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No, not her…
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This is even better!
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Brides Up North was thrilled to meet Kate Harrod fresh from celebrating her victory in the Ian Stuart Bride Student Designer of the Year category at the Bridal Buyer Awards. Brides Up North shared her champagne and asked her all about her daring design.
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Introduce yourself…
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I’m Kate Harrod, 22 years old, born and bred in Sheffield. I am currently a final year student studying at Sheffield Hallam University for a BA hons in Fashion Design.
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Tell Brides Up North about the competition? What was the brief?
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The competition was actually part of one of our modules – we were given a list of the current competitions and I was drawn to the Bridal Buyer one.
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The brief was to create a stunning wedding dress design, based upon a country of your choice and the ‘mood’ of its particular culture, achieved through print, embroidery, beadwork or a combination of different techniques. The design had to be imaginative, creative, edgy and, more importantly, wearable.
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As soon as I read the brief and saw “let your imagination run wild!” I knew that this was a brilliant opportunity to take.
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What was your inspiration for your winning design?
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I chose Russia as my country. I didn’t want to follow the traditional style people take when they research Russia looking a Russian dolls or the architecture so I began to look at the wars particularly 1914-1918 which led me onto the abdication of the Royal family the Romanov’s and the overthrow of the government. I mainly looked at the story of their deaths (this isn’t a dress for the faint hearted!). The daughters of the Tsar actually had sewn all their precious jewels into the lining of their corsets. When they came to murder the girls the bullets reflected so in the end they suffered a long drawn out death.
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The black part of my dress which is paper silk is reflecting the death/dark side and the red leather is reflecting blood. I brought in the war element with the epaulette and lanyard, and two original Russian 1914-1918 medals. The overall style and shape of the dress came from actual Russian royal wedding dresses.
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Where do you get inspiration from in general?
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I get my inspiration from pretty much anything and everything. I particularly have a keen interest in industrial buildings and history.
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Do you aspire to be a wedding dress designer in particular?
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I would like to experience design within the whole industry but I feel the bridal industry has a lot to offer and it has definitely opened new doors for me.
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Who is your favourite wedding dress designer?
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Vera Wang.
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What are your plans for the future? Where do you see yourself in 10 years time?
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Hopefully I will get a job within the industry to further my skills. Eventually I would like to be working for a prestige company or even working for myself in my own business.
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What did the judges say about your winning design?
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I don’t know all the comments from the judges but I do know that they were pleased that my dress matched my design.
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Describe yourself in three words?
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Ambitious, Passionate, Hardworking.
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It certainly sounds like this Northern talent is one to watch!
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All photographs provided by Kate Harrod
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This is not a sponsored post
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