How did you come to form Curtain Collective?

Benjamin: Rosie and I met in final year when we were put in the same group, and we got much closer. It became very apparent that we weren’t going to be getting what we wanted out of our course as far as final presentations went. I started to think we should do something ourselves, and that developed into a collective.

Rosie: Six months into starting University, COVID happened, so we had a lot of time studying on our own. I think that made us value working as a group even more than we ever would have done before. There’s a stereotype of fashion school students being quite bitchy and nasty, and that can be true, but the group that we formed was the complete opposite of that.

It’s a tough time to be graduating. What kind of struggles do you face as emerging designers?

Mariam: We were all really all excited to start our new course, and then COVID happened, which affected every student. Within fashion, we really needed guidance. I didn’t do fashion or textiles at college or in sixth form, so I just had to learn through YouTube. That was hard. You do have to figure out for yourself what you want to create and put out there, but we needed a bit of guidance from our teachers. That was very hard. Luckily, we were able to do things for ourselves and work for another brand, which helped us to create this connection.

Benjamin: During our third year we went onto placements, which is where I learned most of my skills. Going into the placement was very scary because I didn’t know how to sew very competently at that point. When it came to sewing for a company, I was nervous, but luckily I started somewhere quite small. I was doing a lot of work, but it wasn’t too intense, so I could cultivate my own skills. When it came to final year, I felt confident enough to make my own clothes and start my own collection.

Did the creative community in London influence your work?

Ben: It’s very easy to be inspired when you’re in London surrounded by creative people. You go to parties and events, and you meet all these people that do something within the creative space. When we were starting the collective, we found it surprising. Especially when money is so tight for everyone, there are still so many creative people willing to collaborate and help us out. They saw a group of people with next to no budget and would even help us out for free.

How did this show in The CarWash come together?

Rosie: We wanted a different kind of venue, and The CarWash felt a bit more raw and authentic. We only graduated in the summer; we don’t really know what we’re doing. We wanted to do something a little bit different to your traditional show, because not everything is perfect with our collection. I think the good thing about that location is that it reflects that DIY, making it up as we go along ethos. We were really lucky to have BUILDHOLLYWOOD help us with that, because we didn’t have to pay a penny, which was so helpful. I’m really grateful to them for supporting young artists.

When did you start working on the show?

Ben: I started thinking about the collective in January, when it wasn’t looking like we were getting what we’d been promised for our final presentations. Earlier in the year, we were given the task to come up with our brand ethos and our messaging. We were going around the room, and there were a lot of people coming up with ideas for community spaces and collectives. It clicked in my mind that we should all come together. The fashion world can be very individualistic, but I liked the idea of us all coming together as a unit and helping each other. It seemed like jobs would be few and far between, so if we wanted to make something of these brands, we would have to come together as a unit and create a platform where we could individually grow.

Why do you think it’s so important to support students and recent graduates?

Benjamin: Your work will get a final presentation, but after that, it goes into the ether, and you don’t really hear about it. There’s the chance that it gets picked up or it gets a moment of fame, but that’s rare. By forming a collective and driving this energy behind a group of fashion students, we can create the hype ourselves. We’re going for it ourselves. Each of us brings different things to the group, and it’s a good way to create opportunities. After the show, so many people reached out about working on projects, both as a group and individually. We can grow individually and together.

Rosie: It’s such a competitive industry, especially if you don’t know anyone. That is how fashion works. If you know someone somewhere, it leads to more jobs, but there are a lot of people who don’t have those contacts. That’s why we want to support each other and make a big thing of our work. It’s not even about reaching a load of people, it’s just about reaching the right people and trying to create a space for ourselves in an industry where there’s not enough space for everyone.

What are you guys hoping to bring to the fashion industry?

Benjamin: I would like to create a space where designers can come and go. I want it to be a hub for creativity that’s independent and focused on talent and art. Money would be great, it helps make collections, but the main focus is the art. That’s why we all started our journeys with fashion. I’d love to have a studio that works as a hub where we come together and work together and use shared equipment. It’s so expensive to have your own studio space and equipment, but if we could all work together, it would take the pressure off and allow people to focus on the creative side.

Mariam: Nobody would have to sign a contract or be tied to it. We all have different jobs. We are all going for interviews. For me, this show and this past year together brought some meaning into my life. I really enjoyed creating all these pieces, and I feel like the energy that the nine of us have allows me to create art that I want to showcase to people.

What’s next for you?

Rosie: We are planning on trying to do two shows a year around Fashion Week. We also want to do smaller, community-based events. We want to get involved with festivals and music parties, more immersive events. We’re trying to set up our websites, and we’re considering making an online marketplace.

Miriam: We also want to put back into the community and our friends. So many people helped us, we want to help them and support them. It’s really cool that the nine of us are all good at different things. We can do dying, pleating, knitting, so many things, and it would be nice to put on workshops where anyone can come in.

Ben: There’s a lot of momentum that’s coming from the show that we want to jump on. There are so many avenues that we could go down and there are so many things that I want to do personally, and I know that everyone else wants to do as well. It’s exciting.