American born fashion designer Alexandra Groover moved to London, England to pursue her career.  Alexandra attended one of the most popular of international fashion schools, Central Saint Martins, which produced talented British designers such as Richard Nicoll and Alexander McQueen.  After Alexandra graduated from CSM she knew that London was the place for her to slowly build her own label. Alexandra is not a traditional designer; she enjoys creating new shapes and cuts.  Alexandra’s Autumn/Winter 09/10 collection was featured online on Vogue UK.  Alexandra was very knowledgeable and detailed about her career as a London designer, expressing with clarity and precision of what she feels women want to wear.

I used this opportunity to get details of her garment making process.  I asked Alexandra:  "Can you tell me a little about your journey as a fashion designer, from the beginning until now?"

She laughed..."Let's see where I should start.  I’m originally from California.  I began my studies at Rhode Island School of Design.   I felt that I was missing out on experiencing a city (London) where fashion design was really a large important part, so I went to apply for a term at Central Saint Martins of London as an abroad student and I was accepted.  I spent a term there and really enjoyed it.  I felt that it was a good place for me to be because of the kind of designs that I do. It was always my original intention to have my own collection."

Starting a clothing line can be difficult. Can a certain location determine whether you succeed as a fashion designer?  I asked Alexandra:  "Did you find hard to start your own label in London?"

Alexandra replied:  "I think it's kind of hard to start your own business anywhere, but in London there's a lot of support and there's also a lot of competition, because a lot of people are trying to do the same thing.  There's more demand for designer clothing and people aren't necessarily looking for big labels; they want something a bit more special and unique. Central Saint Martins is a great school for competition; people come from all over the world to go there.  You've got a couple of other fashion schools as well."

Alexandra goes into details:  "There are a couple of different sponsorship themes for fashion shows.  There are other initiatives that are funded by the government through the London Development Agency, which is a Business Development Agency which supports different types of businesses in London with loans and seminars and sometimes sponsorships; for a big city there's not a descent amount of support options, but generally speaking, there isn't a lot of support for fashion design anywhere on an international scale.  I feel that there's more support for the Fine Arts and it's getting a little better as time progresses."

I told Alexandra:  "I used to live in London a couple of years ago and I found it kind of easy to promote new designs.  When they hear that you are new and different or from another country, especially the little boutiques, they are usually eager to help new designers.  Do you agree?"

She replied:  "I think people get lot more excited about new designers here.  I think that people aren't satisfied with all the big labels.  I'm from San Diego originally; and it’s just not that kind of a place where people get excited about mostly bikinis and surf wear.  If people buy big labels there (California), they usually go to L.A. and buy Prada and Gucci, it’s not that kind of culture.  London’s people are obsessed with new designs and I think they also want to be really unique.  So yea, I think there's a bit more demand."

It amazes me when I see some designers’ collections and the hours they put into one piece.  It makes me wonder where their inspiration comes from.  I asked Alexandra:  "Where does your inspiration come from?"

Alexandra explained:  "I'm mostly inspired by natural sciences.  I look at other things as well, but generally speaking, I like to look at natural sciences because it's really fascinating that all of these amazing shapes, textures, and structures are created in nature.   A lot of things in architecture can be found in nature too.  It's more fascinating to see it that way.  Most of the time I look at different natural objects for my inspiration; Alexandra explains:  My first catwalk collections were two labels; the luxury and the casual.  The luxury label was inspired by York texture of sea shells and the casual label was inspired by the movement of jellyfish."

I interrupted: "Oh Wow!  Is that where the inspiration for the scallops came from?"

- Yes. The luxury pieces were named after a different shell.

- Wow, very interesting. Can you tell me the process of creating one piece?  

- I like to play with textiles and experiment that way; manipulating the fabric and seeing how it reacts then making different little experimental pieces, and once I achieve something I like, I then start placing it onto the body; and experimenting, that way I like to see how I like and might like to repeat it, or just place it somewhere on the body.  Once I find something I like, then I tend to start building up the rest of the piece around it.

She went on to tell me that is how she worked for the first season, taking the sculptural elements and building around them.

"Making a piece can be time consuming and intense, can it also be frustrating?", I asked.

- Yes, sometimes.  I guess, because some of my designs have a number of these textile experiments that I have done. I then start sketching the way that I want it to look and, if I've gotten so far and have done a drawing to help me with the next step of the shape, then sometimes it's not completely achievable or it takes a bit longer, because it is a more complicated structure.  I don't always follow traditional seams and cuts.  I'm kind of making things up as I go along, because I don't want that traditional shape, which means, I find out whether there's untraditional ways of making it work.  It may be getting into the piece, how to get out of the piece, or how to close the piece.  All of these things can be a bit more challenging if you don't meet standard sizing, back seams, or side seams.  I like trying to find a different way to construct a piece, because there's lots of traditional clothing out there.  It's like trying to play with different ways of making things.  It doesn't necessarily have to be traditional in order for it to work.

- Right, exactly, I totally agree.

There have been strong opinions about whether or not it is important for a designer to make their own samples.  I asked Alexandra:  "How important is it to be able to make your own samples? Are there any pros and cons to it?"

- A designer has an advantage of having their own samples first.  Yes, for me, because it comes from so much experimentation, I have to do a lot of prototyping first before it goes to a sample maker.  I can just draw, but because it comes from sculpting on the body most of the time, it's really hard to give somebody a drawing and tell them to make the piece to the precise shape you want.  I usually go through a big process of making different twirls and adjusting my patterns and I usually give some form of a prototype to my sample maker for final samples.   I don't get the lines and the shapes I want, in which I feel is my signature, unless I cut these things myself.  I think it's pretty important if you do something that's not a traditional shape.  I think you have to be able to do it yourself.  Not all of my things are that easy to interpret, so it's kind of important for me to do the key pieces and shapes in my studio here and then, once I'm happy with the shape, I can give it to my sample maker.

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