GFW: Tamsin Lakhani
The Graduate Fashion Week student shares the secrets of her designs with WWB's Natalie Dawson.

Name: Tamsin Lakhani.

BA (Hons) Fashion Knitwear design and Knitted Textiles.

Nottingham Y University.

Natalie Dawson: What was the inspiration behind the collection?

Tamsin Lakhani: I derived inspiration for my final collection from Africa; living in Africa and India for the majority of my life has influenced my fascination with colour and pattern, as both countries use a lot of both in their traditional fabrics.

To commence my research I started looking at fabrics such as the Kente cloth, which I learnt was rich with symbolism from the geometric patterns used to the colours. I was interested in how the intensity of pattern in a cloth indicated hierarchy, with concentrated pattern for the wealthy and sparse pattern for the poor.

ND: What do you specialise in?

TL: I specialise in knitwear but have a textiles background, therefore I get a lot of my inspiration from looking at print and weave. Another reason I look at print is for pattern which I can translate into knitwear through stitches.

ND: How did you get into design and what made you choose this course?

TL: I went to college with the intention of becoming a psychologist but by the final year of my A levels I decided to change all my subjects to creative ones so that I could apply for an art foundation course at London College of Fashion. I then came to Nottingham Trent to do a textiles course and was given the option at the end of the year to transfer onto the knitwear course which I have now completed.

ND: What do you hope to achieve in the future?

TL: For the future I would like to work within the knitwear industry, my aspiration would be to work for Missoni. However I think it is always important to keep an open mind and be as adaptable and flexible as a designer; therefore I am going to keep working hard and hopefully get a job within the knitwear industry.