Movement is key in Naomi’s Graduate Fashion Week collection

Naomi Leslie is one of 15 students taking part in the University’s catwalk show at Graduate Fashion Week next week.

Here she explains how ​movement photography and light painting photography helped shape her final collection: “I have been interested in fashion from an early age as my mum was very into making clothing and costumes. Also as a child I liked visual books as they were colourful and adventurous and I liked to create my own stories and drawings using lots of colours.

I went to New Designers last summer and there was a piece from another student who had used a movement technique within photography of everyday lifestyle.

I also like photography so I used this technique as my starting point for my own research and during this, I realised I had captured a movement photo in the same kind of style as I saw at New Designers.

As I didn’t want to focus on the same concept, I concentrated on other elements from the photo, such as the lights, which then led me on to light painting photography, which is another form of movement photography, and this inspired me throughout my project.

I wanted to create a relaxed and oversized collection of clothing that displayed my concept to the fullest and the methods I used to present my photos were digital printing and screen printing, whilst working with a range of fabrics like stretched jersey, bamboo silk and silk cotton.

I don’t have a favourite material as such, but I really liked the bamboo silk which is what I have been working with.

I have used a lot of jersey and cotton as they show certain techniques better, but as the digital printing is new to me, I’m getting used to working with coated fabrics. Bamboo silk is one that I have sampled and I really like the way the print shows up.

I chose the University of Northampton because I liked having the options of the different pathways and my college tutors recommended it as a course that would benefit me and my skills. It’s not too far from home and I have had the opportunity to learn more about textiles, rather than just fashion and clothing.

I would like to travel and find out more about the fashion industry as I feel like there is still a lot more to learn. I would like to build up my knowledge on natural fabrics and how they print, not necessarily by going back into education, but through experiencing it first-hand. My dream would be to have my own label, but I wouldn’t mind working on catwalk shows or a print company for all creative industries such as interior and fashion.”

Click here for more details about the students involved with Graduate Fashion Week.