Holly Fulton (born 1977) is a London-based fashion designer who set up her eponymous fashion label in 2009. Known for bold graphic and 3D motifs, innovative use of textiles and distinctive accessories, she has been described as the "queen of prints". She is a regular at

London Fashion Week London Fashion Week (LFW) is a clothing trade show that takes place in London twice a year, in February and September. Showcasing over 250 designers to a global audience of influential media and retailers, it is one of the 'Big Four' fashion wee ...

and has also appeared at Hong Kong Fashion Week.

Early life and career

Fulton was born in Edinburgh. Her early ambition was to be a vet, but after studying sciences at school she switched focus and completed an art foundation course in

Newcastle Newcastle usually refers to: *Newcastle upon Tyne, a city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England *Newcastle-under-Lyme, a town in Staffordshire, England *Newcastle, New South Wales, a metropolitan area in Australia, named after Newcastle ...

and a fashion textiles degree at

Edinburgh College of Art Edinburgh College of Art (ECA) is one of eleven schools in the College of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences at the University of Edinburgh. Tracing its history back to 1760, it provides higher education in art and design, architecture, histor ...

, graduating in 1999. After university, she worked for a while at London fashion store Koh Samui before spending a number of years teaching, running a gallery and working as a nanny. In 2005, she applied for the MA in fashion led by

Wendy Dagworthy Wendy Dagworthy OBE (born 4 March 1950) is an English former fashion designer and now design academic. During her career she has led fashion design teaching at both the Royal College of Art and Central Saint Martins, mentoring notable fashion d ...

Royal College of Art The Royal College of Art (RCA) is a public research university in London, United Kingdom, with campuses in South Kensington, Battersea and White City. It is the only entirely postgraduate art and design university in the United Kingdom. It offe ...

. She gained experience at

Lanvin Lanvin () is a French Luxury goods, luxury fashion house based in Paris. Founded in 1889 by Jeanne Lanvin, it is the oldest French fashion house still in operation. Since 2018, it has been a subsidiary of Shanghai-based Lanvin Group. Bruno Sialel ...

in Paris before establishing her label which was launched at Fashion East in 2009. Holly was appointed as Head of Fashion at CSVPA in Cambridge in 2017.

Design awards

In 2009, Holly Fulton won both the

Swarovski Swarovski (, ) is an Austrian producer of glass based in Wattens, Austria, and has existed as a family-owned business since its founding in 1895 by Daniel Swarovski. The company is split into three major industry areas: the Swarovski Crystal ...

award for emerging talent and the Scottish young designer of the year award. In 2010, she won the ''

Elle ''Elle'' (stylized ''ELLE'') is a worldwide women's magazine of French origin that offers a mix of fashion and beauty content, together with culture, society and lifestyle. The title means "she" or "her" in French. ''Elle'' is considered the w ...

'' next young designer award. She was a

British Fashion Council The British Fashion Council (BFC) is a non-profit organization that aims to enable sustainable growth of British fashion in the global fashion economy. Founded in 1983, the BFC organizes biannual womenswear and menswear showcases, London Fashi ...

NEWGEN award winner in 2010, which gave her access to industry mentors and financial backing for two seasons, becoming a Fashion Forward winner in 2013. In 2020, Holly was recognised by

The Fashion Awards The Fashion Awards, known as the British Fashion Awards until 2016, is an annual ceremony established in the United Kingdom in 1989 to showcase both British and international individuals and businesses who have made the most outstanding contribu ...

for setting up the Emergency Designer Network in response to the Covid-19 pandemic. Holly Fulton is among the London fashion businesses to have been assisted by the London-based

business incubator Business incubator is an organization that helps startup companies and individual entrepreneurs to develop their businesses by providing a fullscale range of services starting with management training and office space and ending with venture ca ...

Centre for Fashion Enterprise.

Holly Fulton label

Holly Fulton designs feature luxurious fabrics, often with

Art Deco Art Deco, short for the French ''Arts Décoratifs'', and sometimes just called Deco, is a style of visual arts, architecture, and product design, that first appeared in France in the 1910s (just before World War I), and flourished in the Unite ...

and retro-inspired prints. The label is also known for its use of decorative embellishments, often in unusual materials, such as perspex and crystal. ''

Women's Wear Daily ''Women's Wear Daily'' (also known as ''WWD'') is a fashion-industry trade journal often referred to as the "Bible of fashion".Horyn, Cathy"Breaking Fashion News With a Provocative Edge" ''The New York Times''. (August 20, 1999). It provides infor ...

'' has noted how the designer often combines: "several disparate sources of inspiration". The autumn 2014 show, for instance, featured calculators, cogs and other technology-inspired motifs.

Collaborations

Holly Fulton has collaborated with

Radley Radley is a village and Civil parishes in England, civil parish about northeast of the centre of Abingdon, Oxfordshire, Abingdon, Oxfordshire. The parish includes the Hamlet (place), hamlet of Lower Radley on the River Thames. It was part of B ...

to produce a capsule collection of bags. She also produced four limited-edition pieces for

eBay eBay Inc. ( ) is an American multinational e-commerce company based in San Jose, California, that facilitates consumer-to-consumer and business-to-consumer sales through its website. eBay was founded by Pierre Omidyar in 1995 and became a ...

to promote autumn/winter (AW) 2013 London Fashion Week.

References

External links

Official websiteLondon Fashion Week AW14 collection on YouTubeVogue brands: Holly Fulton
{{DEFAULTSORT:Fulton, Holly Living people 1977 births Scottish fashion designers British women fashion designers Businesspeople from Edinburgh High fashion brands Alumni of the Royal College of Art Alumni of the Edinburgh College of Art