Yell fashion designer’s catwalk success
LOCAL textile designer Paul Thomson’s striking creations using Shetland wool could be the next big thing in the world of fashion after a hugely successful catwalk show at Somerset House, in London, on Friday.
Thomson’s work caught the eye of the fashion press when he was one of only four students named as showing the most promise at Saint Martins College annual MA graduation fashion show.
The fashion website Fashionista described one of his pieces as “especially striking, an oversized coat that served as a showcase of each of his knitwear techniques, melded seamlessly together to look like shearling at first glance”.
The 25 year old said his success hasn’t sunk in at all when he spoke to Shetland News.
“This was completely unexpected. Everybody’s collection is so different in terms of technique, in terms of colour and in terms of fabrication; it was very hard to know which was going to be the most interesting for the press.
“It has been a very, very exciting day, and once I saw the photos online it made it feel a little bit more real.
“I feel a little numb from the whole thing. It has been quite a long year and it has been incredible hard work.
“You really didn’t have time to process anything after a certain point, it is just a case of doing as much work as you possibly can to get the collection finished; so there have been a lot of sleepless nights,” he said, summing up the frantic final days before the fashion show.
Thomson graduated from Glasgow School of Art in 2012 before managing to secure a place at the MA fashion programme at Central Saints Martins, part of the University of Arts, London.
He will be graduating later this spring, but before that there are still a few hurdles to overcome.
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“It is still not finished; portfolio and assessments are taking place as of next week, and then there will be a showroom for private clients to get some work hopefully, and finally a public exhibition in April,” he said.
Brought up in Mid Yell, Thomson said it was in Glasgow that he developed his interest in fashion.
“I have always been interested in art and crafts when I was at school both in Mid Yell and the Anderson High in Lerwick
“When I started in Glasgow it was actually painting and print making I did in the first year.
“My interest in textile grew from being in a city that was more fashion orientated; it is perhaps not something people in Yell or in Shetland are that interested in,” he said.
Local broker Jamieson & Smith has sponsored the wool used in his collection.
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