Creator Sessions: Bradley Smit

Creator Sessions: Bradley Smit

During our time at Vancouver fashion week, we had met so many incredible talents and designers that had us falling in love with their work on the runway. One of which was Bradley and his glacial inspired designs 
Why did you decide to choose fashion design?
Growing up my Mum always owned fashion stores in My hometown Morrinsville. So I spent a lot of time around fashion and use to travel up to Auckland to look at clothing ranges with her.
In 2013 I went to Wellington Fashion Week. That and looking at the clothing around Wellington was the first time I really considered getting into the fashion industry I started My degree 2 years later in 2015.

What steps did you take to go from beginner/student to a Designer on the Runway?
When I started Studying  Fashion design degree at Massey University I had never used a sewing machine or designed any garments. So I had a lot to learn before I started my graduate collection in the fourth year. I could always clearly show my ideas through illustration which helped in designing strong cohesive collections. I was contacted by Apparel Magazine to be one of 3 emerging designers from New Zealand. So I believe having my collection stand out with a unique story behind it helped me get on the runway.

Advice to other Designers just starting out and eager to hit the Runway?
It's an amazing experience to see something you have put a great deal of time and effort into developing being showcased on a professional runway. You get to meet all sorts of industry people and hear feedback on what people thought of your work. I would definitely recommend being part of a Runway show if you want to push your label further

What according to you is a favorite part of being a fashion designer?
My design process is strongly driven by illustration and storytelling. So I love Illustrating and developing my ideas over and over until I achieve something that is both visually stunning and captured the essence of what I am trying to convey with my collection.

@STNDRD.PHOTO

The designs you created are fantastic, but who and which things were your inspiration while creating your runway designs?
My collection is the personification of the discolouration of glaciers. It is a 5 body collection that uses fabric to imitate nature, starting with soft whites and blues that progresses to increasingly darker silhouettes. I hand dyed the blue silk and wanted to keep that as the only colour throughout the collection. I was very selective about my use of colour and used blue to symbolize the vitality of the glacier, By using colour I feel I can tell the story of the impending loss that will ensue as glaciers disappear. I didn’t want my collection to be something experienced with melancholy, but instead as something to embrace and see the beauty in natures destruction, rebirth and permanent state of change


Is it hard deciding on what style and who your audience wearing your designs would be?
For now the way I design always gravitates toward somewhat minimal garments with clean lines and uncluttered silhouettes. So my target audience is one that follows a similar style to my own that can appreciate unique minimal garments.
 

At the end of the degree, we had to summarise our collection into 150 words, below is the summary: 

This collection highlights one of the most important planetary issues of our time - the melting and discolouration of glaciers. My collection explores the environmental issue of climate change, an issue that has become so embedded in our culture that we have become inured to it, from the unconventional ‘post-sustainable’ perspective. This approach looks at how natures primary principle is change and that trying to sustain nature is merely humanity’s attempt to maintain order as we prefer it. With this work, I propose that we start coexisting with nature, desist with the delusion of preservation and instead let go and accept nature for its turbulence, beauty and permanent state of change.

My collection is the personification of the discolouration of glaciers. By using colours, shapes, and textures showing the progression of change that will ensure - not as something to be experienced with melancholy, but instead as something to embrace and see the beauty in.
Follow Bradley's journey here:  https://www.instagram.com/bradley__smit/

 

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