Victoria and her fashion shows in the Press and media

Through the Spring Fashion Show and The End of Summer Fashion Show and through her own brand of unique clothing, victoria has gained attention from a variety of shops, magazines and blogs.

The shows have been featured and attended by pretigious magazines and creative/ model agencies such as: Creative Boom, Living North, Leeds Uncut, TellusFashion, Niji Magazine, Yorkshire Women's Life, Viva Magazine, Culture Vulture, Urban Coco, Manchester Gossip, Wild Child Media, Unexposed Fashion, Manchester's Finest, Yorinspired, Live Magazine and AC-PR & Creative Boutique.

Her shows have also shown collections from: Kookai, Fabryan, Vicky Martin, Kelly Ewing, Pop Boutique, Blue Rinse, Love Me Again, Roc and Doll, Cross culture Fashion Coco Boo plus many many more!

Hi Victoria, how are you doing today? Thanks for doing this interview with me

It’s fine thanks, thank you for having me.

Can you give me some background information about yourself?

I am a 22 year old creative from Nr Manchester. I use the term creative, because I seem to have so many roles, I can’t narrow it down! I have my own clothing line, producing vintage style clothing from recycled materials, and I organise two fashion shows in the north, as well as lending a hand to many others.

So how did you first get into fashion?

When I was young, I never liked what was in the shops, so I simply taught myself how to sew, so I could create something I really wanted to wear. My love of the 60s and the music really fuels the designs. I guess, I’ve never been really ‘in’ to fashion, I keep an eye the trends, but I don’t follow them much, I’ve had the same style since I was 15, and I like it.

Why did you start The End of Summer Fashion Show? How did it all begin?

It took me by surprise really. I have always been creative, making my own clothes since I was young, and studying art, textiles, graphics etc. But I just did it for myself. When I was travelling in 2009 I met a model, and we realised we lived about 5 mins away from each other in Leeds. She was really interested in what I was making, and suggested we should do a show. Since then it’s just grown, I now have another show The Spring Fashion Show in Manchester as well.

Three attributes the fashion show producer should have?

A good memory, the ability to work well with all kinds of people, and organisation skills. I find all three of these vital!!

What do you think makes your fashion shows different?

For one thing, it’s a lot cheaper to showcase than many shows! So this gives emerging designers, who have just graduated, or people who don’t have a huge marketing panel behind them the ability to get involved. I think this is really special, we get some great testimonials about people involved.

I also love the variety of clothing that we have, there is never a set theme, so the style of clothing really ranges, there’s something for everyone.

On the day of the show your survival kit will definitely include?

A pen and paper, some pins just in case and a big smile. I plan most things in advance, so actually the day of the show can be quite relaxing.

The most memorable moment so far?

There have been some great ones, what I really enjoy is just after the show is finished, seeing everyone faces, backstage and in the crowd, it gives me and everyone involved a real sense of achievement.

Tell us a difficult situation you have faced and how you got out of it

One year, the show venue had some internal miscommunication, so 2 weeks before the show we had to find a new venue! Luckily, my staff and I all pulled together got a new venue close by, and actually it went very well, we still had a big audience and no one would have even noticed!

How do you fund these events?

Upfront, I use my own money…a bit risky I know but you only get out as much as you put in and I’ve put in loads…money, time, effort so my aim is for my shows to be the best they can be and more.

Tell us about your upcoming show on Sept 9th, what should we be expecting? Any suprises?

Ohhh the designers this year come from all walks of life!

Some have been professionally trained like Naomi Ding, or Helen Barran, who has just graduated in Fashion Studies from the University of Lincoln and is based in Leeds. Her collection is very much based on the Victorian elegance so keep an eye out for her interpretation.

Other designers are much more established within the Leeds fashion crowd such as Pop Boutique which opened it’s 1st store in Leeds back in 1994.

We also have two very exciting ethical brands Jamilia Designs which specialises in mens and womens mohair knitwear and Crystal Padmore who designs using bamboo.

So you see we really do have an eclectic range of designers showcasing this year which is why it’s really interesting to see how the they have developed themselves and put their collections together.

All of the designers are one to watch and we believe in the next few years you’ll see them
either on our high streets or in major retail stores!

What would you suggest to those that want to be involved into the business?

Be persevering, sometimes you make wrong choice, but stick at it if you’ve got the talent. Try to network, sometimes knowing the right person can go a long way. I also think it’s good to do your research, find out your niche or your target audience and really learn about it, it will give you an advantage, and maybe help to discover new avenues.

Thanks for your time Victoria.
Thanks! It was a pleasure

Recent interview: Tellus Fashion Exlusive Interview with Vintage Designer Victoria Rosso

12/01/2010

It is always exciting to see new ideas and new designs on show. This is exactly the ethos of designer and coordinator of the Spring Fashion Show in Manchester next year, Victoria Rosso: “I like... just something a bit different... I don't like shopping in high street shops; I don't like seeing those clothes all the time.” Her own style has, in the past, reflected her love of vintage style, particularly that of the 1960s, which she confesses to having a bit of an obsession with. Why the vintage influence? “I don't know it just sort of came up by accident really. I started making clothes when I was 13 or 14 because I didn’t like anything I saw in shops... it’s a theme that seems to be coming up quite a lot!”

It is not an easy task to be a young, up-and-coming designer and this is partly why Rosso is putting the Manchester show together which incorporates the lines of new designers such as ‘Red Mutha,’ ‘The Tea Room,’ ‘Kelly Ewing,’ ‘Munkispanner,’ ‘Anam Naseer’ and ‘FABRAYAN.’ Explaining that she found most of the designers through the internet, Rosso states, “they are not designers who I know personally or who are my friends already. The main reason why this is important is because it’s a way for them to get publication without having to pay so much. Some of these are designers who are quite new and they don't have enough clothes to get into a shop, so, if you have a decent video and pictures of a show you’ve been in, then you can use that to help you in the future with shops stocking you. And it’s always good for the portfolio!”

But it’s not all purely practical. The main joy of putting on a show, for Rosso, is the final product, “I really like dealing with all the different people, I like finding all the models, everybody back stage, everyone on promotion and things. Sometimes it gets quite hectic, but I just really enjoy it. I love seeing it all come together on the day at the end - just when it comes out perfectly after all these months of doing and trying all the time.”

A lot of work goes in to putting on a show and making that final day run smoothly. For Rosso, the most difficult part of the whole fashion show process is the sheer amount of work and organisational effort put in before the show. In particular, Rosso always finds the creation of running orders a bit of a challenge: “one of the big issues, after the fitting day, is creating the running order. And just taking into consideration what the designers want, what the models are wearing, and how quickly the models can change...that can take a while to do.” And what about potential disasters? “Usually people are pretty good. We’ve had a few times where models have cancelled on the day, but I’m used to that now. I kind of expect it so I just make sure that there are always definitely enough models... I try to do as much as possible before the day, so that on the day it’s pretty smooth.” But there is the potential for much worse: “I have seen shows that have fallen apart, where no one’s arrived on the day – not my shows though! But people have cancelled. Everyone’s decided it’s not worth it and no one’s turned up and ... it can go really wrong.” Safe to say, however, it sounds as if there is not much chance of that happening in Rosso’s case.

Organisation is clearly the key to the success of any show. One of the many steps involved in the process is the choosing of models and Rosso knows exactly what she wants from her models: “there is a certain amount of gracefulness that has to be there and the walk is quite important, which is why this year we had a casting, to open it up and make it more public so all sorts of models can come and, in particular, models who don't have experience.” Not only is the walk important, says Victoria, but also height and a personality, although the size of the model is a bit more flexible, “being really skinny isn’t a must. A lot of shows are quite strict that models have to be size 6 – 8, but we allow up to size 10 in our shows because I think that size 6 – 8 is so tiny; I don't want to make my clothes that small, because then nobody can buy them!” Ultimately, it is the average-sized woman who will be wearing these clothes and this is a fact that Rosso is very aware of: “my concepts are all quite wearable. I don't make anything in silly shapes that you wouldn’t be able to walk out and wear in the day time. I think that’s quite important. I know there are lots of things with massive collars and trails that go on forever but that’s just not practical if you think about it.”

Rosso is clearly a woman on top of her game. Her approach is practical and direct, and her passion for her work is evident in her drive to make the show a success. And her final words of advice for producing a great show? “Pay attention to details and try to remember everything! If you can't remember everything, then write everything down!”

You can check out Rosso’s work on her website, http://www.victoriarosso.com and the details of the upcoming show in Manchester are to be found here: http://www.springfashionshow.co.uk/index.htm

victoria in the press & media etc