Freya Proudlock

Photographer: Mitchell McLennan

Let us introduce you to Frey Proudlock, an English knitwear designer, who recently moved to Amsterdam. Her collection will be presented at the fashion show. Freya grew up in London and completed a degree in Fashion Knitwear Design and Knitted Textiles in Nottingham. Her work explores stitch and pattern through the use of experimental techniques in both fine and chunky gauges.

Hello, Freya! What inspires you in general? 
Colours, textures and structures. I enjoy looking at other cultures and their take on design.

What place or city do you find inspiring? 
London, Amsterdam and other major cities. I enjoy visiting galleries and exhibitions. Being around creativity and design inspires and motivates me.

What attracts you about the FASHIONCLASH platform? 
It’s always nice to be able to showcase a collection in a new way to a new audience. Seeing the collection in new contexts opens up the possibilities of my practise.

What is the concept behind your latest collection? 
"Modern Japan is a strangely familiar country which, through its own ambivalent exoticising of the West, has at once inflected, resisted and reversed the binaries of orientalism." (N. Perry in Hyperreality and Global Culture).
Cultures are evolving, merging and borrowing different cultural attributes from one another, which has become more apparent and widespread since the growth of globalisation. Cultures are of course dynamic rather than static and will naturally change and develop when they interact with each other. I researched into both Japanese and British culture taking inspiration from traditional fashion and textile influences. I don’t think of my collection as being solely conceptual, this was the starting idea and hopefully the collection developed into being something autonomous.

Photographer: Mitchell McLennan

What fascinates you about knitwear? 
The endless possibility of stitches, structures and shapes. Knitwear often has the connotation of being old fashioned and frumpy; jumpers made by grandmas. I like how sometimes it can be underestimated and I find it exciting to show people how great it is.

Did you always want to work in the field of fashion? 
No, when I was younger I was convinced I was to be a vet but as I grew older my obsession with animals subdued and I became more and more interested in art and textiles which eventually led me on to fashion.

Can you remember the first piece you designed? 
The first garment I ever made was at college when I was about 17, it was based on 19th century circus. A royal blue and red dress with a huge gold collar that curved around the back of my head like a lions mane with appliquéd gold feathers.

What is on your playlist when you are working? 
My iTunes is shamefully limited at the moment so I mainly listen to the radio. Mainly BBC, radio 1xtra.

Photographer: Mitchell McLennan

Who is your favorite fashion designer? 
I like Christopher Bailey a lot, in particular what he has done with Burberry Prorsum. The silhouettes have a classic style and sophistication, but the collections always have an exotic twist be it sheer patterned fabrics or African prints.

What is the latest thing you bought for yourself? 
A black vintage halter neck crochet top on eBay. I am badly addicted to eBay at the moment, I bought the top for just 99p before I really knew what it was, but luckily, this time I loved it.

What is your favorite fairy tale and why? 
Hansel and Gretel… because there’s a god damn house made of sweets!

What can we expect from you in the future? 
More collections where I explore different stitches and forms. I like to use my work and projects to test out and learn new knitted techniques.



Freya's website: www.freyaproudlock.com