man’s suit that was a magenta pink from the Peacock Revolution. I remember thinking how this was wasn’t a typical look for a man and that is what I wanted to create from my collection. I wanted to create a collection that wasn’t ordinary. 

I also knew that I always wanted my last collection to reflect me somehow. So the first inspiration came from me loving the era of the 80s. My Grandad was a miner in the 80s, and the biggest Miners’ Strike happened in my hometown of Sheffield. And also a lot of music groups that were formed in Sheffield were very big in the 80s. These being the likes of ABC and The Human League. Both of these concepts got me inspired to create a collection for both genders by merging the masculinity from the Miners’ Strikes and femininity of the New Romantics. 

Which technologies did you use?

For my final collection I created my own plaid prints. Using colours that reflected my personality and the prints that were seen throughout the Miners’ Strike. I also created machine embroidered patches that echoed both concepts of the collection. I had two badges that reflected the stickers that were worn by miners through the strikes, two badges that displayed portraits of two major individuals of the collection, Margaret Thatcher and Steve Strange. And then one that replicated the dance floor I visioned inside the ‘Blitz’ club. The collection also featured hand knitted vests to replicate some of the work gear that the Miners would have to wear and also heat pressed vinyl that reflected stencilled writing. 

What was your favourite part of the process and why?

Research is always my favourite part of the process. I relish gathering all the imagery that provides the story behind the collection and then reflecting this into presented pages. But with how the requirements changed due to COVID - 19 I especially loved creating my look book for ’Strike a Romance’. I played on the sense of personality and decided to create a journal inspired zine. I was really proud of the look book I created especially with only having a few shots of my first three looks of the collection. I had to somehow present the other three looks. I decided on creating my own editorial shots using my CADS I had produced. Overall I feel all the CAD editorials I created were effective. 

With the COVID lockdown and University closed, what were/are the challenges?

The main thing was not having the right facilities to complete the work. I haven’t really got any table room in my home, so when having to complete patterns, I was having to work on the floor. We didn’t have the resources to create our prints but luckily we weren’t expected to create our other three looks. The other thing I found a challenge was having to have our tutorials via the web. You realise when you aren’t at University how that advantage of being at uni actually was. You had that advantage of just grabbing a tutor to ask for their opinion or for just some help whenever it was needed. It is a lot harder when you are at home. It was a lot more backward and forwards with messages, and the hope of that your connection would be strong for the time you had when it was your turn for a tutorial. Lockdown did really challenge us as students, but we got there in the end!

Congrats!! You were selected for Graduate Fashion Week, which is now postponed, how are GFW and your university supporting you?

Thank you so much!! I feel GFW have done so well to figure out how to support us students as this is the first time ever they have had to move everything over to a digital platform. One of new changes is showcasing webinars each week on different topics that would help us in growing and also for the next steps that will be faced! They have also created new awards for GFW which rely on more digitally produced products which is great. Which I was luckily enough to be put forward for one by my tutors. 

My University has been great throughout this whole pandemic. Firstly they all supported me wherever they could to keep pushing me to create more enhanced work and also at times just to listen. And now they constantly keep us updated with the opportunities that we can enter to publicise our collections. Our latest project which was our Portfolio module we actually got marked on our Instagram feed which I feel was very helpful for us as it reminded me how useful social media platforms were to publicise work. It also got me really thinking in how I could actually create an effective feed that would reflect my collection best. 

What’s on your wish-list and how can our readers help?

My number one priority on my wish-list is to say that I have a job in the fashion industry that I love! But I know with the uncertain times at the minute, I feel not a lot of brands/companies are recruiting, especially not graduates at the moment. So I would say mainly any tips that I can work on to help me find my ideal job. Or if anyone knows any brand/companies that are hiring and would suit my strengths. If you have the time, please go and have a look through portfolio, Look Book, Instagram Feed as I would love you all to see the collection that I am so proud of and to also give feedback! I think with this Pandemic, I have the time to keep working on more work or enhancing the work already produced for my collection, so if you do feel that there is anything that would benefit for me to complete please let me know! I would really Appreciate it!!