Student Hannah captures Laura Ashley's heritage in her vintage rebrand project... read more
We love hearing about how Laura Ashley prints and patterns can inspire you, so when student Hannah got in touch about her vintage rebrand project using Laura Ashley fabrics, we were incredibly intrigued. Influenced by Laura Ashley’s heritage, Hannah was on a mission to create a cool, edgy collection using our iconic prints. We sit down with Hannah to hear all about it…
What was the inspiration behind your project?
I have always been inspired by floral prints and vintage and retro clothing and many of my projects at university have focused on these elements. I love looking at vintage photography and seeing what the young girls of the 60s, 70s and 80s were wearing at my age and how my generation uses some of these iconic styles in their fashion choices today.
Why did you pick Laura Ashley as a brand?
Laura Ashley immediately comes to mind when I think of British heritage fashion and clothing so I wanted to produce a project that would focus on this brand in particular focusing on its heritage and roots.
Talk us through the process of creating the pieces; why did you pick the fabrics you did? Did you encounter any difficulties and challenges along the way?
Whilst producing research for my FMP (Final Major Project) in my third year at Middlesex University I became incredibly interested in rebranding. I have always been interested in vintage and retro clothing and accessories so thought that this would be a good place to start my research.
I began to research into the brands heritage and purchased a number of Laura Ashley books about the archive. The archive interested me the most as I love vintage floral patterns. The more research I did the more interested I became in the Laura Ashley brand. My original idea was to recreate the Laura Ashley prints and produce a collection of heritage inspired prints for the Laura Ashley home section however; I wanted to create something bigger.
I actually work at Laura Ashley in the Stevenage branch so I have a close contact with the brand. Whist working for the company I realised that the fashion collections have evolved over the years, some collections do reference the archive and some collections do not . The concept that i eventually chose for my project was to create a one off Vintage-inspired collection for the brand, bringing floral patterns and a pinch of heritage back into the fashion side of the brand.
The first place I looked for inspiration was the Laura Ashley Archive at the Victoria and Albert museum. They have a good collection however I wanted something more so I emailed the Laura Ashley team and they were so helpful. They sent me information about the Romantic Heroine Exhibition and various heritage fabrics that would be potential ideas for my collection.
Whilst pitching my idea to my tutors we thought that it would be a good idea to bring in a vintage brand to the collection as a one off collaboration for the Laura Ashley brand. I decided to pitch the idea to Rokit. They absolutely loved the idea and were on board from the word go.
The next process was to choose fabrics. I had three in mind before I started the design process; these were Francesca, Peony and Roses. I chose these particular fabrics because to me they are what I think of when Laura Ashley comes to mind, floral prints and pretty colours. I then went on to choose Ninette, Clarissa and Wisley. I chose these because they remind me of Laura Ashley’s lovely heritage.
After gathering the fabrics I then had to get the dresses made. I spoke to Rokit’s head office and asked them what their best selling dress shapes were so I could create a collection of dresses that would sell really well.
I wanted to get my dresses professionally made so I took it upon myself to find a dressmaker in my local area. After an initial blip, the second dress maker we found was amazing and had all six dresses lined and completed within 5 days.
I looked for a model with a bit of edge, short hair as a bit of a contrast to the typical Laura Ashley model. I found the perfect one – Ellie Hook.
On a mission to use an experienced team for my shoot so I went in search for a photographer, art director, hair and make up artist and stylist. Luckily I have a few contacts within my University so it was fairly easy to pull a team together. Kristian Wilson was my art director and stylist. Danny Kasirye was my photographer. Veronika Kavka was my hair and make up artist. We set a shoot date and got to work.
I wanted to style the dresses in an almost tomboy manner using shirts and jumpers layered over and under the dresses, incorporating trousers and blazers and jackets into the style to make my campaign have a bit of a twist on current Laura Ashley.
What has been your biggest accomplishment?
This shoot was my biggest accomplishment. I never thought I would be able to pull of a vintage Laura Ashley collaboration but I did and I am so proud of it!
Pick your two favourite fashion pieces, and two favourites from the home:
I love these monochrome pieces, the cowl neck jumpsuit and the printed relaxed crinkle trousers, and for the home this grey rug and the Rhubarb and Vanilla fragrance set.
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A big thanks to Hannah for sharing her vintage re-brand project with us, we’re truly inspired! Are you? Browse our full range of fabrics here, or check out our new in fashion collections.