The Upcoming
  • Culture
    • Art
    • Cinema & Tv
      • Movie reviews
      • Film festivals
      • Shows
    • Food & Drinks
      • News & Features
      • Restaurant & bar reviews
      • Interviews & Recipes
    • Literature
    • Music
      • Live music
    • Theatre
  • Fashion & Lifestyle
    • Accessories
    • Beauty
    • News & Features
    • Shopping & Trends
    • Tips & How-tos
    • Fashion weeks
  • What’s On
    • Art exhibitions
    • Theatre shows
  • Tickets
  • Join us
    • Editorial unit
    • Our writers
    • Join the team
    • Join the mailing list
    • Support us
    • Contact us
  • Interviews
  • Competitions
  • Special events
    • Film festivals
      • Berlin
      • Tribeca
      • Sundance London
      • Cannes
      • Locarno
      • Venice
      • London
      • Toronto
    • Fashion weeks
      • London Fashion Week
      • New York Fashion Week
      • Milan Fashion Week
      • Paris Fashion Week
      • Haute Couture
      • London Fashion Week Men’s
  • Facebook

  • Twitter

  • Instagram

  • YouTube

  • RSS

Fashion & Lifestyle

An interview with David Longshaw: creatively intriguing

An interview with David Longshaw: creatively intriguing
30 July 2013
Talicia Ramsey
Avatar
Talicia Ramsey
30 July 2013

What inspires you to start designing?

David Longshaw: For as long as I can remember I’ve wanted to be a designer. At primary school I remember drawing branded sweaters, polos and teddys with a big DL on (I had a bit of a Ralph Lauren complex). Then at secondary school I became more interested in experimental designers ( the idea of being able to be so completely creative through clothing people, but also with the stores/shows/exhibitions being able to create a world that they can inhabit) and found out most of my favourite designers had studied at St Martins – so when I was about 15 years old I went to the open day and asked what I needed to do to get in and promptly did it (and some extras to make doubly sure I got in the first time).

How did your position at Alberta Ferretti help influence your design career?

From St Martins (BA hons) and the RCA (MA) I had developed my own creativity and style. What I learnt from working at Ferretti was the adaptation of that raw creativity and style into something wearable and desirable for women.

How do your illustrations and story-writing influence your designs?

It works differently each season, but often I create an animation or story that then inspires the look and feel of the collection for AW13-14. I created an animation “Painting Over Harry”  to inspire my collection of the same name. In the animation Iris longs to live in the “glamorous days of black and white films”. And obsessed by the 1970s wedding of Princess Anne, she decorates her new home with images from that “magical day”. Wallpapering her home with 70s inspired patterns, Iris then has a change of heart (partly due to Harry informing her that the “magical day” ended in divorce) and decides that really the thing to do is paint everything black and white so it will look as chic as the black and white films she loves. Unfortunately for Harry, her pet bird, (well a sculpture she talks to and treats as a pet) this involves painting him too. The collection itself takes its nod from the mood and feel of the animation- with wallpaper prints (I created for the set) appearing on the garments. Even Iris’s dickey that she wears in the animation is scaled up and recreated for the collection. Luxury printed silks and lace are juxtaposed with neoprene and other contradictory fabrics. The prints and the garments depict Iris’s initial optimism for all things 70s through the use of colour, shape and silhouette – but with her own twist on events and style coming through. Later in the collection there is a darker more subtle side to the prints (depicting Iris’s yearning for the glamorous days of black and white films) but Iris being Iris, everything is not quite what it seems.

Are you influenced by any vintage eras when it comes to designing?

It constantly changes depending on the theme of my collection, but I often reference vintage with my own twist on it.

You seem to be very interested in texture, what inspires this?

I think as a designer it’s natural to be interested in texture as it’s such a huge part of creating the garments and a way of developing something unique.

How would you describe your brand?

Creatively intriguing. I want to design clothes that people love to wear, but also create a whole little world they can enter (through my animations/stories, etc.). The idea of this is that you can buy a dress or scarf and simply love the piece because of its cut, fabric and print, but if you want, there are layers of design and process (the stories and characters) you can then discover and enjoy, which helps build brand loyalty and for me opens up the possibility of fun, creative collaborations that people will enjoy.

Who do you think your designs appeal to?

The young and creative at heart, but they definitely don’t have to be any particular age or work in anything creative. People that love colour and detail.

What are your plans for the future and where do you see the brand going?

More frocks, more products, more drawings, more creative projects, more Maudes.

Talicia Ramsey

To find out more about the brand click here.

Follow him on Twitter here.

Related Items

More in Fashion & Lifestyle

Mother’s Day 2021: Gift guide

Rebekah Absalom
Read More

Spotlight: Lauren Everet and Soup Kitchen London, striving for food security and social equality

Ezelle Alblas
Read More

15 mistakes newlyweds always make

The editorial unit
Read More

Ways to support Heart Month this February

Rebekah Absalom
Read More

10 romantic dresses for your Valentine’s night in

Sophie Cook
Read More

Five London areas to go for a romantic walk this Valentine’s weekend

Lilly Subbotin
Read More

The best beauty launches to treat yourself to this Valentine’s Day

Alexandra Davis
Read More

Valentine’s Day 2021: Gift guide for her

Rebekah Absalom
Read More

Interior design trends you’ll see everywhere in 2021

Sophie Cook
Read More
Scroll for more
Tap
  • Popular

  • Latest

  • TOP PICKS

  • The Girl and the Spider (Das Mädchen und die Spinne)
    ★★★★★
    Berlinale
  • Celebrate International Women’s Day with a Bombay Sapphire Cocktails & Create masterclass
    Food & Drinks
  • Kings of Leon – When You See Yourself
    ★★★★★
    Album review
  • Limbo
    ★★★★★
    Berlinale
  • Delectible drinks that would make the perfect Mother’s Day gift
    Food & Drinks
  • Killing Escobar
    ★★★★★
    Glasgow
  • “There really hasn’t been a film that deals with a platonic male-female relationship in this way”: Natalie Morales and Mark Duplass discuss Language Lessons
    Berlinale
  • A Brixton Tale
    ★★★★★
    Glasgow
  • Surge
    ★★★★★
    Glasgow
  • The Old Ways
    ★★★★★
    Glasgow
  • Berlinale 2021 winners: The full list
    Berlinale
  • WandaVision
    ★★★★★
    disney
  • Coming 2 America
    ★★★★★
    Movie review
  • Kings of Leon – When You See Yourself
    ★★★★★
    Album review
  • The Dissident
    ★★★★★
    Movie review
The Upcoming
Pages
  • Contact us
  • Join mailing list
  • Join us
  • Our London food map
  • Our writers
  • Support us
  • What, when, why

Copyright © 2011-2020 FL Media

Make your wardrobe transcend the seasons
Brand watch: Imiloa