emma bell interview

Here is a teeny version of the interview I did with Emma Bell















It's supposed to be for Draper's. The layout is copied directly.. Draper's is a business magazine for the fashion industry, so the interview had to be that sort of level.
Anyway, here's the text.

Emma Bell has been busy since she graduated this June. Indeed, she describes her summer as, ‘pretty hectic.’ After spending a few months doing some much deserved travelling around India, she is working on a new collection, as well as a ready wear diffusion line and jewellery range. A fashion graduate from the University of Westminster, Emma’s first collection has been featured in Dazed and Confused as well as London style Bible, Super Super, who described her as ‘the future of fashion.’ Her work is also currently being used for the Irregular Choice spring/summer 2007 look book.

The collection, entitled ‘Charvas, Trailer Trash and Trinkets’ was debuted at London’s Graduate Fashion Week during the University’s highly commended show. Christopher Bailey, Westminster graduate and creative director of Burberry, was in attendance, and told The Telegraph, “These collections are what British fashion is really about… They are rebellious, rude and individual. Most fashion colleges are too afraid to shock.”

Emma is certainly not afraid of controversy, describing her work as ‘hideous’ and taking inspiration from sources including “mail order brides and chavs sniffing glue at fairgrounds… I like things with a lot going on,” she explains. “Anyone can create a replica of an Ikea showroom. People, places, objects… anything with a unique personality – that’s what really inspires me.” It is this unpredictable catalogue of influences that makes her work so interesting. Back from India, Emma is full of inspiration for her new collection. She reels off her latest thoughts; “Corrupt Maharajas, Chapati rolling divas, buckets exploding with strawberry cider, cheesy Bollywood movies, super sparkly textiles… My head is filled with a gazillion ideas!”

So how do these ideas get filtered down into designs? Emma admits that the initial creative thought process is one of the most valuable aspects for her. The preliminary thoughts that allow for the ensuing ‘crazy spiral of ideas’ are vital to her, and subsequently she dedicates a lot of time to collecting trinkets and treasures for inspiration. “Postcards, sketches... a tea cosy, an empty biscuit wrapper. They all have their place.” Then, when she is surrounded by scrap books and oddments, the designing starts. Fabric sourcing is also one of her favourite parts of the process, which is perhaps unsurprising when you see her work. It is all about print, colour, texture and trim, so she considers it vital to find something that is unique.

Her use of unconventional materials is notable. Interior fabrics such as vinyl printed tablecloths and tea towels make an appearance, along with clashing prints and embellished textiles. Surface decoration such as beadwork and foil printing are all specialities of Emma’s, although it is perhaps her penchant for spandex, PVC and “spangly hologram disco-Lycra” that has attracted the most attention. The collection may sound gaudy, and Emma admits it is garish. However, she goes on to explain that she doesn’t see this as a bad thing. “Sure my collection is tacky, I love tacky. Too many people take fashion too seriously. Who says things have to match? It’s all about personality, if you like something then wear it.” But how does she deal with negative responses to her work? “It genuinely doesn’t bother me in the slightest,” she says. “It’s all about what I like, and the world would be a boring place if everyone had the same views. I really admire the fact that people are opinionated and adamant about what they like and dislike.”

The 23 year old is as individual as her designs. “Straightforward things just don’t do anything for me,” she admits, “I hate boredom.” Fashion has been a life long infatuation for Emma. As a child, weekends were spent playing dress up at her Grandma's house, complete with catwalk shows in the living room. She soon learned to knit and crochet and before long, she was using a sewing machine. Whilst studying at Westminster, she worked on several freelance projects, but it was her year out that was to prove most useful. She deferred her final year to travel and gain work experience. Two seasons were spent in New York working as a design assistant for Rebecca Taylor, before she moved on to Tokyo for a month’s placement at Renown America. Finally, she took off for travels in South East Asia. She used the time to create sketchbooks, collect fabrics and trimmings, and most importantly, get inspired. She admits that by the time she came back to study for her final year, she felt ‘super motivated… full of ideas that I had picked up en route.”

Emma considers her time at university as extremely valuable, and says that her tutors were incredibly supportive. “They gave us so much freedom, and there was lots of encouragement to be ourselves, which was great as there was so much diversity in class.” They never told her to tame her work down, or try to be someone she wasn’t. The university also offered training in business skills for the students, which offered insight into the ‘real world’ for the young designers. This is something many courses neglect to teach, and one reason why many graduates struggle with setting up their own labels. Emma confesses that although she isn’t business minded, she found these modules helpful. “Learning about things like proposals, marketing and advertising isn’t necessarily very interesting, but it’s important to be knowledgeable about all factors of the industry if you want to set up your own company.” As with many graduates, money is an issue for Emma. She describes designing her graduate collection as, ‘a horrendously expensive venture’ and explains how difficult it is to adjust once you no longer receive student funding. She is planning to move to New York this year, so as well as saving for materials and equipment, she is also preparing for the huge cost of starting a new life abroad. At present she manufactures everything herself, and combines a full time job with the design and make of all her collections.

Emma sells her jewellery through Skirt in Newcastle, and is currently negotiating with several boutiques internationally, as well an online vendor. However, for this new generation of designers, the networking website, Myspace, has become a revolutionary marketing tool. It is accessible to anyone, and as well as hosting images, the site connects users with others of similar interests. For Emma it has been a great help. “It’s amazing for creating links with others in the industry. It raises your awareness of who else is out there doing what. It’s a great showcase for new designers.” The communication that arises through the site also means that designers receive valuable feedback from their peers in an accessible forum.

So what next for the irrepressible Emma? As well as the New York move, there are plans for work in styling, as well as a burgeoning interest in fashion journalism, not to mention the three collections. Is there no stopping her? “I don’t know how exactly I would identify what I do…” she explains, “I would just like to think of my work as one piece in the varied patchwork that is contemporary British fashion.”

interview project

Retail/Business Orientated Brief

Word Count 800 - 1200 words

Subject:
Intrerview a designer/retailer about their work and business

I have chosen to speak to the super duper Emma Bell, who is a recent graduate of University of Wesminster. I actually went to see her show at GFW, and me and Christine loved her.
She's in the new issue of Dazed & Confused (p58), as well as Super Super.



















We love gold bum bags and spandex, ok?

obituary project

Hand in: Monday 20th November

Write an obituary of between 750 - 1000 words for any of the following broadsheet publications:
The Times
The Independent
The Guardian
The Telegraph

....

Extra bonus marks will be awarded if the subject dies in a bizaare of gory way...

We all picked names out of a hat, I think I got the best..
Donatella Versace

Here's a tiny version, so you can see the layout.



















And here's the text itself;

Italian fashion designer, Vice-President of the Versace Group and Creative Director of the Versace fashion label

She was the blonde bombshell with a passion for all things bright and brash, the glamorous heir to the Versace throne, as famous for her celebrity entourage as her designs. And now, in a surreal accident, Donatella Versace has died aged 51. Although perhaps best remembered for her flamboyant personal appearance and salacious tabloid lifestyle, she was also an integral player on the international fashion circuit.

Born in 1955, the youngest of three children, Ms. Versace had a happy childhood in the small Italian town of Reggio de Calabria. Situated on the western tip of Italy’s ‘boot’, the town is famous for its Mafia connections, its regular earthquakes and little else. The family, described by fashion journalist Vicki Woods as, ‘a great big, noisy, spaghetti-cooking, ice-cream-eating Italian family,’ is incredibly close, and although the siblings often argued, they were fiercely protective of each other. The two boys, Santo and Gianni were besotted with their sister, but it was Gianni who was to introduce Donatella to the world of fashion.

Their mother Francesca owned a small dress salon, and Gianni enjoyed working in the studio and running errands. His interest in fashion even extended to Donatella’s appearance. At the age of ten, he announced that his sister should have her hair highlighted. Enthralled by her elder brother’s sophistication, she promptly went to the hairdressers and demanded streaks. Her hair was to remain defiantly blonde for the rest of her life.

In 1978, Versace launched his first collection. Gianni was designer whilst Santo looked after business. The pair had moved to Milan to study, and Donatella soon followed them. She intended to work for Gianni as his PR, but became more important to him as the inspiration for his designs. Often cited as his muse, she was much more involved than being just a physical or aesthetic inspiration. Gianni once told Vanity Fair, “If my sister wants to do something, okay. If she doesn't like a sketch, I will cancel it.” Indeed it was Donatella who first suggested using well-known models for their catwalk shows to generate more press, and in the era of the Supermodel, it was Versace who attracted them all. Their shows embodied glamour, money and beauty.

The label became synonymous with bold, exuberant designs, often walking a fine line between glamour and downright flashiness. Donatella began to have more and more of an input on the collections, and from the late 1980s her contribution became increasingly evident. Colour and sparkle were key, perhaps unsurprising from the woman who once said, “Less is less as far as I’m concerned.”

In 1989 Gianni gave Donatella her own diffusion line, Versus. Shown in New York, it was a modern, urban label. It was a successful amalgamation of Gianni’s love of classicism and Donatella’s streetwise chic. “The woman I have in mind when designing,” she once said, “is one whose individuality and inner confidence shines on the outside. She is sexy, smart and dynamic. Imagine Madonna and Demi Moore as flatmates.”

On Tuesday 15th July 1998, Gianni Versace was shot dead on the steps of the family home in Miami. Andrew Cunanan, a twenty-seven year old college drop-out was the prime suspect, but eight days after the incident, he was found dead, after committing suicide. A family funeral for Versace was followed by a public mass, attended by many of Gianni’s celebrity friends and clients, including Princess Diana and Elton John, as well as many fashion designers.

Following the death of her brother, Donatella took the reins of the Versace design house. She became Vice-President of the Versace Group and Creative Director of the main fashion line.

Three months after Gianni’s death, she miraculously pulled together a ready-to-wear collection which Vogue later described as, “more than credible”. A year and three days after Gianni's death, in July 1998, she mounted her first couture show for Versace. She continued to oversee production of the various Versace collections each year, from the diffusion lines of Jeans and Sports to perfumes and make-up, sunglasses and homewares. More recently, the Palazzo Versace opened in Australia. The world’s first Versace hotel (of a planned seven), it is described as an ‘evolution of the Versace lifestyle. The Versace group altogether employs more than 1500 workers, and recorded a £210 million turnover in 2005.

Donatella soon became as famous for her celebrity lifestyle as for her designs. Her cartoonish looks, once described by Gianni as, “the perfect woman”, became a subject of derision in tabloids, and the over the top nature of Versace designs were often the subject of mockery in the press. However, never one to take herself seriously, Donatella had a cameo in the hit fashion satire film, Zoolander, and when, during a stay in Beverly Hills, an earthquake struck LA; she admitted to TV journalists that her first thoughts were for her face creams.

In 2006 Donatella was introduced to Christopher Kane, then an MA student at St Martins College, London. Seeing something of Gianni in his work, Donatella sponsored his MA collection and he has worked as a consultant for Versace on a freelance basis ever since. Speaking yesterday Mr. Kane said, “Working for Versace had always been a dream. I am so thankful for Donatella's support, she was an amazing person.”

Ms. Versace was found inside a tanning bed in her Miami home on Friday afternoon. An early statement reveals that the designer suffered 95% burns to the face and that she 'choked' on her own skin. Investigators are looking into the faulty machine, although it is rumoured that Donatella had been drinking before using the equipment. A full coroner’s report is expected to be published this week.

She is survived by her daughter, Allegra, and son David.

Rachael Gibson

Donatella Versace, fashion designer, born May 2, 1955; died November 19 2006