FemaleFirst Student Designer Focus: Anna Singleton

Student’s collection scrubs up well

FemaleFirst is running an eye over this years fashion graduates from Kingston University ...

Mouldy walls, a tide-marked bath and a grimy sink - the stereotypical student bathroom doesn’t sound like the most inspiring place for a young fashion designer. But the wonders of a grubby washroom were exactly what got the creative juices flowing for style savvy Kingston University designer Anna Singleton.

From the mould-inspired prints dotted on a vest and trousers to transparent jackets and shorts that leave the wearer in a state of semi-undress, the 22 year old’s Graduate Fashion Week collection has soaked up the full glory of the ‘bathroom experience’.

"I wanted to find beauty in the mundane," the Dorset-born designer said. "I looked at the bathroom as a setting and took inspiration from the activities that happen there - like undressing and washing."

On the catwalk Anna, from Fiddleford near Blandford, coupled bright yellow pants with an off-white vest covered in small grey-blue mould-like specks. The outfit was finished off with a transparent latex coat, a cross between a dressing gown and a jacket. The fungus pattern spread through her collection adorning spun silk joggers, leggings and shirts with cut-out shoulders. In another eye-catching ensemble an unusual bone and leather harness was slung over a skin-coloured top and shorts. Although classified as a womenswear range Anna describes her collection as asexual - born out of a zone where gender becomes irrelevant.