The fashion industry can be a daunting place to any young designer who’s on the long road to creating a brand.

What’s the secret to authentically and successfully entering a scene that’s already dominated by established names? For young designers at the start of their career, it can look a little bit like a battle of David versus Goliath.

The secret lies in creativity and fearlessness. Right now, a new era of talented young creators are ruffling feathers and shouting about their work with unrestricted creativity.  24-year-old designer Ruth Peterson epitomises this next wave of apparel designers, using her individual passions to fuel collections that shine on the runways and the streets. Since graduating from university only two years ago, Ruth can count Skepta and BBK amongst her fans, as well as an international retail giant who liked her collections so much they used it as a contentious point of inspiration.

VERSUS caught up with Ruth Peterson – as she launched her horror-inspired AW17 collection in Soho – to discuss her journey so far and find out how she’s changing the game.

VERSUS: Talk about the moment that drew you into fashion.

Ruth Peterson: I was interested in clothes from a really young age. I remember when my Aunt was getting married that I would draw her wedding dress for fun, so I always enjoyed visualising clothes and getting them down on paper. The other day I was actually looking through some old things and I found my Lion King diary from when I was 11-years-old. There was an entry in there that read: “Nothing really happened today. I bought Christina Agruilera’s album with my loer, I played a cupul of games wid Frazer & Kathryn, designed clothes and watched Corrie. That’s all really.” I don’t remember a time when I wasn’t creating clothes, in one way or another.

How did this passion transfer from an amateur hobby to a talent that you really wanted to cultivate?

During college, I felt like my free periods were a waste so I started work experience at a local tailor. This is where I learned cutting and sewing and that was when I really developed a technical interest about how clothes were made. That job quickly became a real passion of mine and with my mentor approaching retirement age, the prospect of inheriting the store and moving into tailoring full time presented itself. Before heading for a night out, whilst waiting for some mates to finish getting ready, I decided shoot over an application for Kingston University to do a Foundation Art Course. To be honest, I never even thought I was going to be accepted so it was a big surprise. I went on to specialise in menswear design by second year before producing my first collection in final year, ‘Toxteth Chainsaw Massacre’, which proved to be my arrival.

"Every time a big brand drops a collection and we queue outside the store for hours like zombies."

Toxeth Chainsaw Massacre is obviously a play on the legendary horror film. What are the cultural inspirations behind your work?

I’m really passionate about Horror films! That might sound a little strange and not very “feminine” but it's my favourite genre. The inspiration for my graduate collection came from that genre and in particular ‘Dawn of the Dead’, a 1978 zombie film directed by George A. Romero. In the film, the four main protagonists star as survivors of the zombie outbreak and barricade themselves inside a suburban shopping mall.

I loved the film and related its commentary to our obsession of commodities and consumerism in society today. We see it every time a big brand drops a collection and we queue outside the store for hours like zombies. I transferred this commentary into the design language found in the “ADSA” and “TECCO” designs which seek to explore the notion of branding and our affinity to be drawn to these “big brand” labels. I think my love for Horror films and Halloween will always come through my work. All my future collections will be inspired by iconic films and moments from this unique genre. Horror is very gritty, raw and stylistic...there was an obsession in horror films to change the status quo for cinema and I’m trying to do the same with menswear. Those innovators inspire me.

What are the challenges young designers face today?

If you’re trying to get into fashion via education and obtaining a degree, it can be really difficult trying to strike a balance between graded work and creating your own art. I was faced with a choice of either focussing and developing a detailed sketch book to get a good grade, or transfer that energy into creating my own art that’s completely original and true to me. I chose the latter and as a result I didn’t get the best grade, but my debut collection got amazing feedback and set the foundations for my brand.

How did you manage the transition from full-time student to full-time designer? What was the moment that made you think you could take this all the way.

I think that moment came when my collection was chosen to feature in the 2015 Gala Graduate Fashion Week. That was a huge moment for me and was a celebration of my hard work throughout the year. But I remember someone saying to me after the show that my collection was “wearable”, which at the time I took as a stab at my creativity, as many of other designs were more elaborate. Now I look back and can completely understand that summary because my clothes are wearable and that’s what I love about them. The next moment was showcasing the collection at the Pause Magazine LFWM presentation which later lead Pause deciding to style Ty Dolla $ign in nothing but Ruth Peterson at the artist's request.

"It wasn’t until I mentioned that the collection was inspired by horror films that Skepta decided to check the designs."

You’ve already made an impression amongst rap circles. Skepta is someone else who’s been seen wearing your stuff. How did that come about?

My first showcase outside of the UK was presenting the ‘Toxteth Chainsaw Massacre’ collection in Paris at the Ehebly Agency showroom. It was an amazing opportunity and we made some great connections that week but one stood out in particular. I heard Skepta & BBK were five minutes away from the showroom so we decided to go out and invite him to view the collection.

It wasn’t until I mentioned that the collection was inspired by horror films that Skepta decided to pass through the showroom and check out the designs. He loved the collection and asked me to let him take ‘Toxteth Chainsaw Massacre’ dungarees straight off the display model. I was so shocked. As it was a showroom I couldn’t remove the look from the presentation. In the end, he asked me to make him a one-off piece for his Wireless headlining performance in London.

[embed]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qSG_hWZ6IWI[/embed]

Watch the ‘Toxeth Chainsaw Massacre’ film directed by Kelvin Krash for the AW17 collection.

Ruth Peterson’s AW17 collection is available to order now at ruth-peterson.com.

Photos: @jaykammy