Fashion Insider: Victoria Nicholls – Fashion designer
Victoria Nicholls is a talented fashion designer specialising in knitwear. She freelances and runs Twisted Angle – an online portal for knitwear designers and knitters with an eye on the latest trends and patterns.
Victoria Nicholls
- Occupation: Fashion Designer
- Brand: Twisted Angle Knitwear
- Place of residence: London and Hong Kong
- Website: Twisted Angle
- Facebook page: Twisted Angle Knitwear
- Twitter: Twisted Angle Knitwear
Tell us a little about yourself
Well I’m from London, UK, but I now live part of the year in Hong Kong. I trained at the London College of Fashion, specialising in Knitwear.
How did you get your start in fashion?
It was a bit of luck really. I was completely lost when I left Uni (a good few years ago now). I was really applying for any internships, work experience or freelance I could find.
I happened to be in the right place at the right time and got a freelance job working on some knitted accessories for RedOrDead‘s catwalk show at London Fashion Week. Because I had that on my CV jobs started to come forward.
Why did you choose fashion?
I always knew from an early age that I was creative but where I came from and at the time, that was a dream. You applied for practical jobs that would pay money, not what you dreamed of doing. Somehow I ended up just applying for the course anyway and it went from there…
Is the fashion industry what you expected it to be?
Hahaha er no. It’s funny, if I knew then what I know now I might have done something easier haha.
Fashion really is something that is in your soul, like any design area. Designers really do live and breathe it. It sounds a bit corny I know, but it’s true. And if you don’t, you really won’t get very far in the industry.
It’s long hours, working at weekends, travelling across the world to hot sweaty factories and you really have to know your production processes inside out. And that’s when you have a job. Getting one is extremely competitive and it can take years of persistence.
What does your job consist of?
Well these days I freelance for the high street and work under my own company called VLouise. This part consists of meeting with clients, taking a brief and coming up with design solutions that fit their style, production budget and trends. It can be intense but I work for myself at home producing design sheets and spec sheets for manufacturers.
The other, and main side of my life, is Twisted Angle, my knitting site. I really missed the practical side of design. Most people don’t realise that fashion design is mainly a desk job unless you are producing your own collections.
Whilst I was studying there weren’t any sites or books that you could go to for really good fashion knits or catwalk inspired patterns, and 10 years on (now I’m showing my age) there still wasn’t anything available so I started Twisted Angle.
But we’re much more than a knitting pattern site. We produce trend prediction mood and colour boards to download, catwalk reports and external trade reviews that only industry attend so it’s a great tool for fashion students, designers or anyone that likes to know what trends will be coming up before the season hits.
Describe a typical week
Oh there is nothing typical about any week in fashion. Generally though it’s mainly PR and Advertising. I’m constantly on MySpace, Twitter and Facebook as well as updating articles for my site.
I usually have about 6 client meetings a week for my VLouise freelance business and that usually takes up about 40hours of work.
Then for Twisted Angle I have to produce a magazine, 12 garments and patterns as well as all the mood boards, trend boards, catwalk reports and all the other bits for the site.
I guess to summarise the hours 2 days a week is on my VLouise, 1 day is sourcing yarns and the other 4 days are knitting and on my computer producing artwork…..oh and then every three months we do a photoshoot for the garments so that probably takes about 6 days to organise and 1 more to accessorise and shoot.
Roughly how many hours do you work per week?
Well the week is definitely 7 days. When you run your own business you really can’t take time off. I usually work around an 18-20 hour day just to fit it all in and now we’re producing some knitting essentials I’ll be sewing and sourcing more as well.
They time is fairly consistent but it does change if I have less or more freelance that week, if the photoshoot is coming up and then just anything that happens in your personal life can throw you off track and you have to find space to make up the time.
What are the key skills you need for your role?
Maths definitely. When you’re producing manufacturing specs your measurements have to be right. Speed and accuracy comes from practice and experience but is also essential. You can’t make a mistake on a sample because it can cost a company thousands of pounds to put right.
Of course you need to be able to take criticism and listen to others. After 10 years I’m still learning new processes, business tips. Developments in fabrics and yarns are happening all the time so you need to be on the case when it comes to your specific material area.
What do you enjoy most about your role?
What do I enjoy… well all the above makes it sound like I really hate what I do but believe me I don’t. I really love making garments again and experimenting with my knitting machine and hand knits. The texture and practical side as well as fashion is why I wanted to do Twisted Angle so much in the first place.
What do you find challenging?
Oooh the challenges are definitely the parts about running a business I don’t know. I studied design so the business side of things is a mystery that I’ve had to spend many hours learning and I’m still finding new tips and information I didn’t know.
What do you do in your time off?
Time off… hahaha… well I’m going on holiday in 10 days actually. It’s the first one in 8 years… and I plan to do nothing! My fiance would say though that I’m a workaholic. I really do love my job. But I love dancing. Clubs are definitely my happy place.
What’s the highlight of your career so far?
Oh there have been so many. Even though you are in factories 12 hours a day when you travel I’ve definitely seen some amazing places that I wouldn’t have had the chance to otherwise.
I think the main thing though was having the courage to give up a full time job and start Twisted Angle.
Do you have any advice for someone starting out in fashion?
If you’re at uni, network now as much as you can because it will make things so much easier when you leave.
If you are going to start your own company, don’t do it when you graduate. Go and work for a few years, and learn all you can about the industry and the bits you don’t know like business.
Finish this sentence: Fashion is…
… my heart, my soul and my life.
Twisted Angle subscription includes a section to post your own work and notices, industry based fashion trend information, inspirational knitting, product and designer interviews, patterns in hand and machine knitting, sourcing guides from around the world, industry show reviews from knitwear designers and a free online magazine, all for only £9 per year.
