25th January 2016
Camilla Cuzner-Charles, young accessories designer, gave us a speech today about her own studying experience, placements and first approaches into the industry. It was very interesting and inspiring to hear how determined she was to get into the place that makes her happy. She clearly appreciated the value of experience by patiently understanding all career's stages on the way to find her own creative identity. By pursuing one particular theme of interest, she basically managed to make the whole career out of it. It started by looking at knitting and exploring interlocking process of different materials. She didn't let go and followed that context and she made remarkable objects later on. I think her leather clutch bag for RCA final show was truly amazing. The first inspirations came from Alhambra, an Islamic Palace in Spain, followed by research and other artists work including Shuzo Fujimoto, Le Klint and Satomi Oikawa. It was then commissioned by Bill Amberg. No hardware or sewing required at all! It was one of a kind and very expensive to produce but even after negotiated radical changes for commercial production, it was still great. Also luckily for her while starting her adventure with designing accessories, financial crisis in 2008 was rather beneficial. Luxury brands were struggling with selling. However people could still afford those and possibly more often while they haven't spent money on big garments.
It seems like a great idea to become an absolute expert on one chosen theme. I have heard it so many times by now. I don't feel like I have found one yet, but hopefully I'm on the right way. Through experience at university and transfer into the real world of work, Camilla realised that she was in the centre of things while studying. Then it reversed. Everything was about the client or the profit. Before she made a definition of personal career and proper start in designing, she had to do things that nobody else wanted to do, such as tidying, organising documents or making tea. The last option is apparently a usual task for new person. Well people say I make real good cuppa, so hopefully this may be a good start for me in the future. So if I stuck with that for a bit I wont cry as soon as I will move on shortly after that. She described her work experience as one of the best things she did. I can see and understand the great value it brings. I have done a lot of work experience in catering. I learnt a lot doing that, especially about relations to other employees and customers. However in the creative field it will surely be completely new adventure. I am hoping to do it myself during the summer break so this part of the lecture was particularly relevant.
Cuzner-Charles emphasizes that playing with materials can give great and often unexpected results (e.g. Lego blocks, origami etc.). Comparably with graphic design, I agree with that. Often experimentation and having some fun with the project is the way to new concepts or discoveries. Another good observation was to archive any press publications! Well I think I would definitely save any achievements like that. It's a great bonus with the CV and perspective for future career. It's fantastic to make friends with press and creative individuals. I think every practitioner has mentioned how important is to make nice contact list and going out there to meet people. It means more knowledge and opportunities, better social life. I also liked the idea of working on the big boards. I think I is as relevant to fashion as to graphic design and magazine covers for instance. It is good visual reminder and reference. It seems to be useful for a single project too.
Camilla has worked with companies/brands such as: Liberty, Paul Smith, Chanel and Kate Spade. During her experience with Liberty in London (2004-2005), she worked with stationery and discovered incredible beauty of Indian art detail. She mentioned that as junior designer for Paul Smith she had to learn really quickly to look after the whole department. She really enjoyed the experience there because it was all about making beautiful things, no matter the cost. She also moved to New York for a while. She stated it was incredibly hard work, incredibly commercial but a great learning and professional curve in her career. It was a bit shocking to see an example of scarf she demonstrated where profit would come to over 80% (cheaply made, very expensive to buy). All designs had to be within price bracket. Creativity and invention had to remain stagnant. She enjoyed that to the point when she ''couldn't breathe in the end.'' While working back in the UK for Kate Spade, the prices had to be separated into cheap, mid-price and luxurious options. Camilla does freelance job at the moment and she admits to being happy of where she began again, filled up with great experiences. Her pathway is very interesting and inspirational and the lecture was very informative indeed.
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