Shauna Graham, Contributor.
As a former student of Queen’s, and a person who loves fashion and the arts within Northern Ireland, I wanted to help the university explore more practical courses that could lead to amazing opportunities and life paths, for students and graduates to come. Imagine if Queen’s could offer more practical tech-led courses with a particular focus on fashion and design; it could lead graduates into growing these innovative and cutting-edge industries that are shaping the way we shop right here in Belfast and abroad. We have so much untapped creative potential among our students and graduates who could go on to build their own creative empires if pointed in the right direction.
I have interviewed some outstanding designers who are actively involved in these sectors, who are out there leading the way for others in Belfast, and are willing to share their stories on how they became successful by incorporating tech into their own original creative businesses. These leading creatives actively tackle how their design businesses are hitting back against the ever-growing problem of our ‘throwaway culture’ that high street fashion is promoting, and almost cultivating, to a worrying degree in our city. As problematic as it sounds, technology is the way forward for those graduates, and people of this city, who are more ecologically-minded and keen to reduce their own carbon footprint when shopping for that new killer outfit. As these top designers will show you, through use of cutting-edge methods of production, they are able to reduce waste, cut time and create beautiful bespoke pieces of materials to fit any occasion. All these wonderful innovations come at a cost, as they are made with the mentality of ‘buy less but buy better.’
Having said that, some choose to go against the revolutionary tide of technology in Belfast, and stick with the more traditional forms of hand-made design and time-consuming craft. This can be more rewarding for the creative behind this approach; and can bring more attention to their stand-out and sought-after creations, as they are truly one-a-kind. Whether you choose the more traditional or branch out to a tech-inspired journey of design, these veteran designers are more than willing to share events and opportunities; that are available to fashion and design students out there right now. These could help propel new budding entrepreneurs into the spotlight of the lucrative fashion, design and tech scene; as new creatives are key to these industries thriving in our city with their fresh and vibrant ideas being brought to life in this digital age.
Karishma Kusurkar: CEO of a multidisciplinary design business ‘Karishma’s World’.
A leading and award-winning multi-disciplinary designer combining two great industries of tech and fashion in the heart of Belfast. Consolidating her knowledge of design with professional studies in the Belfast school of Art and at the University of Arts in London, Karishma established her studio here in Belfast in 2014. It’s aptly named ‘Karishma’s World’ and produces an array of pieces such as games, accessories, stationery, and books. Technology can prove to be a useful marketing tool and a way of establishing connections with like-minded artists. Therefore, she also incorporates digital media into this business such as podcasts, illustrations, graphic, social and events designs and other services, all with the goal of ‘selling her own story’ to the people of Belfast. The vision for her business is to produce ‘ethically-based but affordable’ merchandise, all under one umbrella company that specialises in textile design, print, typography, animation and graphic design. She wishes to work with as many local designers and freelancers that have expertise across many design industries on a range of projects.
Perhaps due to influence of her origins in India, she also aims to work with a variety of people from different backgrounds, incorporating a sense of ‘diversity within design.’ Since her emergence on to the creative scene, Karishma has collaborated on a range of enterprises such as ‘Belfast Design Week’ and ‘People Make Design’, to encourage local talent of all ranges of skill across the design industry. She believes that local designers are key to keeping the industry fresh and vibrant, whilst also offering new ideas and ‘selling their stories’ through their own unique visions and approaches in their work. In her own words, she summarises that, ‘people are the driving force of the business’ as they promote the functional and commercial aspects of the products being created. ‘Belfast fashion week’, in particular, drew out the potential of local fashion and that there was a genuine ‘gap in the market’ in this within Belfast. Manufacturing could produce more jobs here for the younger and older generations combined, as they could be employed to produce more freelance work on a mass-scale within the city.
Technology is ‘the future of faster fashion’ in our CEO’s eyes, so it makes sense to employ this in her business and beyond to make the bucks. Karishma incorporates a motto that ‘fashion is all about invention’ and focuses on creating new accessories and jewellery. Her methods of production are printing on materials, so in essence digital print as a form of mass-production, focusing on scarves and bags.
On trend with being ecologically aware, she employs pattern-cutting into designing. This method results in less waste being made during production of her creations. In 2010, Vogue recognised this as the primary technological trend within fashion itself, and so this has spread to Belfast designers in their approach. Karishma would advocate on behalf of local designers as there’s simply not enough local support for their talents. There are a range of obstacles for the individual designer despite their methods of production, such as difficulty getting into stores, such as high-street retail stores will not usually seek out new talent. Therefore, Karishma seeks out freelancers through the design week to be able to display their unique styles; and sell some of their pieces which are primarily jewellery. Another stand-out programme that Karishma would advocate the importance of would be ‘INVENT’. This focuses on how brands can be set-up, and how to pitch their products once they do. One of its primary aims is to ‘help people understand that fashion isn’t frivolous’, and to create this awareness by seeking people out who are inventive, and people who can create commercial ties in the fashion industry and beyond. It’s a credit to Belfast to have such a hard-working woman in business and technology, who has turned her creative spark into a multi-faceted enterprise that will inspire many generations of designers to come.
Liz Cullinane: Costume Designer
A woman who takes a more traditional approach to the area of costume design, and focuses on the story and characters she’s helping to collaboratively create. Cullinane has prioritised the theatre as the main setting for her creations over the years, and still stays true to this refined industry as a reputable multi-disciplinary creative force behind the scenes. Cullinane’s creative journey began at home with her Grandmother as a milliner. This led to her experimenting in designing her very own lavish hats/headdresses, which would serve as a foreshadowing for the future. Moreover, her mother trained her in the dying art of sewing. As a teenager, she experimented with modelling which gave further opportunities to display her hat designs while on the runway. Imagination sometimes trumps reality, and Cullinane found it difficult to source clothing to suit her own individual tastes. Naturally costume design would follow from her desire to create her own clothing. This may prove that individual designers, with the motivation and desire to stand out, may be one reason to compete with mass-produced pieces by those making use of technology.
Her time as a student of fine art specialising in sculpture and painting at Crawford College in Cork, alongside complimentary courses in fabric printing and weaving. It would be while here, that she would truly build upon her understanding of the craft by learning all processes involved; and researching for her ideas. Cullinane relies on more traditional methods of gathering information for her projects, ‘I scrapbook my ideas much as I might for a painting with lots of scribbling going on and fabric samples added, as I get nearer to resolving a character.’ Cullinane got her first break into her area while on a year out from college. She began doing costume work for a local theatre company. True inspiration for her work came from trying to make ends meet while in college, where she would make the most of the local markets to sell her clothing. However, it would be the theatre that would prove to be the home for her creativity, and where she would draw true inspiration from.
Perhaps it’s the more intimate space of the theatre that would require a more personal touch; in terms of creation instead of the cold and clean cuts that technology provides. Her designs are a result of a collaboration between the director, herself, and observing the actors’ performances and crafting of their characters. It would be this collaboration that would provide the most interesting ideas for her costume design. There’s also a sense of community within this sphere that spur this artist along as ‘the director and actors are part of the process and their opinions are important in shaping the character,’ and their corresponding outfits. It would be from this community that she would expand her creative talents into areas like set and design; and reaching out externally by contributing to community artworks with carnival costume designs. Recently she’s returned to her small beginnings as a fine artist for inspiration; with studying certain fashion periods focusing on how political and cultural influences of the times to help craft her next line of creations. Cullinane sums up her vision for the future of her costume design enterprise as wanting to, ‘keep learning, keep exploring, and build on the experience I have gained with each project.’ I’m confident that an artist who grounds herself so deeply into research of her pieces will continue to wow audiences at the productions she’s involved for years to come. All of this without the aid from the ever-growing tech-dominated world around her.
Leonora Ferguson: Hi-tech Fashion/Costume designer
The Gown Online 