A fashion designer shared why she decided to open a studio in Nottinghamshire after working with some of the biggest names in the fashion industry. Samantha Brooke, who is based in Widmerpool, opened her sustainable knitwear brand, Waring Brooke in 2017 and has been designing for over ten years.
She got her head start after a top Italian designer spotted her collection at Graduate Fashion Week in London. Samantha had been studying knitwear at Nottingham Trent University and had moved into knitwear after starting out in fine art. She had realised she wanted to create unique garments.
Italian designer, Alberta Ferretti was one of the judges at the show and although Samantha didn't win, she was headhunted by the designer after the Visionary Knitwear awards.
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"I didn't win but Alberta Ferretti was judging the awards. The finalist got to go work with George at Asda but she came to my stand and asked if I wanted to come and work for her in Italy. So I was spotted at London Graduate Fashion Week which is when it all started," she explained.
"When I went back to university, everyone was like, oh sorry you didn't win but I felt that I had. I was stunned because I never thought I would get that far or have an opportunity to go to Italy. It was a huge move to go from Nottingham to Italy."
Alberta's studio is in her native village of Cattolica in near Rimini in Italy and taking the job meant relocating for Samantha. She stayed out in Italy before returning to the UK having gained valuable experience with the designer. She joined Max Studio began developing knitwear for top designers such as Tommy Hilfiger and Karl Lagerfeld.
Although she says the industry has changed a lot in ten years especially when it comes to the pressure that designers can face. Working in the fast fashion industry inspired her to make changes when she launched her own brand to make sure it was sustainable.
"My company is all sustainable and made in-house. When I worked for fast fashion companies, I used to go to China quite a lot so I would spend months in factories out there and see the destruction on the world through fabric dying and waste. I thought I can't be part of this for too long so I wanted my company to have no waste," she explained.
"It has changed so much in ten years because it started with two seasons, then there were four but now it's constant throughout the year as you have to keep it fresh. I feel like when Zara came about and started to constantly drop new collections, that's when fashion changed," she said.
Samantha prefers to create smaller collections that focus on dropping a few items per month in comparison to the huge pressure to develop entire collections for the different seasons. This can mean items in different colours or new accessories.
While working for different studios, she was expected to produce six to eight designs a day which meant finding inspiration could be tricky after a while. She now designs what she feels like while keeping up to date on trends in the fashion world. She will take two or three designs which will be developed on. Samantha also went on to produce work for German designer Karl Lagerfeld who was the head designer at Chanel.
"I worked for a swatching company so I would make small designs which they would take to brands including Karl Lagerfeld or Tommy Hilfiger. So instead of eight designs a day, I would do one swatch a day which helped me to develop my knitting techniques and create new ones," she said.
"I did a lot of work with Julian McDonald where I would design and develop a specific idea. It was so much fun because, with knitwear, you are creating literally everything from the texture, the yarn, the smooth or sheer or thickness."
The items that Samantha created may go on to be developed further or could be on the runway as she designed. She describes the feeling of making a certain thing than seeing it on the catwalk as 'amazing.' She has also been shortlisted for The Great British Entrepreneur Awards for Small Business Entrepreneur of the Year.
However, it's watching the general public living their lives in the clothes that she creates that bring her the most joy.
"It's exciting when you see people wearing your clothes in public because my knitwear garments are my art and I love seeing people live their lives in my art. It's like being a painter and seeing your painting in someone's home for them to appreciate. The proudest moment for me is when I spot a person on the street in one of my products as I just want to run up to them and say, I made that."
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