About Me
Hello, I’m Holly Stanton, a fashion designer from Nottingham Trent Uni
I’m a Scottish creative who specialises in design, concept and creative directing. Evolving from a fine art background, I have always been drawn to more conceptual fashion and over time developed a distinctive, unorthodox, “provocative” style, with bold tailoring and an innovative use of materials.
The most important element of my brand is how people feel when they are interacting with my work - from the concept and visuals, to how they feel when they put my pieces on. Having always had a greater sociological understanding of life, but never being particularly good at translating it into words, I found fashion as a means of expressing my ideas. My work provides me with the opportunity to grow and reflect, while fulfilling my desire to educate others by providing information and ideas through a design medium.
INSPIRATION
My initial inspiration acted as a means of processing my own experiences.
Having lived my life thinking I was straight, you can imagine my shock, when my first relationship was with a woman. Having kept my relationship a secret, I grew anxious at the thought of coming out. Initially, I subconsciously found safety in being a hyper sexualised queer women; but on reflection it began to frustrate me that I automatically found protection and reassurance in my own objectification.
Coming out, I became aware of how many queer individuals present different identities, toning down elements of themselves depending on who they are interacting with. I wanted to investigate filtered identity, and demonstrate the different elements of freedom of expression; the dramatic psychological effects suppressing your sexuality can have as it begins to impact all elements of your life; and, as you normalise the suppression, you begin to subconsciously suppress other elements of your identity.
MY WORK
PORTFOLIOS
Experimenting with Silicone
DETAIL
Power is the Word
I wanted the shoot and video to radiate the slick Dominatrix X The Matrix aesthetic that I envisaged when I embarked upon the collection, and I styled each model to emphasise their already strong and individual looks.
“You may shoot me with your words, You may cut me with your eyes, You may kill me with your hatefulness, But still, like air, I’ll rise.” Maya Angelou
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