How do you go about creating your own style?

I like creating new outfits from clothes I’ve already have. In the mornings, when I get dressed I feel like I’m drawing a picture, because when you draw you put together the colour, shapes and patterns you like and then I feel happy that I’ve made a new picture from materials I had before. I really enjoy dressing up and love elegant silhouettes that look pretty and sparkly. I prefer to be overdressed than underdressed!

What has inspired or influenced your style?

I’d have to say the 80s. I like the colours from that period, the shiny blues and pinks. What I don’t like is the silhouette that shoulder pads give women; I don’t like broad shoulders.

This is a very unusual top.

I bought this top from a charity shop and it originally had shoulder pads in it, so I took them out. They have knickers at the bottom that are part of the top and you tie it and wear it underneath your trousers. I have worn it, but the knickers are huge and you can see them through the trousers, which is a bit of a problem.

Is there a specific period, which has influenced your own fashion designs?

I like the art-deco period – I think the clothes are so elegant. I like designing clothes from that era but I personally don’t like to dress in that style. I like the 30s style silhouette because there wasn’t so much definition around the waist as there was in the 50s. I used a lot of kit-wear in my collection and I like the idea of making something with my hands, in the same way as someone would have done in the 30s themselves.

Is this unusual dress one of your designs?

I decided that I wanted to combine knitting and sewing, but my teacher advised me against doing so as I’d come across a lot of problems. But I decided not to take any notice of her and to carry on anyway. I combined the knitting and the sewing and then added the pleats later along with the elements of 30s sports style. It really looked nice and I was really happy with the way it looked and the way it shone under the lighting on the catwalk.

Are you still making clothes since you’ve left college?

Since I moved to Brighton, I’ve made dresses for my sister, Gwenno’s band, The Pipettes. Gwenno and I used to be dancers so I’m used to being on stage, dancing and wearing bright colours. So that’s what I expect to see when I watch people on stage or on the screen. I wanted to incorporate an element of that into the dresses and I tried to design the dresses to suit their body shapes rather than to design three pretty dresses.

Do you and your sister have the same taste in clothes?

She’s so good with me when it comes to buying presents and always buys things I love. I think that every colour under the sun is on this jacket. I’d only wear black trousers and a black top with it because it’s so bright. I think children would love this top and I think there must be some childhood influences in the clothes I wear because children tend to go for colourful and bright things.

This coat’s fabulous!

I feel like I’m in a French film when I’m wearing this coat, and I just want to run around Paris in it! I wore it with a brolly the other day when I went to see Mary Poppins in the West End and I thought that I was Mary Poppins!

Do you really dress up to go out?

I really enjoy dressing up especially when going out in Brighton. We don’t go to clubs that often, when we do go out we tend to go to pubs and bars, so when we do go clubbing it’s a lot of fun and I really enjoy the process of getting ready before hand. We had a really big night out on New Years Eve and I’d bought my outfit especially for the night about a month before. I saw it and I knew it would be too much for any other night of the year but would be perfect for New Years Eve. It’s quite horrible but I really like it and I really enjoyed wearing it. When you go out on New Years Eve or any special occasion, you buy a special outfit, and I was just drawn to how horrible this outfit was. That’s what I try to do, try to make something that doesn’t look that good, look good on me.

Your style is very different isn’t it?

It’s all about confidence. It’s not how I look, but it’s the cheek I have to believe that I can look good in it, that’s what I think. I’d curled my hair for New Year’s Eve and put it all in curlers over night and as I was finishing I realized I was working the next day, so I went to work with rollers in my hair. But nobody took any notice. I was quite upset actually – I’ve got rollers in my hair – why hasn’t anybody noticed?

How important are clothes to you?

When I dress up, I don’t think to myself, am I going to get attention in these clothes? But there must be something in the back of my mind, because I like bright colours and patterns and there is nothing quiet or shy about the way I dress. If someone tells you they like what you’re wearing, it’s as if someone’s told you they like the picture you’ve created. I’m sure it’s more about that rather than me thinking that I look nice. It makes me happy when people like what I put together.