Dress Me Beautiful – Leeds Fashion Network
1920s Inspired Collection – Collette Costello
Leeds Fashion Show are a excellent organisation, they have a professional approach and it is defiantly worth taking part in one of their events. Leeds Fashion Show organise a charity fashion show every year, usually held in a large venue within Leeds centre. The events are called “Dress Me Beautiful” and are open to designers to apply on-line for a chance to show their collection. They are also always looking for volunteers to help out, front of house and back stage a good opportunity to gain work experience. I was selected as a designer to take part in “Dress Me Beautiful” one year and really enjoyed it. We were given a brief to select a period from fashion past to produce a collection based on, I selected 1920s fashion. I was attracted to the 1920s as I feel it is a period in fashion that was so ahead of its time and still looks modern today nearly one hundred years later. The 1920s look is simple with rich textiles and draping used to create dramatic styles.
The collection I designed reflected my signature use of bright colours and bold patterns. I mainly made the collection from scratch using silk, that I hand dyed and painted to generate the vibrant colours reflected in my designs. My living room and shed were turned into a print studio, with large pieces of silk being painted and hung to dry. The great thing about producing a collection for a catwalk show is that you can be as creative as you want. The fabric I made was completely in-practical, if it got wet all the dye would have come out and ran everywhere. I made the collection mainly by hand without using patterns, this helped create the draped 1920s style. I worked straight on the mannequin and really enjoyed the freedom of working in this way, although it is best to have a roll of double sided tape at the show just in-case to hold the garments on the models. Show time, one member of the audience described my collection as “looking like a colourful carnival”. What do you think?
Brown classic Pencil Dress by Collette Costello – Visit our shop and buy now!
