Stylish new talent

As vintage meets urban, talented new designers are emerging on to the Cornwall fashion scene.

Long renowned as a hothouse of creativity, in addition to its writers, artists and filmmakers Cornwall is now becoming synonymous with emerging couture of many different genres. Budding fashion entrepreneurs Holly Boxall, Poppy Reid and Rachel Miles are emerging as new trendsetters of the future. Fresh from the catwalk at the recent Summer Fest event in Falmouth, hosted by Outset Cornwall, all three designers have launched their businesses thanks to support from the Outset business start-up programme.

“As young people living in the UK today we are constantly inspired by the events that are shaping our generation…”

An interest in historical design was the inspiration for former textile design student, Rachel to set up Fobwatch (www.fobwatchclothingemporium.com), a range of clothing, focusing on historic waistcoats influenced by the steampunk genre. Utilising vintage or recycled fabrics, the bespoke items are personalised for the individual client, meaning no two waistcoats will be the same.

Moving from the past to the modern day, edgy unisex urban brand People Are Strange Wear (www.peoplearestrangewear.com) is a collaboration between fashion and illustration graduates Holly Boxall and Poppy Reid. The pair met in February 2017 and have been building a beach/street wear brand ever since. Holly and Poppy like to keep things handmade and unique. They wanted to create a brand with attitude, hand printed in Cornwall, incorporating swimwear.

“As young people living in the UK today we are constantly inspired by the events that are shaping our generation, we love fashion and art and think it can be a strong voice for us,” said Holly. “We decided to create a swimwear and clothing line to be a canvas for our culture.”

People Are Strange is their street wear line and includes unisex hand printed oversized t-shirts and sweats. Strange Swim is the beach brand and is a collaboration of contemporary prints and sleek shapes. In addition to being ethically produced, all future swimwear collections will also be made from reclaimed fishing nets.