Inspiration

Making her Mark

Fashion fringe finalist Louise Markey, is the brains behind label LF Markey, here she talks to Distill about her rise to success, design collaborations and what the future holds.

Why Fashion Design?
Originally I was interested in architecture but veered more into fashion after high school, as I was attracted to the immediacy of the industry and the fact that you have more control over the whole image.

What inspires your design?
My inspiration ranges from all manner of sources. I draw a lot of inspiration from historical costume for the volumes and technical garment construction, for example the Tudor influence in my AW09 collection, where I mixed dark velvets and a Gothic feel with sportswear finishings such as elastics and ribbing, and simplified the cuts to their purest geometric form. Sports clothing remains a constant source of inspiration for its simplicity and functionality and minimal graphic art and design. However at the moment I am looking a lot to the work of Jean Paul Goude and early Grace Jones.

How would you describe your design aesthetic?
My aesthetic is bold, colourful and geometric. I like things to be simplified to their most basic forms but to retain a sense of play with volume. I insist on high quality manufacture and comfort for the wearer.

How were you discovered by fashion fringe?
I applied to enter the program after completing my MA at Central St Martins. I went through a rather grueling qualification process, on the jury was Donatella Versace, Colin McDowell, Natalie Massenet, Anne Pitcher and
Roland Mouret amongst other fashion industry heavyweights.

How has being a Fashion Fringe finalist helped your career?
Being involved in Fashion Fringe helped my business grow. The media attention was incredible and led to a collaboration with ASOS for SS10. I also had a big piece in the Metro which led to me being appointed as the Senior Womenswear Designer at Thomas Pink. So now I split my week between my own label and Thomas Pink.

The LF Markey basics line, the label caters for people of varying incomes. Was this a very conscious decision from the beginning?
Yes, it was a conscious decision. I wanted to make the label accessible for people of all works of life, who share a love of the same design ethos.

Why the bold palette?
I'm generally a very happy and optimistic kind of person and the bright colours just seem right for me. Perhaps it has something to do with my Australian background. I think mixing very bright colours with minimalism is an interesting mix, seeing as minimalists in fashion tend to be austere and work with blacks and greys.

How was it designing for ASOS?
The ASOS collaboration is really exciting as there are lots of really great designers involved. It will be launching in September in time for fashion week and the collection looks really good so far. There are similarities with my SS09 collection for Fashion Fringe, the palette has also been updated - still really bright, and we have some great new shapes and 100% silk pieces too.

What does the future hold for LF Markey?
The next year is a very busy one, with the launch of a fashion magazine called Journal, a film for SS10 and an online store opening in September.

Shop online from September 09 at www.lfmarkey.com

Words by Jodie Kharas
Photography by Clara Blomqvist
Styling by Dean Golden