Rebecca’s collection for SS21 is inspired by her personal heritage and home town; based on the Isle of Man during the late 1800’s, a time whilst Manx holidaying was at its peak with middle class holiday makers, but also the resort of professional pickpockets; women often came over from the UK to specifically target holidaymakers during the heyday of Manx tourism. Juxtaposing characteristics between the opportunistic pickpockets and the middle-class holiday makers, inspiration is drawn from the prestige detail within garments worn by the middle class, and the silhouette is influenced by the full circular capes and skirts worn by the criminals, originally designed to conceal money and purses.




In a time where it was more usual to see pictures of women from middle and upper-class families; images of criminals are rare. Rebecca has scrutinised original newspaper cuttings provided by the Manx Museum from 1890-1912 to give the collection a profound depth of background and narrative based on individual case studies gaining a real character of how this period impacted the Isle of Man and its historic reputation, gaining a deep understanding of the scenarios where images were not available, and simply descriptions were used to record important periods of time.




Throughout the development process, Rebecca visualised her ideas in 3D using traditional pattern cutting methods, adjusting and tweaking the design during the pattern and toiling process. To create the frilled sleeve of the Doolish Trench Coat, Rebecca experimented with and combined a number of different pattern cutting methods to try and create a seamless spiral effect. A lot of experimentation was needed to test the fabrics drape and positioning throughout the design and manufacture process.
The collection is heavily inspired by garments worn in a collection of Victorian antique photographs. In contrast to the design process for the outerwear pieces in this collection, when developing the lace and satin garments, techniques such as draping were used to recreate the silhouette of traditional Victorian garments. Draping on human form initially inspired the silhouette to which observational drawings were formed, and then flat pattern pieces and technical drawings were created.