Vancouver Fashion eZine - Online Magazine | Francesca Percival

Francesca Percival plays by her own rules. The 21-year old Blanche Macdonald designer student doesn't own a single pair of sweats, rarely opts for fashion magazine inspiration, and shops at Value Village. Her clothing line of silk and wool encompasses her own aura of independence with its "everyday dressy" mandate while epitomizing a Victorian attitude.

While growing up she was constantly surrounded by scraps from her mom's quilting projects. Taking after that special knack she's become an advocate for original ideas, gathering them from places that most people wouldn't look. "I don't shop to be inspired, I always look at photographs, even strange things," Percival said. "In my portfolio I put pictures of medical diagrams... I really like looking at fabric and then putting a personality to it." Her own inspiration is historical figure Jane Morris, who was a muse for several painters in the 18th century. " She's the kind of person who has wild hair and is not the average woman... she was very feisty," Percival said. When travelling to Europe she noticed that she "had some of the same ideas that everyone there had," encouraging her to take on a European angle for clothes design.

Inspired by styles from the 1800's to the early 30's, Percival focuses on plain colors while going wild with intricate fabrics. This way she maintains the line's feisty Jane Morris feel. "If you keep your color scheme muted, it's more fun to play with texture," Percival said. "That's how I make my collection more interesting...I have this one skirt I'm really proud of, it has very muted colors, but the texture stands out." As "a big believer in personal style [and] building your own image," Percival's fall collection includes designs that are "a little more everyday dressy," since she "[likes] people to make the effort to dress up." One of her most exemplary pieces in her fall collection includes a drop waist dress, which "incorporates details as well as uses cravats... focusing on masculine shapes, and pairing them with feminine ones." There's not any designer hypocrisy here either, since the Vancouver-born fashionista has long been vying to rock her own clothes. "I've already tried them all on," she said with a wide smile. "I design for myself - what I feel like in the moment." Although her collection targets women ages 25-50, she believes that "the right thing can be ageless."
As for the future, Percival's ultimate goal is to create her own label. However, until then she's ready to learn. "Ideally I'd like to design for myself, to have my own label, but for the future now I think that I'd like to be looking for an internship or a collaboration with someone."