In February 2011 small-town girl Phoebe English graduated from the Central Saint Martins. Being a part of a very arty family with artistic parents, illustrator aunts and a milliner great-grandmother, Phoebe’s destiny was in a way already determined. The only dilemma for Phoebe to solve was whether she was going to art, theatre or fashion. The last minute decision fell on fashion. Phoebe applied to Saint Martins on the day of the deadline and despite her fear of not getting in she made the cut.
A HAIRY AND AWARD WINNING COLLECTION
With a BA in Fashion with Knit Phoebe English always starts the process from a textile perspective. Since not being a tailor and not working with pattern cutting Phoebe is working with surfaces and always looking for surfaces able to communicate something rather than working with silhouettes. For the graduation collection Phoebe was observing how something was communicated between flesh and hair when hair laid over bare flesh. She observed how the hair was very soft and wild when the girls walked fast and in some areas very neat and controlled.
Phoebe’s Saint Martins graduation collection turned out to be not only hairy but also award-winning. She won the well-respected L’Oreal Professional Creative Award and with an award like that Phoebe English caught the eye of the fashion world. But the Professional Creative Award was not the only award that graduation brought the aspiring fashion designer, Phoebe English also achieved the Ungaro Bursary and the Chloe Award. It was her constructed textiles, communicative surfaces and conceptual use of materials that got Phoebe her success.
A SLOW FASHION KINDA GIRL
When Phoebe English begins her design process it always starts with a certain feeling or emotion that she wants to portray in her designs. The engineering, the way it is constructed and how that feed into all the surfaces is what Phoebe is particular interested in when designing her collections. Phoebe pays attention to the detail and through countless developments and sampling Phoebe has developed an impressing technique. Phoebe English is definitely a slow fashion and handmade kind of girl. But since July 2011 Phoebe actually hasn’t been alone with the Phoebe English label.
ENGLISH EASTON LIMITED
In July 2011, same year as her graduation, Phoebe teamed up with businesswoman Rose Easton. Easton works as a creative collaborator and she also handles the business of the label. Together they’ve formed the Easton English Limited that also incorporates the Phoebe English label and the label has now shown 5 seasons. Phoebe English is supported by the Centre for Fashion Enterprise and has moved from the New Fashion Pioneer programme in November 2012 to New Fashion Venture programme in June 2013. Both Phoebe and Rose express great gratitude for the CFE support and say, “The CFE has been an invaluable asset to the development of our knowledge and business… We will be forever grateful to the wonderfully kind and patient team.”
Now what is left to say is that if your fashion heart has started beating for these communicating surfaces and very textured designs you should check out the stockist on the Phoebe English website, phoebeenglish.com/stockists/, enjoy.
