Kate Wallis | Kate Wallis - Westminster Graduate 2011 |

Kate Wallis is one new designer that is gaining quite a reputation. “It was crazy, I was so nervous, the interview was streamed online and it was so strange to have my Uni friends watch it.” When talking about it she was so animated it was contagious. She beamed with excitement about her experiences and the day so far. She was full of life and vitality, which mirrored her collection, pieces that even she deemed as ‘fun’.


“I wanted to have fun with fashion, I wanted party pieces that people would get excited about wearing.” Instead of making her collection about an art object or abstract idea, Kate based her collection on strong women such as Anna Dello Russo. Admiring her sense of adventure and ability to freely enjoy the creativity that fashion offers. It was this attitude towards clothing that she took forward when putting pen to paper and illustrating her ideas.
Dripping in giant hand stitched layers of sequins, that caught all the light in the busy exhibition hall, these dresses glimmered. Above the polka dot layers lined rows of feathers in deep violets and rich (almost metallic) emerald greens. The layers built up until the shoulders were topped in thick fur-like fabric in black or cream. Dress shapes were all with short skirts and strong boxy shoulders. To enhance this strength one piece even had metal cubes embedded into the full shoulders, while some had simple solid collars sunken into the neckline. Yet, Kate was not content for these strong party pieces to be ordinary, she wanted them to ooze luxury. So, all metal work is plated in 24ct gold and the delicate printed material that forms the ripples of one skirt had her fly to a couture fabric house in Switzerland. A fabric house linked to many of the well know luxury fashion houses. Each piece has a quality couture like finish.

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