I regularly meet and talk with lots of young and emerging designers. For me, these designers are the future of British fashion, design without limits and are unafraid to take risks.
Almost every new designer I meet tells me how they often struggle, regularly questioning whether they have the strength, both financially and emotionally, to continue designing.
So for this blog post, I wanted to share a small part of my life in the hope it encourages young and emerging designers to stay true to what they believe and to continue designing.
Growing up, I would often wonder why I saw and did things differently to others around me. I often didn't seem to fit in with a particular group or was just misunderstood. I knew one thing for sure; I was not 'normal'. Although a sociable child, I was, to all intense and purposes, quite happy to be alone with just me and my imagination. I would spend hours quietly lying on my bed. Although physically quiet, inside my mind there was an entirely different set of loud and exciting events going on. To me, my imagination was my best and most loyal friend.
As I entered my teenage years I tried to suppress my imagination and creativity desperately trying to 'fit in' and to be the same as all the other kids. I would often analyse every aspect of my life, doing whatever I could to blend in with the crowd.
I spent countless hours awake at night trying to understand why I would see and want to challenge things around me that, for others, just seem to pass by without so much as a second thought.
After a while I realised that all the things I thought were wrong with me were, in fact, are all the things that made me unique and different from everyone else, and that challenging the expected was actually good fun. I slowly started to open up more to my friends and family revealing my imagination and challenging ideas that, for so long, had been kept locked up in my head.
Today, I enjoy the fact that my mind works differently to a lot of other people's. That I notice the smallest of detail and that my friends joke about how crazy my little head is.
I've found a job that allows me to express my ideas, my creativity and my 'it has to be perfect' approach.
If people say we are different then great, because being different is what makes us unique, and unique is what makes our world so beautiful.
I'm no super hero. I'm not particularly successful, and I'm certainly not rich. But I am happy living the life that I've created. The fact I've created my life is what's key. I refuse to follow someone else's dream.
So to any young designers reading this - resist the doubters, challenge convention and listen to your heart. But most importantly, create a life you want to lead.
Zoe x