Billie Jacobina

Billie Jacobina is a printed textiles based brand directed by myself, adding traditional techniques into contemporary fashion. I attempt to break boundaries with the textile industry, bringing my dreams, fantasies and experiences alive through my garments.
The aim of my collections is to provide a feel good factor in fashion with a collection of unconventional girlish aesthetic with a concoction of all things pink and kitsch. I design garments with prints that celebrate femininity, multiculturalism and originality. I want my designs and prints to take you out of the real world and in to my world of fun and colour, making you smile, be happy and feel SASSY!

In 2016 I was selected to show at Graduate Fashion Week, and I was lucky enough to be awarded the British Council and GFW Residency award. This gave me a great opportunity to work on a collaborative collection in Jakarta with Indonesian brand ‘Lekat’, and this collection was then shown at Jakarta Fashion Week 2016 and London Fashion week in February 2017. Working away from home with different traditional ways of working really showed me how to mix things up with my designs. I would love to work with more brands and artists from different cultures and learn about different textile manipulations.

In the same year I also went on to win Fashion Scout’s ‘One’s to Watch’ award - a renowned award for up and coming designers around the world. This opportunity really gave me the platform and status within the UK fashion industry. Since then I have created two more collections which have been shown in Fashion Scout’s presentation space, gathering sponsorship from various brands and collaborating with other like minded creatives.

AW17 was inspired by my travels in Indonesia and a trip to Bali which ended my time away. I found being away from home very hard, however I decided to turn this in to something that I love to remember and cherish. While visiting temples and landmarks in Indonesia, I would sit and sketch. This became the collection that I debuted at my own fashion presentation at Fashion Scout in February 2017. After showcasing this collection, I was awarded with an Artist in Residency spot at UCA Rochester - a great way for me to help give something back to the University I spent 3 years at.

For SS18, I found inspiration through my previous experience working in a bakery, basing pieces of this collection on the bakery products themselves whilst trying to capture the early mornings by incorporating bright colours and bold designs. Through these designs, I really try to push positivity and optimistic aspects from what was a largely negative experience - I wasn’t the best baker! This collection illustrates that my designs are able to overcome boundaries and uplift moods through fashion. To create this collection, I used a combination of hand and digital printing, which is a reoccurring theme throughout my collections. I chose to use combinations of orange and pink for this summer collection, which are colours that appear in my colour palette often.