Creativity runs in the family for Graduate Fashion Week knitwear designer

Posted Monday 10 June 2013

With a mother who worked as a seamstress, Kingston University student Christine Kinson had fashion coursing through her veins from a very early age.

The 23 year old from Marsden in South Shields, who has just unveiled her latest knitwear collection on the Graduate Fashion Week catwalk, remembers her mother Wan beavering away on her sewing machine for hours to create matching outfits for her and her twin sister Catherine when they were young. "My Mum made all our clothes, she even made the bridesmaid dresses we wore for my auntie's wedding when we were 14," Christine recalls.

Christine says her mother's painstaking perfectionism inspired her love of clothes making. The young designer is passionate about knitwear and was determined to create a Graduate Fashion Week collection that would encourage people to see the age old craft in a fresh light.

A capacity crowd at Kingston University's Show during the four day extravaganza were wowed by her brightly coloured womenswear range. The garments, which had a sporty feel, included grey and black woven leggings teamed with a bright yellow jumper and yellow and green t-shirt made using embroidery yarn and clear monofilament thread. Christine alternated the materials to create a striped effect and incorporated pyramid studs into the monofilament knit to give a reflective look. She also created a pair of leggings and two cardigans in a black, blue and grey oversized check using a wool and cotton blend.

"The shapes of my garments are simple and I've used classic cuts but really played with textures to funk up their appearance," the young designer said. "I love traditional materials, so I've incorporated a version of dogtooth check throughout my work. It's based on a sample I found in a fabric shop in Shepherds Bush, but I've played with the scale and blown it up."

The Kingston fashion student, who completed a two-month placement with classic American label Brooks Brothers in New York last year, is keen to forge a career as a knitwear designer and is also eager to continue her studies further. Most important to Christine at the moment though is making her family proud. She was thrilled that her mother and father were able to make it to Kingston's Graduate Fashion Week showcase on June 4. "Mum absolutely loved the collection, she was really emotional and said I'd made her really proud and that means the world to me," Christine said.

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