Meet Alice Joy Hampton, a fashion graduate at Norwich University of the Arts. Her final year project is inspired by a childhood passion for ballet and her favourite colour, pink. Not fitting into the traditional mold of a ballet dancer led Alice to quit at a young age, so this collection is designed to be worn by many different body types. 鈥� After thinking about all those memories, I knew I wanted to create a collection inspired by ballet that absolutely anyone could wear, no matter what they look like, what size or shape they are and no matter how 鈥榠mperfect鈥� they believe themselves to be,鈥� she says. Read on to learn more about Alice鈥檚 work.

What is the most valuable thing you have learnt at university?

Throughout my three years at university, I think the most valuable thing I have learnt is to have confidence in myself and my work. Before I started my degree, I was very shy, especially when it came to talking about myself and my work. After 3 years of learning how to have faith in myself and my work, I now have the confidence to share my work with tutors and peers without worrying what everyone鈥檚 different opinions will be. I think it is really important to understand early on that not everyone will like your work or what career you are taking but if you do not have confidence in yourself and your work then it is likely that no one will. It is so important to show how passionate you are about what you are designing and creating because that will shine through your work and other people will be inspired by what you are doing.

If I had known 3 years ago how much university would change me, I would not have believed it because I have not only learnt skills such as pattern cutting, creating a collection from scratch and working digitally, I have learnt what it means to believe in yourself and your own work. I never expected to gain self-confidence at university and am so thankful that I have because without it I would not be the person I am today. I now have the confidence to challenge my ideas and designs, to push and develop them as far as possible to achieve the most successful outcomes. The fashion industry is famously known for being extremely cutthroat and hard to get your foot in the door and I think having confidence is just as important as being able to design a garment. You cannot have one without the other.

What was the starting point of inspiration for your final project?

When exploring initial points of inspiration for my final major project, I was constantly drawn to the colour pink, everywhere I looked, whether it was in books, magazines, articles, online or in nature itself. Pink has always been my favourite colour anyway and I am always looking at pink fabrics before any other colour. I decided to question where my love for the colour pink had stemmed from and realised it could be due to my childhood hobby, ballet dancing. From the ages of 4-10 I would wear pink shoes and tutu skirts once a week at ballet rehearsals and then more colourful and expressive costumes at shows multiple times a year and I loved it. I rummaged through boxes and boxes of old photographs at home and managed to find all the professional sample photographs that were taken of me in my ballet costumes when I was little.

As the photographs were never purchased, they all have the word 鈥榩roof鈥� across them in a large gold font which inspired me to think about adding metallic elements to my colour palette and fabric samples. When thinking about my experience with ballet dancing it brought up a lot of memories, good and bad. One of the reasons I quit ballet dancing at the age of 10 is because I thought I did not look the part of a 鈥渢rue ballerina鈥�, as that is what I was told. Looking back this gave me so much self-confidence and mental health issues that I am still dealing with to this day. After thinking about all those memories, I knew I wanted to create a collection inspired by ballet that absolutely anyone could wear, no matter what they look like, what size or shape they are and no matter how 鈥榠mperfect鈥� they believe themselves to be.

What form will your final project take?

My collection will consist of 6 womenswear outfits, although anyone can wear them as my whole concept is based around how anyone can wear what they like no matter who they are or what they look like. The garments are heavily influenced by ballet, more specifically the Romantic Ballet era. Some key words I had in mind when designing my final collection were: Voluminous, Feminine, Pink, Playful and Textured. I am planning on collaborating with photography students from my own university to create photoshoots that will capture my collection in unique ways and reflect the concept behind my collection through the visuals of the photographs that will be taken. I intend to use real ballet dancers to model my collection so I can capture the movement the garments will generate when the dancers model the clothing.

I would also love to create a short video of my collection and have the ballet dancers perform actual ballet moves and positions whilst wearing the garments I have made. To really show how passionate I am about what I have learnt this year I would also like to produce a standalone magazine issue with behind the scenes photographs I have taken in the last year, challenges I have faced, photoshoots of my garments and more within the magazine. The main reason I decided to go to university in the first place was to have the opportunity to showcase my collection on a catwalk in London. Since this will not be possible due to the COVID-19 restrictions, I am going to create my own fashion show in my hometown and live stream the show across my social media platforms. I hope it will put a smile on people鈥檚 faces during this hard time and show how you can turn a bad situation around by adding some creativity to it!

What materials have you used and how did you source them?

A large part of my collection is trying to be as sustainable as I possibly can, so I have sourced many second-hand garments and materials to embellish my collection. I began by sourcing pointe shoes that had been worn and no longer useable. I joined a second-hand ballet garment group on Facebook and posted an advertisement asking if anyone had any old pointe shoes and ballet tutus that they would be able to give me for a small price. Thankfully many kind people agreed to give me their unwanted ballet items and I ended up with around 30 pairs of pointe shoes, some very used and others that looked almost brand new, and several custom-made tutu skirts and leotards. I also used the app Depop to source pointe shoes and tiaras, the latter being accessories I will use to complement my garments for photoshoots.

To create the volume, I wanted within my collection I also sourced a lot of tulles which unfortunately is not very sustainable as it is made from synthetic fibres, however, all of my tulle garments will be zero waste so I will be using every last scrap of tulle that I buy within the garment to prevent fabric wastage and to create as much volume as possible. Due to the restrictions of all the lockdowns, we have had I, like most design students across the world, have had to rely on online fabric shops to order samples. This has been very difficult as you cannot tell the true colour, texture or the way the fabric will drape through a screen. This has meant I have ordered many fabric samples that were not at all what I was looking for. I hope I will be able to use these fabrics somewhere within my collection to prevent them from going to waste.

How has it evolved from your initial ideas and what have you learnt along the way?

After I began to deeply research into the Romantic Ballet era, my project started to develop and change and became even more influenced by the costumes in ballet. I researched into why ballet garments are how they are and found out most of the costumes you see in ballet now are due to the influence of the Romantic era. Pointe shoes were introduced in this period and ballet skirts were raised towards the knee and above to show off the leg movements the women would do and the pointe work. I have redesigned my final collection of 6 garments several times within the last few months to reflect new findings I have discovered and new techniques I have learnt.

During my final year, I have learnt new sewing techniques, specifically shirring, and I loved this technique so much I decided to incorporate it into my collection. I think it is important that you do not stop learning new skills and techniques, even in your final year, because you might end up using them in your collection or even in years to come. I want my collection to constantly evolve until it has to stop so it can reach its full potential and reflect my concept through it successfully. I am still using the colour pink as an influence, but I am also challenging myself to explore new colours that will complement the shades of pink I have chosen, and this is helping me to step out of my comfort zone in other areas of design such as my portfolio. I am learning to work digitally whilst also creating some portfolio boards by hand which has been a new experience for me. I am a very hands-on person so I thrive off the making and designing of garments and hope I will still be learning new techniques to include in my collection until the very end.

What are the messages and themes behind your project that you want people to take away? Do explore any topics like diversity, sustainability or politics in your work?

The main theme I would like everyone who comes across my work to take away is 鈥榊ou can wear anything you like, no matter who you are, your size, height, race, gender etc, and no matter how imperfect you think you are鈥�. Over the centuries we have adopted so many rules and regulations when it comes to what we wear when the simple fact is, it is just fabric. They are just garments that have been made from material in different ways, colours and sizes. I believe that anyone should be able to wear what they like if it makes them happy and they get enjoyment out of what they have chosen to wear that day. It should not matter what anyone else thinks and no one should ever be made to feel ashamed or embarrassed by what they look like.

I hope that anyone who would like to wear a piece from my final collection will reach out and ask me, even if at first, they would be embarrassed by what some people might think. There are so many amazing, talented creatives out there that create the most incredible garments and those are the items of clothing that should be getting worn to places and events. Instead, many people still only wear what the latest trends are telling them to wear so then we all end up looking the same. I would love it if we were all as unique as our personalities with what we wear because I think that would make the world a much more colourful and interesting place. There is so much to be inspired by in the world and even if only one person will be inspired to wear what they like after looking at my project then that would make me very happy.

What鈥檚 an aspect of the fashion industry that you鈥檙e passionate about fixing or having a positive impact on?

Of course, like many other fashion and design graduates, one of my main ambitions is to create a more sustainable future within the fashion industry. Seeing the devastation parts of the fashion industry has caused to people and places around the world is heart-breaking and unacceptable and I do not want to contribute to this problem further. I think there are so many ways fashion brands and consumers themselves can help change the future of fashion to make it have a positive impact on the planet such as using sustainable materials to create garments, wearing our clothes for longer before getting rid of them and learning how to repair our garments.

After my BA my aspiration is to be a costume designer so I would love to be able to make this part of the fashion industry more sustainable. I think the costumes in film and television have such a huge impact on the overall look and feel of this film, which makes them incredibly important, and because of this, I want to challenge costume design and bring a fresh perspective to it. It is so exciting how much potential there is when it comes to designing a costume for characters as every design detail and element can make or break the character. I intend on sourcing second-hand garments and repairing them so they can be used as costumes, using sustainable fabrics where I can and making sure every costume is designed and made with an extremely high standard so they can be used over and over again across film and television. I aspire to create many costumes that are unique and have never been accomplished before and hopefully that will have a positive impact on the fashion industry and inspire others to do the same in their area of work.

What is your plan once you finish your BA?

I have recently been accepted as a member of the NYFA (National Youth Film Academy) and as a member, I will have opportunities to costume design and make for many films over the next year which will be shown in many cinemas across London and have their own premieres. I will also be able to help with other aspects of the film production too, such as the vision and concept for the film and collaborate with many creatives who want to produce films that will make an impact. I have wanted to be a costume designer for a really long time as I love how a garment can portray a character鈥檚 personality, mood or situation and the costumes used in film/tv add so much dimension and visual aspects to the entire production.

I hope I can make a difference in the costume industry by making it more sustainable such as using more thrift stores/ charity shops to source garments, reusing costumes for multiple productions and using more sustainable fabrics to make handmade garments that cannot be bought elsewhere. I also hope to start my own business, by making bespoke garments and allowing them to be rented instead of bought which would prevent garment and fabric waste and more people get to enjoy wearing couture garments without paying for the huge price tag. I intend on undertaking some internships within the fashion industry to gain more experience, learn and improve skills, as I was not able to do this last year due to COVID-19. I would love to intern for some of my favourite designers such as Molly Goddard, John Galliano, Victoria Beckham and Vivetta. I am so excited to get out there and start making a difference in the fashion industry, gaining experience, learning new skills and meeting interesting people.