Tilly’s Dundee designs

Fashion student inspired by childhood in the city

Tilly Longworth’s designs even include Evening Telegraph inspired T-shirts.

The 23-year-old former Braeview Academy pupil spoke to the Tele about the inspiration behind her work and said she’d love to get involved in the inaugural Dundee Fashion Week.

Tilly left school aged 15 to study art and design at Dundee College and then spent another two years studying textiles. She went on to apply to Gray’s School of Art in Aberdeen, where she is now in her final year of a fashion and textiles degree.

After travelling to London for a research project, Tilly decided she wanted to represent where she comes from through her designs.

She said: “The ideas for my pieces came when I started looking into the grime scene in London.

“When you listen to their music and the lyrics, they are all about where the artist has come from.

“I decided I wanted to do that through my work and portray the housing estate — Mid Craigie — that I came from in my designs.”

With her name being Tilly — and often being called “Tully” in reference to the Evening Telegraph — she decided it would be a great place to start.

Tilly said: “Everyone in Dundee always calls me Tully so I knew I had to incorporate that into my designs.

“I have also included places like Bell Street and significant shops in the area.”

Other designs in the collection focus on some of Dundee’s famous characters such as Beano’s Billy Whizz, a character drawn by her cartoonist uncle, Vic Neill.

Josie Steed, course leader for fashion and textile design at Gray’s School of Art, said: “It’s so exciting to see Tilly now developing her brand and gaining so much external interest already.

“Through the course our students are able to develop their skills, not only within design for fashion and textile products but also to promote and market themselves and it’s great to see them launching their professional careers even before they’ve graduated. Tilly is certainly one to watch.”

With the announcement of Dundee Fashion Week last month, the young designer spoke of her interest in the event. She said: “Dundee Fashion Week is an amazing idea — I really want to get involved in the events. I think with the V&A opening it is the perfect time to celebrate design in the city.”

A FASHION student has created a line of clothing inspired by her childhood in Dundee.

Tilly Longworth with some of her work ahead of the opening of the Gray’s Interim Exhibition and, inset, her Evening Tullygraph design.