Part two of our River Island graduate profiles, Zara Appadoo is a denim designer and attended University College for creative arts at Rochester. She has been at River Island since 2008, click here to see our profile of dress designer Sian Ryan.
How did you find getting a fashion job after graduation?
Well lucky enough for me it was definitely one of those being in the right place at the right time scenarios.
River Island was at GFW, they saw my collection and on the basis of that they offered me a 4 week placement conditional on how well my interview went. I had an extensive portfolio which was something that was really pushed at my university and I would say it definitely secured my placement at River Island.
What tips/advice would you give to students who want to get into the industry?
Always meet and greet. I think that in this industry so many new faces come and go, it's incredibly important to be remembered.
So just as your hard work should shine, you should also make the effort to shine brightly. Be enthusiastic but not overly so.
Where do you see yourself in 10 years time?
Designing the edgiest denim on the High street.
Click here to see our profile of menswear t-shirt designer Russell Williams.
GFW is only a few weeks away and we're already getting excited. To get into the GFW mood we've enlisted three graduates who are currently working at River Island, to give us their perspectives on getting ahead in the fashion industry.
First up is Sian Ryan, Winchester School of Art graduate and Senior Dresses designer for RI:
How did you find getting a fashion job after graduation?
I was very lucky due to a successful work placement at River Island through GFW but a lot of my peers struggled.
What tips/advice would you give to students who want to get into the industry?
I would highly recommend work experience- the more the better. It's so different to university and it opens doors and introduces you to the industry. In fashion, it's not necessarily what but whom you know.
Where do you see yourself in 10 years time?
Sitting at the HELM of my own label but today I am enjoying work at River and it's a delight to see loads of girls walking about in my designs, they might not know it, but I DO!
Our friends over at Shiny Media's sensational television blog, TV Scoop, snagged an exclusive interview with Rachel Zoe. Naturally we were not only tres excited about this but also very jealous.
The much-talked-about stylist discusses her love of vintage, her personal style icons, and of course her reasons behind launching her fly-on-the-wall series, The Rachel Zoe Project, which currently screens on Really (Sky and Virgin Media). She is also apparently a very big fan of British fashion:
"The style in the UK is a huge, huge inspiration for me. I love... even walking along the streets of London, I'm like, aaaurgh [makes sighing noise]. You just get that great aristocratic style that I love so much. Like that classic English... Savile Row and all that. And... I love the whole Portobello/Notting Hill vibe too."
Read an excerpt of this interview, after the jump...
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Chéri, the Michelle Pfeiffer film based on a novel by French author Colette comes out today, it tells the tale of Léa, a retired courtesan who falls for the youthful charms of Chéri, her old rival's son played by Keira Knightley squeeze Rupert Friend. We spoke to the Consolata Boyle, the film's designer who filled us in on the behind-the-scenes fashion business...
Does the original Colette text provide enough of a feel for the costumes or did you have to fill in the gaps yourself?
Because Colette was at the centre of French cultural and artistic like, it could only be full of inspiration. Colette's life was centred around a bohemian circle of fashion designers, painters, and musicians. Similarly the text is packed with visual ideas, but as a costume designer I must bring my own passions and fascinations to this.
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Zandra Rhodes has designed a capsule collection for Marks and Spencer which hits the stores on the 7th May. Consisting of swimsuits, underwear, totes bags as well as dresses, jumpsuits and floaty tunic tops. We met up with Rhodes this morning to let her talk us through the collection, and shed a little light on her very individual look.
Isabelle: So how did this collaboration come about?
Zandra Rhodes: We talked several times in the past and it hadn't been right, and we approached them and they said they'd like to do something and the team came round to my studio which is above FTM and went through all my collections, we tried to choose things that were iconic that the public would link with that would feel... The whole thing with a collection like this is it has to look completely like me and the thing that's so fantastic is I tried on a lot of the pieces so, I'm going to be wearing them obviously!
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London Fashion Week might be over but it doesn't mean that the exciting news doesn't keep trickling in. We interviewed Nathan Jenden after his Autumn/Winter show sponsored by COTTON USA. He was in fine spirits and spoke to us about his love of tailoring, working with DvF and the direction of his latest collection 'Frostbite', jump through to start reading!
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We've already snapped Natalie in CQ looking good at the IFB blogger meet up during London Fashion Week, and she kindly agreed to fill out our Industry Interview. For an insight into working at ASOS and getting into the fashion industry just read on...
How did you arrive at your current position at Asos?
After working for a couple of years in buying (toys not clothes!) I decided my heart was still in fashion. I did the Access to Fashion Business course at LCF and spent my Easter break doing unpaid work experience at ASOS.
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