JULIAN &_

JULIAN &_

We were told our external examiner was coming to introduce himself- what did we all expect? A plump flustered man in a badly fitting suit, balding slightly with a dodgy pair of glasses. You know, the typical. So we were all a little surprised when a well dressed, young man walked in and introduced himself. This must be a joke!! 

He gave us faith in what we were doing. He was interested in our work, wanted to help us and more importantly had experienced the industry himself so knew what he was talking about. His first label, ‘Nothing Nothing’ was a huge success. The main garment he created was a subtraction garment, which I actually learnt how to do last year, but had no idea who created it. Subtraction cutting is a simple way of creating a volumes garment, and is done but creating holes/tubes on the inside to create interesting shapes. And no garment is ever the same. Julian showed us a video he created of his subtraction dresses, which showed how he created his dresses. The video was intact in reverse, so he was actually taking the dresses off the mannequins, and he keeps the garments flat packed- for the ease and space (it makes more sense than having to find space to hand log garments). Julian took part in LFW, where he collaborated with degree students to get a fresh new take on his subtraction cutting. He also wrote a book about how to go about subtraction cutting, which he put online for everyone to enjoy. Free of charge. But his next endeavour was an even braver move. He sold his whole company, patterns, name, everything, on eBay for £1. It just shows julian is not about the commerciality at all, but about sharing a wonderful technique with the world. He went all over the place teaching subtraction, to different universities, often collaborating with different students.

He set up a new business, Julian&. He left it open in the sense that anyone can collaborate with him, its not just for the elite or talented.

I feel his take on the business was very fresh and incredibly brave. It could have gone in the complete opposite direction for him, but infact it gave him the publicity he needed, without having to work/pay for it in the conventional way. I could relate to him, he inspired me.