Going from working alongside 20 coursemates every day to working alone in my childhood bedroom has taken a massive adjustment. Instead of asking my friends for advice on my knitted samples, I’m now prising my cat’s claws out of them. Many of us have had to move home for the lockdown, and say goodbye to our housemates, coursemates and friends. I have lost my university life, my ability to see my friends and my motivation. And in the past month I’ve had two family members pass away, one from Covid-19. 

My studio space now consists of working on my laptop in bed. I have no space to work on patterns, or a knitting machine to continue creating the collection I’ve put so much time and love into. I find myself grieving for my family members, as well as the degree that has been my life for the last four years.  

However, the plus side is that, being a design student, I am a creative thinker (which I must remind myself a lot lately). I know that I won't be able to make the collection how I wanted it to be but I can prove to myself and others that I am determined, resilient and above all keeping creative - despite the odds stacked against me. 

Since being unable to knit, I began creating short films to help set the scene of my concept, shooting my own take on 80s makeover montages. I also collaborated with an animator I found on Instagram, to create a virtual catwalk, showcasing my designs as imagined! This change has revealed to me something about myself - I am not just a knitwear designer; I am a filmmaker, digital artist, stylist and social media manager. Most of all, I am adaptable. In years to come, our graduating class will be remembered for our sheer perseverance, carrying on even when the world is literally falling down around us.  

Although we are alone, we are alone together. We are the most united class to date, which I am so proud to be a part of. Fashion shows, the highlight of our degrees, have been cancelled and there is a deep sense of loss throughout the design student community; we feel as though we’ve been short-changed. Now we are solely reliant on social media to show the fashion industry what we can do. Fashion students from universities across the UK have been reaching out and celebrating one another, total strangers with a common cause - to get the recognition and exposure we deserve. When I moved home, I had no fabrics to use and I couldn’t even make a toile. I reached out on Instagram asking if anyone had any fabrics they could give to me and the response was astounding. I had fellow students, graduates, teachers from other universities, small businesses, hobbyists, all offering to help me one way or another. I couldn’t believe how quickly the members of this community banded together to help. With their help, I could create the outfit I needed in order to pass my degree. 

However, despite this amazing community, there have been companies that are preying on the vulnerability of students, taking advantage of their desperation to have their work be seen and noticed in the lockdown. These companies are charging hundreds of pounds to share students' work in magazines. I have been contacted by three companies who vaguely compliment my work and ask to share it, once I send it to them, they send a bill. Asking around, I soon realised it is a heavily prevalent issue for the class of 2020; students all across the nation are being duped. 

At the opposite end of the industry however are people who genuinely want to help. So many Instagram accounts have been made since the lockdown to help bring visibility to the students hidden at home. I run the Instagram page for my university to showcase my classmates' brilliant work and through that, I have come into contact with some fantastic initiatives started by other students to show off every student's work that wants to be shared. 

This time in our lives has brought out how caring and united our community is and I am extremely proud to be able to say I am a part of that. 

The image along with the piece is a sample from Phoebe’s portfolio of work.