I see that you have a website for your clothing design, “Cottage Industry”, tell me about it.

It’s all about making clothing. I started it to build myself a portfolio, and having shows every six months requires me to do a certain amount of work. It’s become a source of self-motivation. I also sell the clothes that I make on it, which makes me some money.

Cha Ching! So what kind of clothes do you make?

All kinds of stuff! Mostly dresses. I recently started making pants, which I was scared of before because there’s so much more fit required. It’s hard to make a poorly fitting skirt, but pants have to fit all over the place, so if they don’t, you can end up looking really bad.

I hear you’re doing Edmonton Fashion Week this year. How many pieces do you need for your show?

Last time, I had twenty-two full outfits, and this year I have twelve full outfits. So like, this red jacket I’m wearing is paired with leggings and a lace top. I wanted to use a lot of texture, so I have lots of different materials from Sig Plaque, because they specialize in high-end European designer fabrics; I have lace and leather, to chiffon, silk and velvet. I’m sticking with neutral colours, because I figured bold colours with crazy textures could be a bit much.

As anyone on campus can attest, there are many questionable fashion choices. What’s the biggest fashion mistake you see on campus?

When you see girls that obviously got up really early to layer their face with make-up and have blow dried, straightened and dyed their hair all in the same morning. Their faces and hair look fantastic, but then they’re just lounging in sweatpants. Like, you couldn’t have just put on jeans? It takes two seconds to put on actual pants. I don’t get it.

Here’s a tip: if someone is poorly dressed, they’re most likely 4th years. At that point, you just don’t care anymore.