When Daniel Crozier first moved back to Aberdeen after spending six months at a top New York fashion house, it was a bit of a rude awakening.
But the aspiring designer is determined to make the most of his experiences in the fashion centre of the world by establishing his own design business.
Within three months of graduating from Gray’s School of Art with a Bachelor of Arts in Fashion Design, the Aberdeen entrepreneur had secured an internship at Marchesa – a fashion house renowned globally for its high-end womenswear designs which have been worn by an array of A-list celebrities including Halle Berry, Rihanna, Miley Cyrus and Sandra Bullock.
During his time at the label’s Manhattan headquarters, Daniel primarily worked on the draping of garments, including hand embroidery and embellishments – working with a variety of beautiful fabrics.
In the run-up to, and during, fashion week and awards season, he worked closely with models, helped with fittings backstage and also altered garments for celebrities.
The Marchesa team were so impressed by Daniel’s skill and passion that they invited him back to work on four presentations at fashion week.
“I know it sounds like a cliche, but it was like a dream,” said Daniel, 26, of his time in New York.
“It was exactly what I wanted to do. Other than the fact I had to come back, I wouldn’t change anything about going over there.”
Now that he’s back full-time in the north-east, he is putting every available bit of energy into launching his own fashion label. And with the help of wealth-management partnership St James’s Place, Daniel is making great headway to making it a reality.
From drafting business plans to filing funding applications to bodies such as Business Gateway and the Princes Trust, the Aberdonian designer is ideally looking to launch in October.
Initially, his design business will be online-based, offering high-end bespoke garments and sourcing beautiful pieces from around the world to be sold through his website.
“But it’s really the made-to-measure, bespoke pieces that I want to focus my efforts on,” Daniel explained.
As for his style, Daniel already has a proven track record for designing stunning garments. In his last year of university, his work was chosen to be showcased in the annual New York Tartan Week fashion show, Dressed to Kilt.
“I would say that fantasy is a real influence for me,” he said, describing the overarching character of his designs.
“I get very inspired by movies and TV shows that tend to work around a whimsical feeling. My pieces for the new business will be very elegant and opulent, but still with a level of sophistication.”
From the contacts he made in New York, Daniel has established relationships with a large network of fabric manufacturers in America, England, India and Thailand, who he will pick and choose from for his bespoke designs.
And while he admits he would ideally like to get back to the US once fully establishing his business, Daniel firmly believes Aberdeen is an ideal place to launch his own label.
He said: “Even though it’s quite far from the main fashion centres, the concentration of wealth in Aberdeen isn’t something to be overlooked. People from here go to London and Paris to get high-end garments, so if I can offer it up on their doorstep, I don’t see that as a negative at all.”