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‘I enjoy extracting elements from items and bodies that when put together in a seemingly non-sensical way, presents a new understanding.’ British designer Laura Barnes focuses on re-contextualising objects, looking to the L’art Brut movement and her own photography for creative stimulus. The resourceful designer plays with the idea of ‘accidental art,’ finding function in unsuspecting objects, repurposing cardboard and even traffic cones to achieve this. Artist Bill Traylor provokes Barnes’ design style; she focuses on his habits of drawing moments from the street on random objects and plans on continuing to ‘build on this playful naivety.’

The Bottega Veneta scholar explains that her time at Central Saint Martins has taught her resilience, enabling her to ‘find solutions and make things happen.’ She imagines that any wearer of her collection would wish to enter her world of expression and would ‘value noticing seemingly insignificant acts of accidental art,’ as she does. With ‘a million ideas’ circulating her mind for a singular concept, Laura has a newfound confidence in ‘executing ambitious ideas that are less conventional,’ which she feels has led to a ‘more intuitive’ thought process.

However daunting Laura may find leaving the security of university, her exceptional experience at Loewe and Maison Margiela and vision of initiating a collective with her creative circle prepares her for post-graduation success.

Mollie Marshall, BA Fashion Journalism
@mistressmolliee