Clever cutting also helps to minimise waste as nothing is cut on the bias and the minimal waste is used to create pretty scarves and pocket squares and this year, face masks too.
“Just before the official Covid lockdown my dad came and collected me from London, bringing me home to Herefordshire.
“Luckily I’d bought a couple of bin bags of scraps which I was going to use to make jewellery or hair ties but instead I decided I would make some face masks with them.”
“Again she was amazing. I told her one day I’d like to run by own brand and she said she’d show me everything to help me.
She taught me everything from doing your tax returns to producing clothes to the highest standard.”
With her degree and a year’s experience in New York, she headed to London to find a job.
“I started looking for work but to be honest, after just two to three weeks I realised that wasn’t what I wanted to do, I wanted to do my own brand,” she laughs.
16
Isabel had been making bespoke evening dresses and special occasion wear during the past few years for friends and family on trips home, so had a small but loyal client base but her own brand needed to take her to the next level.
Conscious of the environment and the terrible reputation of fast fashion in much of the industry, for a long time she had been thinking about the idea of reversible clothing, with items boasting both a plain and a print side, all designed by her.
This way people were getting two pieces for the price of one and when mixed and matched with other pieces in her collection could form part of a timeless and classic capsule wardrobe. Technically creating these pieces is much more challenging for the seamstresses and Isabel also wanted all of her work to be made in the UK. She set about finding small factories or ateliers that would be able to recreate her designs to her exacting standards and now has a handful of family run firms who produce her pieces for her.
“The reversible concept made production much more difficult than a straightforward design but it was something I was really passionate about. As a child my mum had taught me to sew and encouraged me to alter things rather than just throwing them away when I no longer liked them.
“At Parsons the concept of sustainability was really drummed into us from day one and we were encouraged to move away from the idea of fast fashion. I wanted to be ethically conscious.
“My pieces are really well made using best quality Italian silk so will last for years. Because they are reversible you need to buy less items and the styles are timeless and ageless. I’ve seen people in their 20s and people in their 70s buy the same dress.”
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Initially Isabel was sewing all of the masks herself, using her scrap material and donating all of the proceeds to the NHS charities. A wave of press coverage, including from American Vogue and Sky News, saw orders rocket and she could no longer keep up with demand. The seamstresses who had been working on her clothes had been laid off but she was now able to utilise this workforce turning production to her new masks.
“We are now making them with Italian cotton instead of silk and we have had thousands of orders. It’s been great for my factories as it’s literally keeping them in business.”
Her time back at her idyllic childhood home has led Isabel to reconsider her working patterns.
“I work really well from her and find this environment really inspiring. Many of my designs have nature or vintage British at their heart I do need to be based in London as that is where my production is but I think in the future I will also spend half of my time here too.”
This is good news for fans of her work as she is happy to see clients at home to discuss bespoke designs and also show off her collection.
To view more of her work and for online sales, visit
isabelmanns.com
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