Constança normally sets her alarm at 7.15am in order to make it into the print room by 8.30am each morning. Lately however, with the Degree Show looming and the production of her final collection in full swing, no alarm is necessary – she finds she wakes up naturally, aware of where she needs to be and exactly what she needs to get done.

She has a black coffee alongside her breakfast, reads the news to check in with the world and contacts her family in Portugal. Constança’s clothing choice for the day is generally dictated by her mood. There is however one permanent fixture – a pair of trainers – as these allow her to get from one place to the next in good time.

Part of Constança’s morning ritual is the 15-minute walk from her flat at Exmouth Market in Farringdon to King’s Cross. The first thing she does when she arrives at CSM each day is to reflect on her moodboards, planning out the course of her day and preparing her samples, which can be a long process in itself. She is a serial list writer and sticks all her lists onto the walls. Right now, she has 20 days worth of lists on the wall above her workspace in the print room. As a means of dealing with stress, Constança says that laughter is the best medicine. She likes to laugh, a lot.

As her work is heavily process and materials driven, she looks to artists that share a similar approach, Issey Miyake being a significant source of inspiration.

Constança draws energy for her work from the people around her, from what they wear to the way they move. She carries a notebook with her everywhere she goes and records all of her ideas as they come to her.

For Constança, the joy of being a printer comes from the freedom for mess and experimentation, as well as the opportunities that come with the possibility of working at such a large scale. Her favourite aspect of being a textile designer is the intimate working relationship that one has with the material, which in her mind is equivocal to a second skin and therefore, the most important aspect of a garment or interior piece.