Creating clothes that makes people look and feel sexy is imperative to Morgan. He sees fashion as a very personal thing as he explains the importance of making clothes that complement one’s body. Morgan is currently exploring his own gender fluidity through his work, something that he found hard to talk about where he grew up in Devon. He now lives in London where he studies Fashion Design with Marketing at Central Saint Martins.

You grew up in Devon but now study in London, can you tell us a bit more about your creative journey as a young designer?
I realised I was interested in art when I was just starting high school, for most of my life I have trained within gymnastics which gave me an interest in movement and body. As I did my A-levels I found fashion and felt that it combined both my previous interests. In Devon there were not many ongoing events, not much culture or groups of people which I felt belonging to, so moving to London and finding new friends and exploring night life has influenced me a lot, and has given more context to my work. Nowadays I find inspiration in both aspects of my old life and the life which I felt I belonged to.

What is it about fashion that compels you?
Garments that make you look and feel sexy. Something which has always been important to me is confidence, and to be able to do so through my designs making people feel good about themselves. Another thing which compels me about fashion is when I have completed a garment and seeing how the original idea adapts with the characteristics of the person wearing it.

How do you usually come up with concepts for new projects and could you give an example?
I find most my research from archival magazines such as Sleazenation or Purple fashion magazine (mainly between 1998 and 2004), I tend to pick out documentary photographs to influence my concepts and designs. I love how ‘real’ and intimate documentary photographs are and can inspire multiple outcomes.

Have you been working on any new ideas during isolation?
Quarantine has been a strange time I think for all of us, however I have tried to use this time for reflection. I have continued working on my garments but not in a very structured way, I have played around a lot and experimented - I try to create my own little world as life at the moment is stuck in a loop.

Do you have a favourite project that you have worked on?
Currently living with one of my best friends during quarantine, I’m using her as a muse to stylist work that accentuates not only her personality but mine as well. Listening to 2000s girl groups and dressing up in mini skirts together; I realise I have become more comfortable in playing with fluidity, as my own gender identity was something I early on questioned but found hard to talk about where I grew up.

Are there any themes running throughout your work that are personal to you?
As I mentioned earlier, I think what is important to me at the moment is exploring new approaches to gender identities, but not in a very ‘out there’ way rather just creating something which I would like to wear myself. I also think it is important to make clothes which are complementary to one’s body, as I said before: for my clothes to make people feel and look sexy.

For anyone thinking about studying at CSM, what advice would you give them?
Don’t try and reinvent the wheel. Honestly, you do you, (but collect the coffee stamps in the canteen because they add up!)

What are your plans for the future such as upcoming projects and post fashion school?
Post-fashion school, I try to not plan too far ahead as I know right now I am in school to learn and I try to really appreciate where I am at this moment in time.