Every month Brave Island runs a Young Creative of the Month fund, where we spotlight a local young creative with an interview on our blog, and support them with funding of £100. For February, it’s Fashion Designer Tom Rowe. This fund launches at the beginning of every month, you can apply to be Young Creative of the Month for March here.

Please can you tell us about your creative practice?

My creative practice I always see as more than just one, I study fashion design where I design and develop garments. My creativity for design means I experiment with other mediums such as photography and painting which works for designing new garments. Pattern cutting and the sewing are my focus in the practice of fashion design. I love the idea of bringing a design to reality from a sketch to a 3D garment in fabrics. I have just started my final collection at university and right now the creativity is high with lots of new ideas coming to the table.

Who or what are your biggest inspirations for your work?

My creativity began at a young age on the Isle Of Wight, always wanting to paint or draw. My grandparents have always been helpful and inspired my creativity, with my grandma being a quilter and grandad a joiner. I began working with lots of different materials exploring and experimenting my creativity and the freedom of that inspired me from that young age. The Isle of Wight is and always will be the main inspiration for my work. It’s a place I escape to and relax and will always be my home. Many projects relate back into my memories and childhood on the Isle of Wight.

Being in London, and studying fashion has always excited me and pushed me to the next level, and in some way inspired me to carry on being creative and to pursue it for a career. In the world of Fashion there are many designers who have inspired me along the way. I have always been a fan of British designers and companies and the culture that surrounds them. I had the pleasure of interning at SS Daley for a while last year, where I was inspired by the drive and passion of a small brand at the time. The company taught me lots about the industry and will always be a big impact on my practice and how I look at the industry.

What are your plans or goals for after you’ve graduated University?

My Goals after university are to pursue the dreams of staying and working in London within Fashion. Whether this is working for a company in London or in the future working for myself. Within the creative industry plans and goals can change quickly. Once I have graduated new and different plans might come to the table, so I am always keeping open minded.

Where can people find your work if they’d like to support you?

I am on Instagram @tomrowe.design, where I will start posting more frequently soon to show my progress with my final collection at university.