Fast Facts:
Pursuit: Award winning fashion designer
Definition of success: “Achieving the best I can with what I’ve got to work with.”
At just 25 years of age, he’s the founder of his own award-winning fashion label. His brand has showcased at the London Fashion Week, and his work has been likened to the late great Alexander McQueen. Winner of the Alfa Romeo Young Designer of the Year Award, creator of bespoke garments for platinum selling singer/songwriter Sandi Thom, here to share his story is the talented Luke Archer.
Mid-way through his twenties, Luke’s reputation in the world of fashion looks to be already carved out, but his design talents almost took another direction.
“Initially I studied graphic design at college just after I left school,” he says. “However a teacher at the college (now my best friend) saw my work before I registered for the course and thought I would be much better suited going into fashion. And the rest is history so they say! I’d always admired Alexander McQueen – he was one of my biggest influences – I adored his use of lines, colours and shapes, and I still do. I think they’ve carried his legacy well since he passed away.”
I wonder, how does the typical day pan out in the world of fashion design?
“Each day is different,” Luke points out. “However a typical day for me, if I’m working on a collection, is for me to get into the studio for around nine am, make a cup of coffee and go through emails and social media, then after that’s done I go through the garments that I need to start or continue with on that given day. I’d have a working lunch and finish around six, six-thirty pm. I work on spring/summer and autumn/winter collections eleven months of the year; the month in between is when I can devote my time to making commissioned orders for clientele, with the occasional bespoke wedding dress!”
And the pay-off for all those hours in the studio? Which of Luke’s achievements gives him the most satisfaction?
“To be taken seriously within the fashion industry,” he enthuses. “I think that’s every designer’s fear: when they are starting up their own fashion brand. You feel almost overwhelmed when you’re working on your debut collection, you wonder how it will be perceived by the critics. I’ve been very lucky in my career so far.”
There’s that concept again: luck. Most of the people I’ve spoken to attribute at least some part of their achievements to it, and yet we all know the cliché: you make your own luck. Luke is no exception.
“It’s a full time job. I’ve had to make a lot of sacrifices and it has been a hard, long journey. There have been times when I’ve had to go without things that I’d like just so I can keep going with my dream and ambition of the brand which I’ve founded, and worked so hard on over the past four years. I don’t get to spend as much time as I’d like with my family at home. Sometimes I wish that I could literally split myself in half, but it is what it is.”
Nothing good, it seems, comes without hard work. All those sacrifices – sometimes Luke’s got to envy the nine-to-fivers, right?
“Not at all. We’ve all got to start somewhere. Sometimes I do think to myself, how much easier it would be to have a ‘normal’ job at a store or something, but then it goes against everything I’ve worked for over the last ten years, and to throw away five years of learning fashion at university and college, on top of what I’ve already achieved; I’d be really silly to.”
And finally, Luke’s best tips for achieving success?
“Make sure you have a strong brand with strong values. Be devoted, be strong, and be as creative as your mind allows you to be. Don’t give up at the first hurdle and if something doesn’t work remember: nothing in life goes to plan.”
As well as Luke Archer, I would also like to thank his partner and Managing Director of the Luke Archer brand, John Silk, who facilitated this interview. You can view Luke Archer’s collections on his website at: www.lukearcher.eu and for the latest news follow: @lukearcher