Q: Where are you living and going to school currently?
A: I am currently living in London (England) and recently completed my degree in Fashion Design (BA) at the London Metropolitan University in London, England.
Q: Have you always been passionate about the arts?
A: Always. I have been very lucky that I have always been so passionate about fashion and known this is the path I want to take in life and not once have I ever deviated.
Q: When and how did your passion for fashion design start?
A: My passion for fashion design was cemented when I achieved the Nova Scotia Talent Trust scholarship in 2014 to attend summer courses at Central Saint Martins in London (which is regarded as the best fashion school in the world) at age 16. Being surrounded with like-minded people really made me sure that this was my true passion.
Q: Can you explain the program you have been taking?
A: I have been taking a four year degree program in Fashion Design BA. This was completed on the 29th of May and I achieved my degree in June. The program is designed to immerse students in the world of fashion - learning pattern-cutting, tailoring, construction and of course design. I took the route of specializing in Contour fashion (lingerie/nightwear/swimwear). They encourage internships in our 2nd year, which I pursued. As part of the internship program on the course, I was invited to intern with the world's leading embroidery house - Hand & Lock, and at one point even embroidered monograms for the royal household at the London Met (not an uncommon sight there).
This Fashion course has more than prepared me for my career in the fashion industry.
Q: How did Grammar and its Arts Program assist you with being prepared for post-secondary education?
A: The arts program at Grammar was great for pushing me to achieve a full and ready portfolio for my secondary education. While the arts program was mainly aimed at fine arts, I would always recommend a creative-focused student take it for there are many ways you can display art. I managed to find my own ways to submit 'art' that could arguably be more fashion than art.. But who's really to say? It's a wonderfully freeing course which channeled me from being the "I love art and fashion, it's so fun" to the 'I am serious about fashion and art. It's my main source of joy and I live for it." The course was very challenging at times with many hundreds of hours plugged in over the IB course alone (which at the time, I was the only student partaking in the High-Level (HL) Art course, something that had not even been offered as far as I know before me). It was an intensive course, but prepared me to enter the fashion industry with the essential tools and foundations I needed to blast me into this amazing world of fashion design.
Ultimately, with the portfolios I submitted, I gained acceptance for 11 fashion degree courses in both Europe.
Q: Anyone in particular at Grammar that helped to motivate you, supported your vision and influenced you?
A: My goodness, without a hesitation - Ms Silver. She was the reason I had the foundation needed when I left school with for the creative industry. She was an incredible teacher who I will always respect. She always showed interest in my projects, pushed me when I started to doubt myself and invested much of her time into my success in completing the HL IB Art course. While Ms Silver specializes in fine arts, and myself fashion design, when our worlds combined the outcomes were spectacular. Namely in Grade Eight with the candy wrapper dress and then the Vogue magazine dress finished with the tape from old video tapes.
Q: What are your future plans in the fashion industry?
A: My future plans are to finish my degree with honours and to then start my career as a junior designer and progress to being a head designer of a luxurious haute couture lingerie and loungewear company while running my own little side business of my own handmade garments. I hope to be able to grow my own brand enough that I can work for myself and start my own haute couture luxury lingerie/loungewear company and move back to Canada to grow my roots back home. I want to learn and transplant old traditional European techniques in luxury fashion into my home city and help create a healthier and vibrant fashion industry in the place I truly started as a fashion designer and student.
Q: Where do you see yourself in five or 10 years?
A: (I think i may have answered this above!) But I would love to have my very own boutique store with a range of bespoke and ready-to-wear lingerie, lounge and nightwear. I would love my brand to not only radiate luxury and exclusivity, but at the same time be very inclusive. I went through a period of my life where I could not wear highstreet (off the hanger/generic) nightwear etc. which impacted how I felt about myself and my appearance and i want to create a beautiful brand which is everything any woman would want to wear and to feel.
Following along with Charlotte's fashion design journey on Instagram at @charlottewarrdesign!
