alison.

Check out an interview I did for my fashion journalism class!

Art, design and skiing - a chat with Alison Hull.

I first met Alison Hull, neither of us was doing anything fashion related – rather, we were at the pool.

Hull, a Ryerson fashion design student, had an awesome bathing suit on that day. It was red with a watermark detail on the side, and she donned a shiny black bathing cap. From that moment, she showed me that whether you’re working out or walking the runway, you can always look stylish, but with products that worked.

I sat down with Hull, who was clad in Converse sneakers, feather earrings and a striped shirt, and we talked about skiing, waterproof trench coats and her next move.



Portia Favro: So what are you doing today in Ryerson fashion school?

Alison Hull: We’re doing menswear, so it’s six of us in a group and we have to do a “mini line”, so it can be like anything. My group is doing like a London-urban style…it’s pretty casual, we have tailored pants, but thats about it. We also have a men’s dress shirt competition coming up, and then I’m taking a functional apparel class as well. You can do basically anything you want, as long as it caters to somebody who has a specific need. So I’m doing ski jackets.

We’re doing fast prototyping, so you take existing products and cut them up and make it into how something is supposed to perform. So it’s not going to look exactly or look good, especially for mine, because I can’t get about half the fabrics that I need anyways.

PF: That kinda sounds like Project Runway challenges.

AH: Yeah! So, it’s exciting. I actually emailed Mountain Equipment Co-Op and got them to give me some free jackets! (Laughs) I just asked them if they had anything like damaged that they couldn’t sell, then I could fix it, and that’s when I ended up having two jackets.One is brand new, there’s nothing wrong with it and runs for about $350 retail. They just said, ‘Here you go!”

So I’m using that, and the other one that they gave me is pretty damaged, so I’m going to cut it up, and use it where I need it for the other one. I’m into function clothing and menswear which is so surprising – I never thought I would do that.

PF: How did you get to that point?

AH: [After last year's work] I feel like I’m more suited to casual compared to the more modern, crazy stuff that you can’t wear. I’m into what’s really wearable and functional, and having stuff that actually works. Things like a trench coat that might actually be waterproof, which is actually so hard to find!

PF: Really? All the ad’s I’ve seen for trench coats are always in the rain and you could wear it out no problem…

AH: They’re not all waterproof, a lot of them are just cotton – like anything you buy at H&M, they probably aren’t waterproof. I think that because fashion is not just couture anymore that it can be anything.

PF: Is that part of the dance of what’s considered “art” in fashion and what a good “design” means?

AH: I like design, not that I can’t appreciate the art stuff, but for me if I’m shopping and I see something that has a really small detail that is like, “why hasn’t anyone thought of this before?” There’s definitely some clothing items I see and think, “that pocket is amazing” and that’s such a good idea to put that there because you’ll actually use it.

Whereas the art stuff is amazing, but I find that I just don’t have an eye for it, where the functional, outer wear, lifestyle clothes – I feel like I can pick up more on those trends that are part of the trickle-down effect.

PF: You showed one of your dresses last year at Ryerson’s Serpentinata’s show. Are you going to be involved again?

AH: That show is run by the event planning class and shows off the second and third year design students. The first half has the second year’s dresses, and then we show the menswear collections.

PF: Will you show during Mass Exodus (Ryerson fashion show) in your fourth year then?

AH: Yes, what I’m going to do, I don’t know yet!

PF: What about ski apparel?

AH: I was thinking about that, but it’s hard to get fabrics here.

PF: Really? That surprises me because Toronto is huge.

AH: No it’s in places like Calgary, anywhere further West. I think even Montreal has more because they have some brands that are emerging now, with more of the mountain lifestyle apparel is becoming more popular – like street style but on the hill. In Montreal there are some really good fabric shops.

PF: Colour-wise, do you stick to the 80’s crazy neon? Or more subdued and functional?

AH: I’m not with all the fluorescent colours and looking like a rainbow coming down the hill, but I do like them, they’re fun. It think it’s cool and nicer to see something other than just black and grey and dark blue all the time. Right now,

PF: Earlier, you were talking about going to France after school. How does that play into your fashion goals? Paris?

AH: I’m hopefully going outside on the west coast of France with a company which does ski’s, backpacks, all that. They still do their really technical wear, like rain coats and trying to get into more of their lifestyle stuff, making it fun but sure that it still works. They have a program through university and intern for six months to a year working alongside the designers, drafting, all of that – amazing and you get to live in France! And Paris is still there so I can still go and do all my shopping.

PF: Would designing, say ski equipment tie in at all?

AH: I don’t think so, because you really have to know the engineering behind the design. I ski a lot, but if you gave me two pieces of wood and wanted me to make ski’s I don’t know that I would do. I’d cut them in half and that would probably be it! I don’t really see myself doing equipment, definitely apparel, less of the of the high style stuff, I don’t see myself designing jackets on expeditions up Mount Everest, because they don’t care if it’s cute or not. It’s lifestyle brand clothing, to have it still work, keep them warm, dry, cool, whatever.

PF: So what’s next?

AH: I’m actually applying for internships in Vancouver for this summer – I applied to Lululemon, Mountain Equipment Co-op. I see myself being in a city where it’s more accessible to do outdoors stuff. I didn’t get to ski much this winter!