AT first glance, King Charles’s Highgrove House gardens in Gloucestershire, the Warrington countryside and the Caribbean islands don’t have much in common, but to fashion designer Isabelle Pennington-Edmead, they are all sources of inspiration.

As part of The Modern Artisan Project (a training collaboration for design and textiles graduates between the new King’s long-established charity, The Prince’s Foundation and global online fashion retailer YOOX NET-A-PORTER). Isabelle, from Stretton, was one of eight graduates invited to tour and sketch Highgrove Gardens to create a sustainable women’s capsule collection.

The resulting responsible, ready-to-wear, luxury collection is available exclusively through NET-APORTER, with 50 per cent of the RRP donated to support The Prince’s Foundation’s training programmes.

“It was an amazing opportunity to discover King Charles’s gardens,” says Isabelle. “We were given a tour, visited the education centre and were able to see the many different areas within the garden. We spent days sketching various places and experimented with different mediums, such as watercolours. One of my favourites was the walled rose garden. It had quite a Moroccan style to it – very reminiscent of the Yves Saint Laurent gardens in Marrakech.”

King Charles viewed the collections both in their early stages and near completion.

“We were able to show our initial designs first, then he saw the final collection,” Isabelle says. “It was really good to see how proud he was of our work.”

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Not only did the programme allow Isabelle the opportunity to sell her work on YOOX NET-A-PORTER, it also taught her the entire operation from a business perspective, from creating small-batch pieces to the manufacturing process, and this has led Isabelle to launch her eponymous label, Isabelle Pennington-Edmead. Her brand, which will focus on seasonless creations, launched last month, with a focus on made-to-order pieces.

“From childhood, I’ve always been drawing and sewing things, so fashion has been a big part of my life and something I’ve always wanted to do.

"This collection was a continuation of my MA textiles project and taking what I’ve learnt from the Modern Artisan project. A lot of my designs take inspiration from Caribbean décor, inspired by my heritage, and bringing those interior aspects into clothing using print design,” she explains, “but I also love the ’70s, so you’ll see a lot of big collars and bold colours. I use a lot of silk in my designs, which is a timeless material and transcends the seasons. I don’t want to make pieces that are led by trends.”

Sustainability and designing eco-conscious pieces remain at the forefront of Isabelle’s designs. “I don’t plan to follow the fashion calendar, because I want to do my part and not over-produce,” she says. “Before I went to university, I did buy into a lot of the fast fashion brands, but that was because I wasn’t educated about how badly it impacts the environment. Once I went to university, I started looking into the aspect of waste and learning how the fashion world affects the climate.

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“I’d always recycled but I never realised how the garments were made. When you buy something, you’re not thinking about the work people in other countries are doing to create it and how little they’re being paid. I know how long it takes me to design and sew an item of clothing, so to think people are doing that without being properly compensated really bothered me and it made me see things differently.”

Now, Isabelle either shops second-hand or wears her own designs. “If I do buy an item, I always think to myself, ‘is this something I’ll keep forever, will I always want to style it?’ And if I do buy something second-hand, I can tailor it to fit me perfectly. My mindset has really shifted and that’s reflected in my own designs.”

When designing her pieces for The Modern Artisan Project, sustainability and responsible principles remained the focus. A shirt dress in the collection was made from ReLiveTex-certified surplus wool and a cotton-blend fabric to keep it ethical.

Focusing on bespoke items, Isabelle chooses to make her brand as transparent as it can be, so her consumers know where the materials are sourced and can trace their origins.

“I don’t think you can say everything is 100 per cent sustainable, but if I can promote my brand with transparency and have my customers know where their clothes have come from, then I’m doing my part.”

Feminine lines and bold colours are seen throughout Isabelle’s collection. “When researching for my pieces, I visit art galleries and exhibitions. From that point, I put together a collage and use that as my main source of inspiration,” she says. “I then do a lot of painting and print work to develop the prints before I focus on draping and creating shapes on the mannequin to create the look I have in mind.

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"Then it’s a lot of sewing and pattern-cutting before I end up with my final piece.’ When designing her collection, Isabelle focused on creating ageless pieces everybody and anybody can wear. “I never sit and design for a particular woman in mind,’ Isabelle says. ‘Me and my mum are close, and I share clothes with her despite there being a 30-year age difference. I wanted to create pieces that are ageless, with a focus on high-quality pieces that are made to last.”

Isabelle’s collection features silk dresses, silk scarves and trousers with bold prints to suit anyone who loves to experiment with colour, while maintaining a feminine form.

“I’m very excited for people to see my new collection and see where the brand develops from there.”