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She was thrown out of school for dressing badly, but now
a teenager from Beverley is being hailed by some as fashion's next big thing.
Rhiannon Jones is designing outlandish outfits that are
hard to ignore and are being bought by some very famous popstars. She can
boast Lady GaGa and X-Factor winner Alexandra Burke among her customers.
Three years ago the 18-year-old designer, known as
Bolshie, was excluded from school in Beverley for not conforming. She would
tear up her uniform and make alterations to suit her gregarious sense of
style.
So she left the historic market town for the bright
lights of London and, from a small East End studio in Shoreditch, launched
herself as a fashion designer.
"I didn't really like the way they [school] spoke
to me about my uniform and they didn't support me creatively," said the
designer.
"I don't really like to be disciplined. I think I'm
quite a free spirit and I like to make my own rules; I like to be my own
person.
"Since I came down here [to London] everything's
totally changed: environment, people, opportunities you get. It's been the
best decision ever made."
Bolshie by name, bolshie by nature
With a striking self-inspired fashion sense, her designs
scream outrageous, from a leopard print bodysuit with dismembered miniature
plastic dolls adorning oversized shoulder pads to a huge gold Big Ben head
piece.
"My designs are for people who share my creative
mind, I guess. I really like to use everyday objects like a Barbie doll or
anything like this.
"I don't get inspired by a particular person or
thing. It's just whatever's going on in my life like my surroundings and
experiences really. Subconsciously I just come up with things."
It's no wonder her label is already attracting the
attention of Lady Gaga. The queen of outrageous outfits is snapping up her
new collection and recently an avant-garde boutique has become her first
stockist.
"Because most of them are one-off show pieces, they
have attracted quite a lot of interest from these celebrities and this is
absolutely great. She's building a great portfolio," explained Stavros
Karelis, director of independent boutique Machine A.
Determined to succeed, the young designer is aiming to
cause a stir at the major fashion catwalks in London, Paris and New York with
the ambition of a solo show.
And now she is taking another step towards her dream
this week with an exhibit at London's Fashion Scout, which showcases
innovative designs and upcoming talent, where her eccentric and bold
sartorial has caught the eye of one of the scouts:
"She's very avant-garde, unique, a very special
designer and a really fun character," said Emma Crosby of Fashion Scout.
"She listens to all the advice that's given in
terms of a commercial perspective and also not losing a sense of who she
is," she added.
But the exuberant designer knows she's in a cut-throat
industry:
"I think it's very difficult because there's a lot
of competition out there… You've got to be very determined, strong-willed and
not take knocks because you get so many people saying 'no' and you just have
to keep focused.
"There's always going to be people that don't
really understand what you're doing but I probably don't like what they're
wearing either, so you just have to be grown up about it."
She admits not all the attention she attracts is
positive. The Times labelled her a Fashion Week "wannabee". But it
will take more than negative comments to stop her from meeting buyers in
Paris next week.
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