Celebrating

Interview: Arts Centre tutor Angela Thouless exhibits at London Fashion Week

At Aberdeen Arts Centre, we’re proud to celebrate the incredible achievements of our talented tutor Angela Thouless, who recently showcased her work at London Fashion Week – one of the most prestigious events in the global fashion calendar. Angela, who teaches visual art to both young people and adults at the Arts Centre, brings creativity, passion, and inspiration to every class she leads. Her commitment to helping others explore their artistic potential is matched by her own dynamic and internationally recognised creative practice.

Angela’s success at London Fashion Week is a testament to the power of merging education and artistry. Her collection of t-shirts and t-shirt dresses – each featuring designs based on her original paintings – brought her bold, urban-inspired artwork to the runway, celebrating street culture and global traditions through a vibrant visual language. As an Arts Centre, we’re thrilled to see one of our own receiving such well-deserved recognition on the world stage, and we’re excited to share more about Angela’s journey, inspirations, and the experience of bringing her work to London.

We sat down with Angela to find out more about her experience...

What items did you showcase at London Fashion Week, and what was your inspiration behind them?

I was showing my t-shirts and t-shirt dress collection. All images used on the garments are based on my original paintings, motivated by my love of street art and culture; inspired by tribal gods and ritual masks whose non-naturalistic, highly stylised forms embody powerful, highly expressive imagery.

The collection is an exotic and luxuriant array of tribal masks incorporating elements from African, Asian, and South American traditions. In my paintings the masks are depicted on spray cans and surrounded by lush patterns of plants and animals. The series has a distinct metropolitan feel and celebrates diversity through a message of unity: we are one species and one tribe.

**What does it mean for you as an artist from Aberdeen to be showcased at one of - if not the - world’s biggest fashion events?**

It means everything to have had my work showcased at London Fashion Week. I have shown my work locally in Aberdeen Fashion shows and was even selected to show at Milan Fashion Week, but due to the pandemic this took place with restrictions. So it was nice to finally be able to show them to a real audience and for me to be able to attend as well.

What was your experience like when you were in London?

It was an unforgettable experience. I enjoyed finally being able to meet Since Wang, the founder of Fashion Crossover London, as well as some of the models who have done photoshoots for me in the past and thank them all in person. Much has been delayed in the world of art and fashion due to Covid-19. Had it not been for everyone at Fashion Crossover London supporting me a lot and helping me to pull through the pandemic, I’m not sure if I would have continued doing it.

I gave an interview which was really interesting and exciting to do with Getty Images. The show itself was amazing to be part of and was great to meet my fellow designers there too. It was fascinating to see the whole thing come together back stage. I met the most amazing people as well so it was great to get feedback and just hear their stories as well.

How did you get involved in exhibiting at London Fashion Week?

Since 2019, my Tribe All brand has been represented and assisted greatly by Fashion Crossover London, which has been the perfect platform for me and my designs. Fashion Crossover London is an award-winning London-based designer service platform that connects global emerging designers with international fashion buyers and industry professionals by providing an online showcasing service, e-commerce function, a London-based PR showroom, advertorial print magazine publication feature, and fashion event management.

With their help I have been selling my collection online, had my pieces in their London showroom, had my t-shirts featured in amazing photoshoots, and been lucky enough to have my brand featured in well-known publications such as Vogue, Wired, London Life, Harper’s Bazaar, Esquire, Elle and Cosmopolitan. Everything I have achieved has been through their help.

Fashion Crossover London is one of the London Fashion Week partners and about six months ago I was selected by them to put together an application and proposal to show my work at the February FASHION CROSSOVER LONDON PRESENTS: THE RISING STARS fashion show, which I was lucky enough to be picked for.