Nicky Thomson always knew that she wanted to be a fashion designer after making paper footwear for her dog and clothes for her Barbie dolls as a child.
Nicky Thomson always knew that she wanted to be a fashion designer after making paper footwear for her dog and clothes for her Barbie dolls as a child.
But the 19-year-old is now hoping to become Norfolk's answer to Stella McCartney after making the final of a national fashion contest.
The aspiring designer, who currently works in a less glamorous job for cleaning and hygiene product company Jeyes, is heading down to London tomorrow after being voted as a finalist in the BBC's Blast Scrap Fashion Competition.
Miss Thomson, who completed a fashion and textiles course at City College Norwich last year with two distinctions and a merit, beat more than 400 entries from across the country after making a dress from two pairs of jeans.
The project administrator for Thetford-based Jeyes is now set to join 10 other 13-19-year-old finalists in London tomorrow for a day-long fashion master class with ethical designer Pierre Garroudi before having her work showcased at a festival in Hyde Park.
Miss Thomson, who hopes to secure an internship with an American fashion company in the future, said she was “thrilled” to be competing for the prize of a week's design class and the chance of seeing her finished garment on the catwalk of the Paris Ethical Fashion Show.
“It has been my dream and ambition to get into the fashion industry and it is the only thing I've ever wanted to do ever since I made paper shoes for the dog and Barbie clothes out of tights when I was little.”
“I am just so excited to get the chance of working with a fashion designer and it would be such an amazing exper-ience to go to Paris,” she said.
Miss Thomson, who is also currently studying a diploma in journalism, took eight hours to design and make the long, flowing dress from two pairs of used jeans and cream netting, which met the BBC competition's brief of creating ethical fashion from recycled denim.
She added that she “couldn't believe it” when a panel of judges, including famous designer Wayne Hemingway, chose her garment as a finalist.
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