Member Article

North East fashionista seeks further designers

A teenage fashion fan is looking for retailers and young designers to exhibit at an event.

Kimberley Knowles, 18, of Whinfield, Darlington, who has already set up her own clothes and accessories label, is hoping to create a fashion event similar to London’s Portobello Road and Camden markets later this summer in Yarm.

She is looking for vintage retailers and young designers who would like to exhibit at the event, which is due to be held on 24 July.

Kimberley, who has been making clothes and jewellery since she was 14, founded her Madison Ivory label aged 16, while completing a fashion design course at Darlington College.

She sells her products, which include T-shirts, dresses and jewellery, through boutiques in Northallerton and Whitby and at craft markets.

However Kimberley has struggled to find fairs which cater for her target market.

She said: “All the craft fairs seem to cater more for the older generation, and there doesn’t seem to be a lot of these type of events for young people. I want to put on something with clothes from young designers and people selling vintage clothes.”

Kimberley, whose style icons include stars Audrey Hepburn, Sarah Jessica Parker, and Brigitte Bardot, began making her own clothes because she found it hard to find what she wanted in high street stores.

“I like unique things,” she said. “I couldn’t find what I liked in shops so I started customising things.

“I made a lot for my mum, my sister and friends. People started asking where they’d get their clothes from, so I started making things to sell, and it just went from there.”

For more information about the market, email kimberley-knowles@hotmail.co.uk.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Ruth Mitchell .