H&M senior print designer, Kelly Harrington

For as long as I can remember I’ve always been interested in fashion. I would go shopping with my mum every single Saturday and I just loved it. Fashion is something I’ve always been passionate about. I was always reading fashion magazines, going shopping at weekends or drawing for fun in my sketchbook. My granddad was a hat maker and had a stall on London’s Portobello Road, and in the 70’s my Dad went to college and was a window dresser. I like to think my creative skills were passed down to me. At school I was good at art and drawing so it seemed like a natural process that I would do something artistically creative. I got my start in the fashion industry after I graduated from university after taking on a freelance job, a work experience job and a paid job all at once in order to get my foot in the door. As much as it’s great to have experience, for my job it’s definitely important to have a relevant degree. Studying textiles at Loughborough University taught me so many skills, many of which I still use today.

H&M senior print designer, Kelly HarringtonI moved to Sweden in 2001 for a year to take up my job at H&M and it was a bold move in those days! Sweden wasn’t a go-to place back then and it felt like I’d been transported to another planet! I definitely wasn’t used to the bone-chilling freezing temperatures and it was a life changing experience that I’m pleased I made. I went with the notion that if I didn’t like it I could always come home. I knew that chances like that didn’t come along very often. The biggest challenge was not being able to pop to my parents for a cup of tea so I missed my family a lot. I didn’t have a computer, Skype, FaceTime or even an iPhone back then. Those days were very different without the technology we have today! I wouldn’t change it for anything though!

My role at H&M has many aspects. Firstly I am a senior print designer so I create, design and draw the prints that go on garments for each department. I work with H&M home, womenswear, sport, menswear, accessories and much more. My aim is to create prints way in advance of the trends and when you want it, so I can be working a year and a half ahead. I am also a part of the in-house trend and forecast team where I work with key womenswear pieces, creating a breakdown of the most essential shapes for the that category. I produce presentations to inspire the teams too.

My job is very creative and I love it – one minute I’m painting flowers or graphics for a dress and the next I’m searching for a new trend. A typical working day would be creating visual mood boards and painting or creating prints using Photoshop. I hand draw or paint most of my work and then adapt it by computer to be produced on lengths of fabric for production. A typical day could also include searching for inspiration at a new exhibition or taking photos that I can use to create artwork. I use all manner of sources to forecast trends: attending exhibitions, going to trade fairs, and travelling to get an insight into what the rest of the world is thinking. I have a particular fascination with street style and the music industry, which plays an important part in fashion. When you’ve been in the industry a while, your instinct in forecasting trends becomes spot on. You have to believe in your gut instinct.

My style is pretty simple. My day-to-day uniform is jeans, flats and a shirt. It’s what I feel most comfortable in. Funnily enough, I don’t wear much print, as I work with it every day. I prefer to be surrounded by a blank canvas to have a clear head. As a part of my job, I am constantly searching for the ‘new trend’ so I choose to wear clothes that are timeless. That’s why I love denim, as denim never really goes out of style – old, vintage new, distressed, raw. I have a real passion for it. I’m probably in jeans 90% of the time. I like boyfriend jeans and skinny styles which we have a lot of at the moment. I love vintage clothing too. I am very nostalgic. I like clothing that tells a story. When I started in the industry I couldn’t afford designer brands so vintage clothing was a way I could express my love for fashion and my individuality. These days I collect vintage that’s slightly more toned down and wearable that I can mix with high street and designer pieces. In the evening I’ll either switch to heels if I’m coming from the office or add red lipstick. A great red shade can make any outfit pop.

H&M senior print designer, Kelly HarringtonI work with the H&M in-house vintage archive, sourcing vintage clothing to inspire trends. I love this part of my job. I’ve secretly always wanted to own my own vintage shop so this is pretty much as good as it gets. I love vintage clothing because it’s unique, individual and it tells a story. I think I was born in the wrong era! I love the thrill of the chase when buying vintage, trying to find the treasure amongst the trash. I love the whole process of scouring my way through vintage markets and finding little gems. One of my favorite places to shop for vintage is the Rose bowl flea market in LA. It’s so huge and I always come away with the most amazing pieces. If you ever get the chance to go, make sure to go early to avoid the crowds and hire a trolley. I also have a secret vintage shop Retromania in London that I adore too. The staff are fabulous and they constantly have new stock available. I probably should keep it a secret!

Finding treasure amongst the junk is easy with a few tips. First things first, always check the condition of an item. Check armpits for stains, look for moth holes and tears around seams. I’ve made this mistake before and learnt my lesson. Vintage fabrics are not the same as they are today so look for beautiful fabrics like silk, cotton, linen, rayon and wool.  Make sure to try things on and ignore vintage sizing labels as they rarely match today’s sizing standards. Then, find your era – often it’s easier to shop for vintage if you know what era suits you best. Lastly, don’t care too much about designer brands or what’s on trend. If you like something and it suits you, buy it. The best vintage pieces I’ve found have been an 80’s fringe Givenchy dress, an Ozzie Clark dress, an old 1940’s flight suit and an indigo Japanese happy coat with the letter K on the back. I also found an amazing pair of 1960’s vintage velvet and glitter shoes in Los Angeles. They sound awful but they are really unique. Vintage doesn’t have to be designer to be special.

My go-to shopping spot is H&M, of course. I am obsessed with Ximon Lee’s collection, part of H&M’s 2015 Design Award. I’m actually wearing it in my shoot and have my eye on so many of the pieces when it launches exclusively online at next Thursday. The colour palette is mainly indigo and white and the cuts and shapes are fantastic. It is a unisex collection too which is great as it incorporates that androgynous, masculine feel that I love. I like to buy a lot of unisex pieces from our menswear department. The collection is so strong – great jumpers, jackets and of course jeans. My favourite boyfriend jeans are actual the menswear styles and I’m a huge fan of COS, MiH, Frame Denim, Paige, Rag & Bone, menswear and Levis too. I love Comme des Garçons, especially their men’s shirting. It was a dream when H&M collaborated with Rei [Kawakubo] and the Comme brand. Then there’s an incredible Japanese brand called Kapital that I love for it’s unique handmade qualities and a new Korean brand called SJYP. If I won the lottery, though, I’d shop at The Row. Balenciaga and Prada are of my other favourites too. I’m normally sure about a piece the moment I see it.  I gravitate towards easy, loose-fitting garments because I never like to feel too restricted by my clothes. Fabric is important to me too. I like silk, cotton and linens and I don’t like too much frills and flounce – I prefer a cleaner shape.

H&M senior print designer, Kelly Harrington

H&M senior print designer, Kelly HarringtonI’m lucky enough to travel often for work and I love exploring and finding new inspiration in the most unlikely places. I travel to Stockholm about every other month as our head office is based there – it’s such a great city. I also travel long haul a couple of times a year. I have been to Paris, LA, Tokyo, Texas, San Francisco, Marrakesh, China, Argentina and so many more other places. My favorite locations are definitely LA and Tokyo. Both very different but unique in their own way. I love LA for its endless almost overwhelming Rose Bowl Flea market and for the secret vintage shops where you can seek out a bargain for $25. Tokyo is like stepping into another world. I find inspiration in everything around me. Trends in Japan are extreme and I love people watching. I take pictures everywhere as a record of what I’ve seen. I recently went on a trip to Kyoto and it was like being in a movie.

I am constantly on the lookout for inspiration I can’t help myself even when I’m not working. I am never without my iPhone and I’m always 10 steps behind everyone else taking a picture of something that inspires me. It could be a colour combination of paintwork on a wall in the street or a paint splash on the pavement. I find travelling feeds my mind with new exciting ideas. These days social media has opened a whole new world of inspiration. It is now accessible for everyone to know what’s trending in Australia or Seoul or anywhere in the world. There are so many inspirational websites out there, my favourite right now is from the Denim Dudes founder, Amy Leverton.

Designing a print for a garment can sometimes be a laborious task. When you buy a garment with a pattern, most people don’t realise the amount of thought and effort that someone, somewhere has had to do to paint it, draw it and work on it on the computer. Sometimes it can take a day, sometimes it can take a few weeks. I usually start by hand drawing my patterns or painting them. I scan my design into the computer and make the print a certain scale to fit a printing screen. The pattern has to be repeatable to be printed on meters and meters of fabric. I will change and adapt colors on my computer and the design is then put into a garment sketch and sent to production for testing. It can take a while to get the colors or printing technique perfect.

I’ve worked at H&M for 14 years I’ve loved seeing the company grow and expand. Going to work every day feels like I’m going to work with my friends, not just colleagues. It’s a real family feeling. Even though we now have 59 markets it’s like a community. H&M believes in people and that’s so important in a company. I also love how innovative the brand is, constantly moving with the times. It is fashion I would buy and I think that’s important, to really believe in the brand you work with.

Photographs by Dvora for The Lifestyle Edit with art direction by Naomi Mdudu