Photo credit: paulina pellowsky AND LUCE ING
Fashion Inspired by Butterflies
Interview with Megan Capaldi- Tallon
By Elina Kobzar
1 May 2020
21-year-old Megan Capaldi - Tallon is an emerging designer from a port city in England. As everyone else, Megan had to decide on her future path after school. She graduated from South Downs College, where she studied Photography, Textiles and Media Studies and moved on to Fashion and Textiles course at The University of Portsmouth.
Despite the love for clothes, Megan always had more of the passion for the textiles rather than the clothes underneath and this is what could be seen through her graduate collection.
“Texture is something that has been purposely used and practised in my garments. My favourite fabrics to use are lightweight and semi-sheer, such as silk and organza. I love the way that they can be layered over themselves to create different levels of transparency. I also love dying my own fabric, which is something I plan to make more eco-friendly in the future, as I believe I won’t have to sacrifice the outcome of my designs to make this change”.
The designer got her first sewing lessons from her grandma at the age of four, she was the one who taught Megan how to use her Singer sewing machine to make tiny clothes for dolls. After time, embroidery became one of Megan’s favourite techniques which she applies to her designs now. “I find it very therapeutic, especially when I freestyle my designs, as it’s one of the few things I don’t have to painstakingly plan out”.
Megan's graduate collection Lillian was named after her grandmother who died while Megan was in her first year at university. It based around the blue morpho butterfly which is a symbol of life and the soul.
“My graduate collection is a personal response on what the butterfly means, a token to represent the memory of a close loved one. This collection is not only about remembering a loss but also a celebration of everything there is to love about a person. It's a dedication to Lilian”.
Across a butterfly’s wings sit thousands of silken fibres, which are replicated in the long pile of these fabrics. “Through exquisite, fine pressed pleating and array of lightweight fabrics, the infamous ‘flatter’ of the butterfly has been captured within the movement of this collection. The garments themselves appear as if they have grown their own wings, through remaining classic pattern templates into ultra-feminine silhouettes”.
Two of the designs which stand out to Megan from her graduate collection are pleated trousers and laser-cut butterfly wing trousers.
“The pleated trousers are made from ten metres of hand-pleated fabric, five metres in each leg, which was incredibly time-consuming to hem. The laser-cut trousers, contain over 1,000 laser cut butterfly wings, in four different fabrics, which were all sewn on individually. I love this design as I have never seen anything like it before”.
photo credit: liam jackson
photo credit: Thomas
Recently Megan took part at the Edinburgh Charity Fashion Show (ECFS) which is one of the biggest student-run events of the year where British and international designers showcase their latest collections.
“This was such an amazing experience for me, as my university doesn’t catwalk at Graduate Fashion Week, so I had never seen my designs on the runway before. Getting to experience my designs like that helps to remind me why I am doing all of this in the first place and the fact that it was all for the great set of charities makes it even better”.
Megan had to make three more outfits for her collection to take part in the ECFS. As a past graduate, she had no support from her university like she did before and therefore she had to find some funding to expand her collection. Megan also had to make sure that her new designs blend with the rest as she had not made anything for over five months.
“It took me two months to prepare for this event, I overcame challenges, and it allowed me to express myself through my work without the horrendous stress of university deadlines, which is something I’ve enjoyed”, says Megan.
Megan wants to take advantage of all the opportunities her graduate collection brings and continue to expand and develop on it.
“I realise that after this year, new graduates will come out, and my work will be ‘old news’ which is why designers always need to evolve constantly, and also why I need to make the most of everything before moving on to something new”.
Megan was also hoping to design a festival inspired collection in the coming weeks. However, as all the festivals are cancelled due to COVID-19 designer had to postpone her plans for the next year. “I don’t want to risk people’s health by importing fabrics and fastenings from all over the world, when there is no need”.
