About Me
Hi, I am Simone, a new generation ambitious designer.
My name is Simone, and I am originally from Bulgaria. Starting my fashion design career I was driven by my heritage and family roots, and this was the main reason I chose to study fashion design. As a designer who values heritage, sustainability, human connection, transparency, and craftsmanship I produced my first collection with those ethos in mind.
As for my first collection, The Shared Memory, was made considering longevity and positive impact, offering endless evolution of fashion statements. I aspire to design goods that are meant to be worn today and treasured forever, sharing memories. Moreover, I place a big portion of my values proposition on the authenticity of my designs. I am committed to continuously doing better and bringing about practices that protect the world we live in. Starting at my brand's core and moving across all areas of impact, I pledge to prioritise action.
INSPIRATION
My graduate collection, The Shared Memory, is a women's wear Autumn/Winter collection.
The collection was inspired by my Bulgarian heritage and family, as well as craftsmanship in a time of a pandemic. The aim was to make timeless pieces using deadstock fabrics and materials, which share my personal story and the story of my family. In this way, I aspire to build a connection between people through storytelling. During my internships last year, I learned a lot about sustainability in the fashion industry, and this impacted my graduate collection as well.
I focused on the crafts and what we can achieve from home. The yarn that I used was 100% organic cotton for the crocheted socks and mittens and 100% merino wool for the sleeves of my third look that I made. All the fabrics I used are bought from stores in my hometown that sell only deadstock fabrics. Another thing to mention is that I also used family fabrics found at my grandmother's home. For the recycled bag that I made, I used old family chairs and transformed them to create the accessory.
MY WORK
PORTFOLIOS
The Shared Memory A/W 2021
Mood board page
Concept page - My family influenced my work
Research page - I looked into art and poetry
Design development - Look 3
Design development - Recycled Bag
Colour board
Fabric board
Range Plan - 1&2 Looks
Range Plan - 3&4 Looks
Line-up
Look 4
Graduate Collection
British Library Research Competition - Mood board
British Library Competition - Research
British Library Competition - Concept
British Library Competition - Design Development
British Library Competition - Tech Drawings
British Library Competition - Line-up
DETAIL
I used old family chairs as well as reclaimed wood, and twine to create the bag
The recycled bag that I made was inspired by a bag that my mother used to have back in the '80s. I thought that the ellipse shape was so fascinating that I want to make a similar one. After investigating the trends that include wood for my trend forecasting project, I found that the wooden bags are becoming fashionable again, that is when I decided to create an accessory made from wood. All of the materials that I used were found in our family house in the countryside. With the help of my dad, we managed to recreate the same shape by bending the wood of the chairs and joining them together. Then I made the rest of the bag as well as crocheted ornaments that go all around the edges of the bag, moreover. created two different bag handles, one made of twine, and one made of wood. The bag also has an ornament that was made using laser-cutter, and for the small accessory, I made the logo of my brand using a pyrography pen. This bag tells a story, expressing the memories from the past.
Nowadays, when we feel more like human beings than people, connection and storytelling will be valued the most. This is my story, let me be part of yours.
Graduate Fashion Week in partnership with:
