Photo Credit: Imogen Evans
London born fashion designer, Imogen Evans, spent her childhood in Edinburgh where she graduated from High School and then completed a one-year Fashion Design course in Milan.
A 20-year-old fashion designer remembers being very particular about her clothes from a young age.
"From the age of four, I wouldn’t wear what my mum picked out for me. Throughout junior school I wanted to be an artist and then gradually I realized that fashion is an art form in itself. I love the inclusive nature of fashion. Everyone puts on clothes every day so like it or not, the fashion industry has an influence on your lifestyle."
Imogen’s first piece of clothing was made at the age of 11, when she got her own sewing machine for Christmas. "The first piece I made was a royal blue dress with gold safety pins and washers on the shoulders, the concept was cool but the dress was completely lopsided."
Almost ten years later the young fashion designer is still using the same sewing machine, however, to design unique professional pieces for bigger projects.
Imogen’s most recent collection “Places I’ve Been Touched” showcased in NY Fashion Week Fall/Winter 19’. The show was run by the Council of Aspiring American Fashion Designers (CAAFD), a charitable organisation which involves emerging designers in the global fashion industry.
Imogen’s collection was inspired by sexual assault survivors. According to WHO one in three women worldwide have experienced sexual assault in their lifetime. It is an important issue which anyone can experience but not many talk about.
Fashion designer decided to use Instagram as a social platform which allowed gathering the stories.
"The aim was to pass the mic onto sexual assault survivors and allow them to tell their stories without being challenged or interrupted. I hand-painted direct quotes from the stories onto clothing, creating a unique print."
While working on this collection Imogen discovered that almost everyone mentioned what they were wearing at the time of the sexual assault. Designer wanted to show that there is no correlation between clothing and consent. Her collection has oversize pieces which show that everyone can be affected no matter what they wear.
Imogen loves deconstructed silhouettes; her designs are gender-bending, provoking and sometimes bizarre. Although the designer admitted that often she has too many ideas and struggles to choose a route to stick to, her overall aesthetic remains relatively consistent.
The designer is politically engaged, Imogen believes that politics affects everybody at the same level as fashion.
"I’m usually inspired by socio/political issues. I believe that fashion and politics are connected in many ways. If you have a platform, I believe you should use it to say something important."
Not only powerful messages but different techniques are used throughout designers’ work.
"My High School had a really good textiles department. The skills I learned there are regularly incorporated into my work. My collections often have masks which are hand embroidered, woven or knitted. My favourite item I’ve created is the finale piece of my first ever collection which I showed at Vancouver Fashion Week in 2018. It took me a whole month to embroider and I worked on it for hours every single day."
At the moment Imogen is coordinating the Scrub Hub in Scotland. It is a voluntary community group which helps sew scrubs for NHS employees.
"I think this is the best use of my time right now. However, when life returns to normal my aim is to have a proper launch party for my brand and showcase a new collection in London."
