MADE IN: Imi Studios

WHERE IT'S MADE? (Part 1) Where do your favourite emerging fashion designers make their extraordinary pieces.

Meet Imogen, owner of ImiStudios

BIO: Imogen is a 24 year old fashion designer based in London. She started Imi Studios at the end of 2020 from her parents house. The brand has now dressed the likes of Anderson Paak, Christine Quinn and Jorja Smith and have collaborated with industry heavyweights such as Depop.

Niche met Imi during our pursuit of London’s Emerging Designers, as part of our “Made in Heaven” series.

THE AIM:  To explore where standout pieces that you see on social media and in fashion weeks are actually made. Psssst….. We also wanted to hear the reality and experience of a young fashion designer in a critical and often demanding industry.

The full interview is available to stream on YouTube 

SO WHERE IS IT MADE?

Her London location is a stunning well organised live - in studio.

She’s divided it into sections [workspace, sewing stations, packing area, stock, hung pieces] and has covered her walls in mood boards and fabrics. At one point all of her pieces were completely hand made, pieces like the jackets above took hours and hours of labour to produce.

Increased demand led to the need for a manufacturer which she shares her horror story experience. The manufacturer she was working with went bust before her second collection came out, resulting in a lot of losses. She talks about this in depth in our '3 Warnings for creatives video' advising all to keep your wits about you when dealing with legal / contracted work.

HOW TO BECOME A FASHION DESIGNER?

“There’s not 1 route in, you don’t have to know people !! Utilise social media, cold email, just reach out”

At first she opted for the more traditional route, she was determined to go to Central Saint Martins and was rejected twice, on the third application she got it. But….. she had already manually kickstarted her career and was releasing collections and featuring in fashion week at the time (age 19). So she decided, no.

This is why she encourages people to just try against all odds, that there is always a way.

"It’s not easy but it’s possible!!!"

The full interview is available to stream on YouTube

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