Magic in the studio – Designer Joyce Young studio visit

Here is where all the magic happens! The factory and design studio located at Maryhill in Glasgow inside a very spacious two floor unit.  All the made to measure and couture garments are made here by Joyce Young and her lovely team of milliner, seamstress, pattern cutters and more.
Clients will come here to get involved in the whole process and to see how everything happens, from getting their measurements to the toile to the 3 or 4 fittings.  Under the global trend of outsoucing as a method for production companies have shifted their focus to design and marketing in the fashion industry,  Joyce Young making her products in Scotland Glasgow makes her a pioneer in these times. This actually reminded me of Mary Portas’s Champion for UK Manufacturing on a recent tv show, also by her was Mary’s Bottom Line  where she tried to raise the importance of UK Manufacturing and homegrown designs.

Now let me show you the first floor where all the fabric is stored, brother sewing machine lined up, patterns designed by computer, lines of toiles so beautifully hung on the rail (I don’t know what is but toiles are just so appealing to me, )…

I love toiles… they always look so clean, translucent, delicate and perfectly undone.

The computer centre to make pattens.

Busy steaming the petticoat into shape…

Maurice is a very warm person with a huge passion for what Joyce, his wife does, he has vast experience in the fashion industry as well and he is the only man I know who knows so much about fabric, manufacturing and embroidery techniques.  The whole time he was setting up the lights for me to take pics, finding pretty samples here and there to show me and explaining Joyce’s ideas.  I asked him to describe Joyce in 3 words and he just couldn’t come up with just 3 words, but he said, Joyce as a designer is very artistic, clever and understands colours.  Here he was trying a hat on for me from the Tartan Spirit collection made in Harris Tweed.  What a lovely man!

 

You will see this sea of all the proud hats when you come up the stairs.

Working at the reception area are Jane and Val, the factory manager, who was busy sorting out all the order sheets from all the shops. Once done, she will pass onto Joyce who will get all the parts ordered from all over the world, I imagine this work demands a lot of juggling to be able to order a multitude of things from so many different suppliers.

These goodies are displayed in the little corner on the second floor called Tartan Spirit, every tartan has a name, they are Antique Buchanan, Ancient Douglas, Modern Macdonald, Hunting Maclean, Old Baird, Royal Stewart…

This is a corner in Joyce Young’s design studio, The red floral Ugg boots like things are slippers from Russia, The middle fish is a good luck symbol from Japan, the case with lots of little figures wearing different outfits represent the Chinese 56 ethnic minorities, how sweet!

Let’s finish here with a wee peek of Joyce Young’s new collection fabrics, she told me she is into blush at the moment and the next collection is going to be all feminine and harmonized in shades of blush, cannot wait to see it …

I asked what is the one piece of advice you have to give to new designers in particular those hoping to follow in your footsteps to become an independent fashion designer, she said first of all you need to have talent and a personal vision, then prepare yourself for very hard work, and the strength to persevere.

I had a great time while I was there. A big thanks to Joyce and all the other lovely people who work there. x