A Design for Life  

Photography Chloe Mallett
Interview and Fashion Direction by Ursula Lake 

Make meets up with the passionate, environmentally conscious, and celebrated fashion designer Georgia Hardinge to get an insight into her creative world and find out what makes her tick.

Q. Can you tell us a little bit about your childhood, your background, and your route into fashion design?

A. I had a good childhood, I lived in the UK, Portugal, and France. Sadly, I lost both my parents before I finished school but this gave me the opportunity to really focus on my independence and work ethic. It was a driving force of mine to succeed at something. My mother’s wish was for me to go to University and I applied for the best! I received an award for best designer at Parsons school of design in Paris – such an honour after working so hard. As a teenager, I used to love designing and making clothes. I would rummage through my mother’s scarves and cut them up and put them back together to make different creations. She had such an incredible sense of style! She was a stylist and consultant, working with Designers like Loewe, YSL & Fendi. Growing up around this gave me a lot of inspiration to go into fashion.

Q. You are known for your architectural, origami-inspired 3D designs. Where do you think that fascination stems from?

A. I think it comes from my love of Architecture and sculpture. There was a time when I thought about studying architecture, but instead, I chose to marry my 2 passions and use the art of sculpture to map around the body. The idea of creating something that is 3-dimensional and structured whilst made from a free-flowing material has been my driving factor throughout. From afar looking hard but up close it is soft and luxurious.

Q. How do you start and progress through your creative design process? Does it start with a story, image, place, etc?

A. It starts with the manipulation of fabric. Creating a shape or texture. Then when something excites me I transform this into a pattern that can fit around a 360 surface. It’s very technical and intricate.

Q. Who do you design for? Do you have a muse or is there a Georgia Hardinge woman?

A, I design for my customer. She is an informed, modern and forward-thinking individual. Drawn to innovative designs whilst prioritising easy care and wearability. She also cares for others and the planet.

My muses are people I admire and have had the pleasure to work with. Noella Coursaris, opened a school for girls in the Democratic Republic of Congo, providing nutritional meals, medical care, and education to all 370 girls. Munroe Bergdorf is an incredible activist and model/actress. I love what she stands for and supports. I also love Enam Asiama, she has modeled for the likes of Marc Jacobs and stands for inclusive fashion, particularly in size diversity. Finally, my best friend Annabelle Wallis, whom I have known for over 25 years and is godmother to my son. She is an incredible actress and animal activist, helping save animals from being put down in shelters.

Q. We love that your designs have always celebrated and flattered women of all sizes. Has that been something that you have always wanted to achieve or a happy side effect of your clever design work?

A. I believe in making clothing that fit and flatter the figure not the other way around. It’s always been important to me how my customer feels when wearing my products. We need to celebrate curves and individuality. There is so much beauty in being unique or different from the norm.

Q. We enjoyed seeing the development of your work on the TV show, Making the Cut. It looked tough at times! Can you tell us about your experiences on the show?

A. It was a whirlwind experience and I enjoyed every minute of it! Since I had my son, I have grown used to working hard on little sleep, which I believe stood me in good stead for the competition! Taking part in Making the Cut really helped bring my main focus back to the visuals and the creative processes without having business admin get in the way, which was a breath of fresh air and incredible fun. Sadly, I wasn’t able to do my pleating techniques on the show due to the time restraints which made it more difficult for me but really helped me to think outside the box. It was important for me to still create something unique, sculptural and within my brand DNA despite not being pleated! To do this, whilst also thinking of an accessible accompanying look, all within the strict time deadlines was such a big challenge!

My favourite was the ‘Funeral’ episode, as we all came together to create a collection as a team and it was so much fun doing it.I experimented with using sustainable denim, and would love to incorporate this into my collections further for summer. One of the hardest factors of filming the show was that you could only talk to the other contestants whilst the cameras were rolling. Everything had to be caught on camera and you weren’t able to have conversations off-screen. This I couldn’t get my head around, as there are some things that you just can’t say on camera!

Q. We love that you have always built ethical practices and sustainability into your design work. How do you go about this and is easy to achieve?

A. It’s very hard to be 100% fully sustainable – it’s simply not readily available or achievable. I do what I can to improve my practices throughout the design and production processes. I am currently on a journey, in collaboration with Lenzing and Esce-tex, to go plant-based with innovative new ideas. We have already integrated Tencel into our collections which are made from wood pulp, alongside using fabrics made from certified recycled materials.

Q. If you weren’t a fashion designer, you would be…?

A. An Architect

Q. Though we are moving away from the pandemic in terms of time, its effects have been far-reaching. How did you cope during the pandemic, because it was such a hard time for true fashion design? Can you tell us your pandemic story and anything you learned from it?

A. The week that the UK lockdown was announced was when I realised I was expecting my firstborn Apollo. Which was perfect timing. During this time at home, I really wanted to focus my energy on supporting others through my work. I collaborated with AgeUK, to help raise awareness and funding for the elderly during the pandemic and also with Malaika, which provides education for girls in the Democratic Republic of Congo. This was extremely successful and was a real highlight of my career. I managed to use my work to help others during such an unprecedented time and it was a great success!

This time over lockdown also helped us to take a step back and really focus on what our customer wants, which styles they prefer, and producing a more considered range of clothing.

Q. What are your plans or hopes for the future of the brand?

A. Next year will be an exciting year, we are developing a breakthrough in design! I am currently doing pleating trials for a fabric that is bio-degradable and naturally cures using steam.

To learn more about Georgia’s designs please visit: www.georgiahardinge.co.uk 

Hair and make-up by Ruth Warrior at Arlington Artists
Model Emma Stalhammar at Next Model Management