HOLLY Macleod says she tries to create unique pieces and wants to encourage people to experiment with fashion. She’s taken by all things odd – and credits the TV series The Twilight Zone as a key inspiration.
She was driven to begin her own brand out of her passion for empowering wearers and generating an excitement about clothing. Despite being relatively new to the industry, the rising star has already achieved huge success. She was a finalist of the British Fashion Council’s “British Library X Teatum Jones” competition – this required Macleod to create an eight-piece collection using archived images from the British Library to inspire the collection.
Her latest collection was inspired by seeing furniture lying outside on the street – something familiar to the eye but in an unfamiliar place. The feelings of misplacement that fly-tipping evokes, she says she has always found oddly charming.
“Silhouettes were created by playing with the obscured perspective that collaged images create, specifically inspired by the collages of the Dada art movement, whose values of the ‘nonsensical and fun’ were key to my collection and own brand identity,” she told The National.
“I am an advocate of wearing what you want when you want. As fashion isn’t something to be afraid of, it should be something everyone enjoys and doesn’t take too seriously and I hope my designs inspire people to dress for themselves and make them feel happy.”
Macleod describes her brand as fun, quirky and eclectic. When designing, she aspires to create something for everyone and offers garments which are flattering for women of all silhouettes. The primary purpose behind the use of her bold colour palette is to bring joy to the wearer and those around them.
Through her fashion, she says she hopes to make people feel happy, care less about what others think and have fun with fashion.
Macleod was born and raised in the small town of Gourock. A budding talent, she studies at the prestigious Edinburgh College of Art where she is due to graduate with a degree in fashion design. She is also a collector of antiques and vintage collectibles, and is used to taking textures, prints and silhouettes from various eras and making them work together.
“I hope to create a brand which rejects the stereotypical values of the fashion industry and dares the consumer to take back control of their own wardrobes, rewriting the rules of themselves as they go,” she says.
Her current plan is to continue building the profile of her brand, and have her work shown at London Graduate Fashion Week next month.
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