Winner of last year’s Tu scholarship, Jennifer now has her own collection. Chloe Ford spoke to Jennifer about her journey so far, her new collection and her pop-up shop at GFW.
When asked about how her collection came about, Jennifer shared that she “went to Manchester School of Art” and her “tutor, Robin would send competition opportunities. One of which, being the Tu scholarship. It was about designing a collection for Tu based on your final project”.
Jennifer was amongst the group of designers, that were whittled down to twenty, and then to five. “We were interviewed at Graduate Fashion Week on the Wednesday, and then the winner was announced at the Gala show and I won. I really didn't think I had!”.
After her win, the whirlwind began. Jennifer started at Tu in September 2018. She worked on her collection, then the designs were finalised, and in May 2019, her collection was sold in selected stores and online. “Most of it has sold out already”.
Jennifer gave us an insight into what inspired her collection, “when I was younger, I spent alot of time with my Grandma, painting. She loved abstract art and the artist, Matisse. We have countless pictures of us painting together”.
As Jennifer grew up her love for art didn’t stop but, she also found a love fashion. It wasn't until her second year studying fashion that she started to “really miss painting. I hadn’t been painting much. I spent alot of time looking at what other people were doing instead of being true to myself”.
Taking this onboard, she began to get back into it, and created many hand painted prints for her final project. Jennifer looked into abstract shapes and paint stroke techniques. She has now expanded her collection to feature childrenswear and festival wear.
When asked for her thoughts on GFW, she replied “I love GFW. It’s the most amazing platform for students to get their work out there. It is best to speak to everyone you can, and make the most of the opportunity”. Jennifer reflects on her time at GFW saying, “I really miss showing here but now it is on a different level”.
Written by Chloe Ford
Photography by Evan Peck