From London but now based in Edinburgh, Ipsa shares life between her studies in Graphic design and her obsession about the reworking of vintage clothing from charity shop. She discusses more about her process of giving a new life to clothes and how she gets her inspiration to realize her art.

Tell me a bit more about yourself
I am 20 years old and originally from London, currently studying Graphic Design at Edinburgh College of Art. Studying Graphic Design has shaped my personal and design style. However, I have always had an interest in fashion and a good eye for vintage clothes, and the idea of making garments, accessories and styling excites me more than digital design right now. This has led to initiating personal projects which include making and reworking vintage clothes.

Where do you basically pick your images for realizing your collage? Where does your inspiration come from?
The many images in my collage are due to my hours of endless scrolling on Instagram! It really is just one big mood board and it is interesting to see how my style has evolved as you scroll down. A lot of the images are mainly selected from the profiles of designers, fashion photographers and publications that I admire. The images that make the collage tend to reflect my personal style, are photos of my own work, or ones that I just find aesthetically pleasing!

How do you proceed when you make fashion recycling?
A lot of my spare time is spent in charity shops. I never really go in with a set idea to be completely honest. I’ll buy an item of clothing, spending rarely over £10. The clothing will either be used as material for a new piece or I will take it to the fabric shop to hunt through fabrics and trims to see what works and take it from there!

If you had to choose between making only digital design or make only reworking of vintage pieces? What would you choose between the ‘virtual’ and the ‘real’?
Real, for sure. I like seeing my creations physically come to life and being able to wear them. For me, it is much more rewarding to see something that I have picked up second hand and for quite cheap, and rework it to create what I would say are now some of my favourite pieces of clothing.

Do you have a person (unknown or not) who inspire you a lot?
I wouldn’t be able to narrow it down to one person. I am constantly finding new designers and creatives who inspire my work, and then there are people closer to me who inspire me to just go for it and create what I think feels right.

What’s your dreamiest project, collaboration?
The dream would be to collaborate with any of my favorite designers (current favorites are Charlotte Knowles, Eytys + Saks Potts) and creatively direct a shoot for a campaign or collection of theirs!