Fashion can be loud: An interview with Lydia Love-Gough
An interview with Lydia Love-Gough Words by Holly McManus
Lydia Love-Gough studied fashion design and has recently graduated from Glasgow School of Art. She was interested in GSA when she decided to pursue fine art, which she has a background in. During her foundation year at UCA Farnham, she fell in love with combining fabric and art through fashion design. She knew she wanted to move to the city of Glasgow and was delighted to discover the fashion design course GSA had to offer. This encouraged her to push her boundaries as a designer, with help from the lectures, the facilities, and the overall structure of the course. She knew the campus and the new city would be a good fit for her, and she hopes to relocate to Scotland soon.
Her journey into fashion design was through fine art and textiles. She wanted to find a creative way to combine the two as an artist during her studies. Her artwork was based around the human form. She wanted to challenge the predisposition that clothes were uncomfortable, or that you had to suffer to feel good in what you wear. Lydia states that this was an underlying focus of her work.
Lydia’s collection this year were centered around what makes us human. She has always had a fascination with the human form, and explored this throughout her degree, she investigated the several ways and theories behind why and how we dress the body. Her graduate collection titled ‘The Body Reworked,’ aims to understand the connections between the body, movement, and clothing. She aimed to communicate the relationship between these entitles and considered our genetic heritage and medicine alongside these. Her supporting collection titled ‘Connie’ pays homage to the direct linage on her mother’s side. She has paid tribute to the women in her family through a series of knitted tailored silhouettes, she aimed to communicate the importance of the body and its heritage, using the properties of fabrics and the language of knit.
Lydia is currently working in full-time healthcare. She is saving to do a masters/graduate job in the knitwear industry, which she has a real passion for and hopes to pursue a career in this field. She enjoys the engineering side of knitwear and more specifically the use of high-tech Shima programming and digital pattern cutting for design. She also still paints and frequently does commissioned work for family and friends.
What is your design process? How do you make your ideas come to life?
The way I design changed over my time at university. Some designers are what you’d call silhouette led. I think fabric first. I think this is how I wound up falling in love with knitwear design. The numbers, and pattern processes just make sense in my mind, and the treatment of the fabric to communicate design became crucial in my final year of study. My general design process, after primary research, is to create a series of fabrics, drape with them on a mannequin and disrupt these through drawing/photoshop and distressing the created fabrics. I’d scan these photos (of the drapes) into photoshop and play around with silhouettes. I’d say it is a lot of back and forth using this. I like to document everything and find I will take something I’d briefly sketched and re-develop from there. When I was making my final collection there was a lot of trial and error as I’d never used a knit machine before.
Who are some of your biggest inspirations as a designer?
My secondary research usually starts with reference to fine artists. A favourite of mine is called Cesar Biojo. I appreciate his disruption of portraiture, and celebration of the imperfect. There’s something so exciting in the way he destroys to create; its beautiful. I have always been inspired by designers who use their works as a key voice. Fashion can be loud, and exciting. A designer who recognises that is a designer to celebrate.
“ Fashion can be loud, and exciting. A designer who recognises that is a designer to celebrate”
Vivienne Westwood is a key example of this. An exhibition at the Fashion and Textiles Museum in London a few years back celebrated the use of slogans and graphic designs on T-Shirts. This exhibition was so inspiring when discussing how words, or lack there of in design have a way of promoting a message. I think inspiration for design should never be stagnant, and young and new designers who have ways of using their works to have a say in issues (for example) regarding climate, or health and wellbeing should always have a place at the forefront of the industry. Artistic offerings from the likes of da Vinci and Andreas Vesalius display the entangled history between art and medicine.
What is your favorite part of being a designer? What motivates you most about being a designer?
“Creative engineering to support life’s challenges is such an interesting area of study. I enjoy that fashion has the ability to push boundaries and infiltrate other areas of life in this positive light. ”
You asked me these two questions as separate entities. I feel they are one and the same. What motivates me is the exciting possibilities that design has to offer. I have always been a creative thinker, so problem solving in a creative setting is exciting to me. Having an idea, and then the skillset to create something tangible from that is a privilege. From a medical perspective, fashion offers some insightful theories of why we wear what we do, and how cognitive behaviours have created trends and fabrics that have physical and psychological benefits. For example, compression clothing has been proven to improve athletic performance. Creative engineering to support life’s challenges is such an interesting area of study. I enjoy that fashion has the ability to push boundaries and infiltrate other areas of life in this positive light.
What are your favourite trends in fashion? How would you describe your personal style?
I am a big fan of slow fashion. I have never really been interested in conventional trends as such. I wear clothes that I know make me feel confident, comfortable and are timeless. In this day and age fashion is so fast, and consumer culture neglects to remember that design is an incredible tool. I therefore would say that my favourite trend is sustainable fashion. This in itself is a complex topic as we see more and more brands ‘green washing’. I just hope that the push for transparency in the industry continues in a positive way.
What skills, in your opinion, are necessary for a fashion designer?
I think that as a designer, specifically in such a visual field as is fashion there is a want for the perfect outcome. The design process behind this isn’t always perfect. You need to be open minded. This celebration of the imperfection, and having the capacity to get things wrong seems less daunting if your foundation of skills is solid. From a skill-based perspective, I would, and still do, go back to the basics. I frequently attend life drawing classes, practice basic knitting patterns and am constantly documenting design processes to refer back to. Its the bread and butter that makes a good designer great.
What advice would you give to apsiring fashion students? What is a lesson you have learned along the way?
Experiment, and immerse yourself in design. Frequent galleries. Discuss design and never be afraid to have an opinion. I have learnt a lot through trial and error. The confidence to have opinions on designs has allowed be to be subjective about my own work, and being open to constructive criticism helps to learn and see design through different eyes. When I first went to university to study fashion I was convinced as a designer that I’d follow my love of fitness and have a career in sportswear design. Though fitness has influenced design I would have never dreamed of my final graduate collection being all skirts and dresses! My advice would be to never close yourself off from a concept or ‘type’ of design. Experiment with fabrics, experiment with ways of thinking and working. I have always celebrated the ‘happy accidents’ of design and gone from there. To try and plan out a whole project from start to finish closes off so many undiscovered roads when designing. Simply be open to the possibilities.
Fashion Communications Project Interviews Designer for Insightful Conversation
This article presents an authentic conversation between a fashion communications project and a designer of their choice – sharing insights and perspectives from both parties.