Up and coming Merseyside Fashion Designer Ethan Leyland takes time out to speak to Steve Kinrade about how he became interested in fashion and design, his influences, and the challenges of a young working-class student navigating the demands of an intensive degree course in the fast moving fashion industry.
Liverpool Noise: Can you remember how old you were when you first took an interest in clothes and fashion?
Ethan: I would say that my interest in clothes and fashion began at a young age. At around 7 years old, I vividly remember using my mum’s bedsheets to create wedding dresses, and then I’d proudly show off my creations downstairs for my mum and sister. Later on in life, I’d say my passion properly developed when I chose dance, drama and textiles as my subjects in Sixth Form and I began creating my own designs.
Liverpool Noise: Who were your initial influences in fashion design when you started Central Saint Martins?
Ethan: My inspirations often stem from personal stories and experiences, particularly those connected to my own life and family. These inspirations then serve as the foundation for ideas I develop and translate into a fashion context. I often used the Central Saint Martins (CSM) library to delve through archives in order to find more inspiration, or further develop ideas – their collection of resources are incredible, and definitely played a significant role in my creative process.
LN: Central Saint Martins is a prestigious place to study. What was the journey to get to this amazing opportunity?
Ethan: After trying a few other careers, I decided I really wanted to pursue fashion seriously. I began with a Level 3 Extended Diploma at Liverpool City College. During this time, I also took on an apprenticeship with Brides by Natalie (an amazing bridal shop which is now based in Orrell Park) to gain practical experience such as pattern cutting and tailoring.
Early on in my diploma, we had to complete a research task on different fashion colleges. This led me to discover CSM through a simple Google search for the best fashion schools in the world, and I instantly knew it was where I wanted to study. In my second year of college, I applied to CSM, London College of Fashion (LCF) and Manchester Metropolitan University. Although I received an unconditional offer from LCF on the day of my interview and was advised to accept the offer straight away, I chose to wait for my interview with CSM, confident that it was the right place for me.
Liverpool Noise: How did you feel attending Central Saint Martins as a person from a working- class background?
Ethan: Whilst I was so proud of myself for getting a place onto the Womenswear course, the high cost of tuition and fees for the course itself, combined with the need for fabrics, materials and tools definitely placed a significant burden on myself, a working-class student from St. Helens. For example, when designing a garment for a university project, there is a substantial cost involved when it comes to fabric. Calico, a fabric fashion students use for experiments, is around £15 for 5 metres.
For my course, we are expected to do a lot of experimentation, which means that even before we start to make our final design, I’ve often spent over £30 just on calico. Once I’ve then decided on my final design, it’s an added cost for fabric and tools needed for the garment. For me personally, I like to do a lot of corsetry in my work, and the cost of these fabrics range from £5 to £15 a metre, as I need interfacing that is still. After that, I’m often spending over £80 on fabric for a project. We can do between eight to eleven projects a year, which is a considerable amount of money spent.
This means that I have to be conscious about the fabric I’m buying, and often have to travel round London to find fabric shops with the best prices, whereas other people on my course who come from more affluent backgrounds could just purchase rolls of fabric for their project from the most convenient fabric shop for them, instead of buying by the metre. The huge cost of fabric was an added pressure for me on the university work I produced, as I was always trying to cut costs and work within the limits of what I could afford, instead of having free range to produce a garment without worrying about material costs.
Liverpool Noise: In what was could prestigious universities such as Central Saint Martins improve their support for working-class students throughout their degree programs?
Ethan: I think that fashion institutions should strive to make their programmes more inclusive and supportive of students from all socio-economic backgrounds, because in my experience, they are catering to benefit the more affluent students. If there was an increased access to financial aid, mentorship programmes that cater to working-class students, more talented and passionate working-class students may be able to bridge the gap and establish themselves in the fashion industry, and even change it for the better!
Liverpool Noise: Your graduate collection – Sight – is extremely interesting. How did the process of looking through old family photographs shape your vision for the collection? Where there any specific images that influenced the designs most?
Ethan: The inspiration for my graduate collection, Sight, began during a visit to my nan’s house with my mum, where we looked through old family photographs. One image that stood out to me was of my mum as a child, around seven or eight years old, wearing a rose-print jumpsuit whilst playing in the sea. That photo became the foundation for the collection. Since my designs focused on my mum’s life and the journey she has been through, I drew inspiration from the life cycle of a flower – I thought a flower’s beginning, it’s blooming and the eventual deterioration of the flower dying was very fitting.
As I developed the collection, I also came across an artist named Hieronymus Bosch, who had painted a masterpiece called ‘The Garden of Earthly Delights’. The painting immediately resonated with me, reminding me of my mum’s life story, and the painting influenced many of the shapes and structures in my designs. I felt like the colour palette reflected this progression of my mum’s life, starting with the vibrant tones to represent blooming and growth, and then transitioning into muted shades to evoke the fading and deterioration phase. These shifts in colour capture the beauty of life’s cycles and it formed the emotional core of my collection.
Liverpool Noise: Do you see this collection as a standalone tribute, or could it be the beginning of a broader exploration of personal and family stories in your future work?
Ethan: I see this collection as a standalone piece, almost like a form of therapy to process what my family and I were experiencing at the time. It allowed me to express everything I was going through during that period. Whilst I might revisit it in the future and draw some influence from it, I feel that this part of my story has been told, and I’d prefer to move forward and find inspiration in new places and exploring different narratives.
Liverpool Noise: Ethan, what’s next for you?
Ethan: Eventually I’d love to start my own fashion brand and see people wearing my designs. For now though, I’m focusing on sharing my experiences on social media and offering advice to others about navigating life as a fashion student, especially those coming from a working-class background. Alongside that, I do have plans to start my own business someday, whether that is fashion design or fashion equipment isn’t something I have figured out quite yet. Right now, I’m enjoying sharing my journey online and hopefully inspiring others along the way.
You can find me on Instagram at @ethanleyland, and TikTok at @ethanleyland. I am always happy to help people on their creative journey!
Steve Kinrade
