Helen Latimer

Helen Latimer is a free-lance fashion designer who has worked in the fashion business for 7 years. Some of her clients have included United Textiles, Cotton Traders, Umbro, and Gelert. I met her in February 2010 where she gave me some good advice about the fashion industry and showed me her portfolio to give me ideas for putting together my own work when showing potential clients. Some of the points she raised were :-

- To always think about every tiny detail, even the label when designing

- To understand stitching details

- Write everything down in your portfolio so that the manufacturer will get the production process right

- Note down where the print goes on the garment and what you would wear/goes with it etc.

- Show research and connections

- Understand logo's and repeat prints

- Be selective about your messages/images on mood boards

- Look at trend websites for colours

- Visit trade shows, they are your bread and butter

- Look at Retail Choice - fashion agencies are listed on here

- Look at Drapers Record (Industry magazine) - has an online job section

- Research how you wish to present work - who do you aspire to?

- Take pictures of your work on your boards, for future refernce,then move on to the next stage with new images/ideas etc - see how the process evolves

- Keep work punchy in portfolio so it does not become boring - show a good range of skills

Helen Latimer's work is very technical focusing on the details of a garment e.g buttons, stitch, fabric and zips. I noticed a lot of tech papers and illustrations in her portfolio.

The majority of her work is illustrator based.

She has recently worked on designing the new England football kit for Umbro,which involved researching what the players wear before, during, and after training and matches. Image found at http://www.ranchocaliforniasoccerleague.com/Images/Umbro%20Logo_1.gif

In doing so she noticed how many of the players would pull their shirt cuffs over their hands to keep them warm and drop their heads whilst sat on the bench to keep their faces warm behind the collar/necks of tracksuit tops.

She decided that both of these habits were not a very good look for the players, as they did not look smart and confident, and so set about designing a kit that would eliminate these problems.

Helen eventually came up with a design where the football tops had extended cuffs to keep hands warm, and a roll down/zip extended neck design to stop players pulling their tops over their mouths. This new design would enable players to look smarter and more confident whilst playing on and off the pitch for England.

She also had the task of designing a tracksuit for the players to wear before and after matches in their hotel that looked sophisticated and trendy that would promote Umbro. This also proved challenging as most football players want to wear designer labels such as Prada etc. Helen came up with a herring-bone tone-on-tone fabric that was more in keeping with these designer labels.

When working for Gelert, Helen carried out shop reports to find out who their competitors were, where the garments were produced and how much they cost. This is a vital part of research when designing.

Having met Helen and learnt a little about the technical, fashion side of things I am much more well informed about how manufacturers work and would be more confident if i ever have to her do spec sheets.