SHE honed her skills making garments fit for a prince... and now emerging fashion designer Nicole Christie is launching her own collection.
As told in the Glasgow Times, four British trainees were chosen to take up a place on The Modern Artisan, the internationally renowned collaboration between The Prince’s Foundation and Yoox Net-a-Porter.
The 25-year-old, who has a first class degree in Fashion Design and Production, used the skills honed on the course to develop her own luxury collection.
Nicole said: “Launching the first Ellipsis luxury womenswear collection is a dream come true for me and something I have been working towards for many years.
"I believe in creating beautiful products that will last and be cherished by the wearer for years to come.
"I set up the brand to create timeless and elegant garments and accessories which are all designed and manufactured in-house by hand to help strengthen the artisanal skills that have become lost in a mass production industry.
"I take pride in the fact that all my garments are made to the highest standards, with the finishing on the insides as important as those on the outside.”
Nicole designed and manufactured the collection of dresses, tops, trousers and a jumpsuit in her East Kilbride home studio.
Made with 100% silk sourced from within the UK, it also features hairbands made from leftover material, in line with the brand’s commitment to sustainability.
Nicole was one of four British trainees to gain a place on The Modern Artisan, a unique training programme which aimed to strengthen textile skills training and equip trainee artisans in the UK and Italy with the skills and confidence to produce luxury clothing collections.
The programme culminated with the launch of Yoox Net-a-Porter Group for The Prince’s Foundation, a luxury capsule collection of sustainable garments which were designed by trainee artisans in Italy and manufactured by Nicole and her three fellow UK artisans at Dumfries House in Ayrshire.
The collection debuted to 4.3 million customers across all four Yoox Net-a-Porter Group e-commerce sites - Net-a-Porter, Yoox, The Outnet and Mr Porter - in November 2020, with profits from the sale of the collection donated to The Prince’s Foundation to support its charitable work.
The collection was featured in the pages of Vogue and garments were purchased by customers from all over the world.
Nicole said: “Being involved in The Modern Artisan was a life-changing experience for me.
"The programme helped me develop a deep understanding of the importance of sustainable fashion and the need for traditional textile skills such as hand-sewing, pattern drafting and the expertise to handle wool, cashmere and silk fabrics to be preserved.
"Training on the programme has given me the skills and confidence I needed to set up Ellipsis, which is inspired by what I learnt on the programme.
“I strongly believe that everything in life has a meaning and purpose.
"The name of my brand derives from the fact that three is my lucky number and an ellipsis is the set of three dots at the end of a sentence, meaning more is yet to come.
"Through Ellipsis, I hope to make a mark on the industry by proving that sustainability can be fashionable and that there is a big market for great quality garments, handmade in Scotland.”
To find out more about Ellipsis, and to view the new collection see: www.ellipsis.online
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