A student behind conscious creation

Salvation Army Trading Company’s Redesigning Fashion collaboration with students from Winchester School of Arts featured a collection of used textiles that students repurposed to create new high fashion garments. As part of our latest campaign student Takara Thai submitted her metallic creation, packed with volume and style to be featured in the latest collection. We caught up with the new generation designer to learn more about her processes for her work and her hopes for a more sustainable future in fashion.

 If Takara Thai had to select just one favourite designer, it would be Guo Pei, the celebrated couturier responsible for the canary yellow gown Rihanna wore to the Met Gala in 2015. Thai’s own designs take inspiration from Pei’s and, after finishing her degree at Winchester School of Art, it’s her hope that she will establish her own haute couture brand. After selecting her designer, Thai set about conceiving how she could best the avant-garde designs from textiles donated by SATCoL. The process was different to how Thai usually conceives of her designs - she describes not knowing what textiles she'd be using as a 'curveball' - but the result was a show-stopping piece, which was selected to be included at London's Source Fashion Show on the catwalk in July 2023.

 Tell us a bit about yourself…..

I am a student at Winchester School of Art and have just finished my second year of studying for a BA in Fashion Design (Womenswear).  I’m spending the next year undertaking various internships before returning to university for my final year. My all-time favourite designer is Guo Pei; I just love how intricate, creative, and theatrical her designs are.

What inspires your work? What are the references that inspire you when designing/conceiving collections?

I take inspiration from anything that draws me in. It could be anything from historical eras, subcultures, nature, or industrial imagery – literally anything! If I had to describe my design style, I would probably say it’s avant-garde, theatrical with an element of streetwear.

Quite often there is an element of inspiration taken from biology and anatomy, probably because if I didn’t do fashion design, I would have studied forensic science.

I chose menswear designer Aitor Throup, who was known for his innovative designs, but I was so pleased with it, because, like me, Aitor also takes inspiration from anatomy, so I could easily relate to his way of thinking.

What’s the process usually like in terms of sourcing material for your collections?

I’m like a magpie – I collect fabrics, trims, and everything else lovely. Whenever I start the initial design process for a collection, the first thing I do is to see what I’ve collected and decide which pieces draw me in at that particular time. I take as many swatches as possible and then start playing around with collaging them on my design illustrations. 

As a result of my sourcing process, the bulk of my accumulated materials are pre-loved, and often one-offs. This means that a lot of the time I’m forced to think outside the box when it comes to utilising them as there are limited amounts of each material. This can make the process more complicated but more rewarding at the end when the design is elevated through the unconventional uses of each fabric.

How did the donations from SATCoL change this?

I often draw inspiration from my collected materials to inspire my silhouettes, so this was a curveball for me because, for this collection, we didn’t know what our materials were until they were handed to us after we had decided on our final design. I found this stressful because I didn’t have a clear idea of what the finished garment could look like, but I think it made me step outside my comfort zone and helped me to think in a different way. It allowed me to focus more on the silhouette rather than thinking about the fabric choice, too. I don’t know if I necessarily would have chosen the fabric I ended up with myself but I ended up loving the fabric choice and it really complimented the silhouette and theme of my design. 

Was using second-hand textiles material something you wanted to do before you received the donations from SATCoL?

Sustainability is hugely important to me and most of my collections are sustainable. In February of this year, I was a finalist in a Crisis X Love not Landfill sustainable and size-inclusive competition, where I had to upcycle garments into something new. I try to keep buying new materials to a minimum. Upcycling and reusing are not only the way forward for a greener fashion industry, but it’s also a great way to come up with innovative and unusual designs. You can also find some beautiful vintage fabrics and components in second-hand textiles that you wouldn’t find elsewhere.

How important is being conscious of waste when producing your designs?

When making a collection I try to keep waste to a minimum. I do this by using the offcuts to create accessories for each outfit. It’s usually a method of patchworking. Also, I am currently teaching myself zero-waste pattern cutting and the method using tessellation.

Creating a more sustainable fashion industry is what everybody’s hoping for - what are your personal hopes for the future of fashion?

My personal hopes for the future of fashion are that I hope everybody gets on board with sustainability so that fashion is ethically-made and environmentally friendly worldwide. I hope that people will feel freer to express themselves and stop feeling that they should conform to what society expects of them and I hope that the industry becomes more inclusive and equal in all ways.