Nina Ehni

BA (Hons) Cordwainers Fashion Bags and Accessories: Product Design and Innovation

Nina takes inspiration from personal experience and the quest to learn more. “Life is about stories; cars are produced for mass consumption and yet the same car has a different meaning to each individual. Each journey, layer of paint, flat tyre tells a story. Some cars become treasures as they age, timeless statements of class others will have been left to weather, becoming beaten up derelicts. Accessories should also tell a story, be timeless statements of one’s personal style and accompany a person over the years to become precious memories and reminders of lessons learned.” A childhood spent between south London and the southern German countryside wherever she found herself there was always the other place with it’s happy memories. Having a mixed background of German, Cuban and Italian her outlook on design has always been full of contrasts. Growing up in a family who are all makers from mechanics to seamstresses has had a big impact on her. Absorbing all these traits influenced her “it always has to be functional” way of design. This functional and practical approach also informed her decision to combine academic study with a part-time job first as product development assistant and then design assistant at Anya Hindmarch. This was an opportunity for her to put newly acquired theory to the test and into practice in the real world. The SS14 graduate collection ‘enchanted reality’ was inspired by key catalysts in her life. For her 9 muses she created a range that will help them express their personalities yet are functional enough to make their day run smoother and therefore helping them, in this small way, to make their reality as they desire. The ‘enchanted’ is a reminder of her first love - ballet. It being so beautiful yet the dancers are restricted by their bound feet. Her training had taught her that the lightness does come with huge effort and restriction on the dancers side. This must never be guessed by the audience though. It is an enchanted world a bit like our memories when growing up in two places. Experiencing this throughout her life she realized that it was possible to make your reality enchanted too. nina.ehni@gmail.com http://my.lcffirstmove.co.uk/graduates/7526 www.showtime.arts.ac.uk/ninaehni www.ninaehni.com uk.linkedin.com/pub/nina-ehni/38/b61/2b7/ CREDITS - IMAGES LCF ANNUAL 2013 Creative Director Rob Phillips Photography, Hill & Aubrey Model Chen at Select Hair, Pace Chen LOOKBOOK Styling Coco Ehni Photography David Sessions Models Coco Ehni and Hero Ehni