Insights from a style blogger and fashion promotion graduate…
Name: Clare Potts
Age: 22
Hometown: Nantwich, Cheshire, UK
‘My blog posts always have to be about something I love, whether that is beautiful photographs I’ve found in the recesses of the internet or the work of a graduate from the other side of the world … As a blogger, you need to be on top of the trends coming up for the next season but you also need to keep your own personal style, as that is why people will keep reading a blog.’
Clare runs a successful style blog, http://iliketweet.blogspot.com/.
We met at Graduate Fashion Week after an interview with Clare was featured in Basics Fashion Design 08: Styling by Clare Buckley and Jacqueline McAssey. In it, Clare gives some tips about blogging. The images in this post were all styled, shot and organised by Clare.
AVA: Where did you study?
CP: I’ve just graduated from the University of Central Lancashire in Preston, it’s a great place if you love a cheap night out, baked goods and lots of students.
AVA: What would you say was the most interesting or enjoyable part of the course you studied?
CP: My course was Fashion Promotion with a Sandwich year, so it was a four year course but the third year we spent in industry which is one of the main reasons I chose this course over the others available. The most enjoyable part of the course is being with like minded, enthusiastic people who strive to be as creative as possible, I’d never really had that before I came to Uni.
AVA: What was your most interesting or memorable experience during your course?
CP: Probably the last few weeks of stress, spending every waking hour working or painting exhibition spaces from dawn until dusk, even though it was hard work it was so much fun at the same time. Also, getting to go to Hong Kong to compete in the semi finals of a business competition was pretty memorable too!
AVA: What inspires your work?
CP: My work was generally inspired by things in my everyday life, pretty much all of my work was online-based, inspired by my work with my blog and spending so much of my time online. I also love handwriting, personal doodles and noticing little things that no one else does, all of these play a part in my work.
(Clare has another blog, called Handwritten).
AVA: Who is the biggest influence on your work and why?
CP: My work is always different and varied so different projects are inspired by different people but my major project was inspired by online trend bible WGSN. But as an inspirational person I would always say Grace Coddington, who grew up very close to where I grew up in rural Wales, she proves you can do anything you want if you put your mind to it.
AVA: Which piece out of all of your work best represents your overall collection and why?
CP: I would say that my final project at Uni represents me best, it is an online library of inspiration aimed at students and bloggers making searching for a specific subject easier and more thorough, the campaign had bloggers, social media, website and graphic design, spreadsheets and everything that I do in my day to day life.
AVA: Have you worked with any clients or on any previous projects? If so which clients and what kind of project?
8. I’ve done a lot of work experience throughout my degree during my year in industry and throughout my final year, I worked at online magazine Fashion156.com and Manchester Fashion Network during this time. I learned so much about the industry as well as myself throughout these placements and I think they are an invaluable addition to my degree.
AVA: If you could describe your design style in five words what would they be?
CP: Simple, clean, interesting, eye-catching and exciting.
AVA: What kind of advice would you offer to someone interested in design?
CP: I think the best advice I could offer would be to do work experience alongside your degree, both are valuable to your education and work well together, one without the other would mean someone could have an advantage over you whereas if you have both, you’ll be the strongest candidate. Also, make sure you do extra curricular activities, like having a blog, writing or illustrating for magazines alongside your degree to add to it.
AVA: What are you currently working on now you have graduated?
CP: I’ve just graduated and am now working as the PR and Marketing Executive for The Hut Group looking after their fashion websites, it’s pretty much the perfect job for me, it’s hard work but worth it.
AVA: What are your hopes for your future career?
CP: I hope to continue in this role for the forseeable future, building up the fashion brands and making them into something special. I hope to be involved in online marketing and social media for the rest of my career, working my way up to the top. In an interview before I got this job, I said I wanted to be Queen of the World, and who knows, that might happen one day if I try hard enough!
You can visit Clare’s blog – including her post on GFW – or contact her via iliketweet@gmail.com. You can also follow her on Twitter @iliketweet.
Clare’s interview and some other spreads from Basics Fashion Design 08: Styling are below.
Other interviewees in this section of the book include Matthew Pike, who writes a men’s fashion blog: http://buckets-and-spades.blogspot.com/
and Jana Kossaibati, who writes a blog for fashion-conscious Muslim women: www.hijabstyle.co.uk.
If you are interested in fashion promotion, we have just published two new books on fashion management, The Fundamentals of Fashion Management (we posted a preview of this book a few months ago) and Basics Fashion Management 01: Concept to Customer (or Fashion Merchandising if you are based in North America).