2021 Graduate Showcase: Sophie Lloyd

“7TH GEAR”

“Some women refuse to be a slave of routine; Mrs Beryl Swain of Walthamstow in
London for example not only holds down an office job and runs a home but also has
an unlikely hobby, motorcycle racing, and she’s good at it.” This collection is inspired
by the wonderful life of beryl swain and her groundbreaking work in the motorsports
industry to break gender stereotypes and prove that there is no such thing as a ‘mans
world’. Much like Amelia Earhart, the first woman to fly transatlantic and Bertha Benz,
the first woman to drive a car long distance, Beryl swain inspired the nation and a
whole new generation of women to achieve any endeavour that they set out on when
she became the first woman to complete the Isle Of Man Tourist Trophy in 1962.
Throughout my collection I have tried to play on the traditional materials found with in
the biking industry by sourcing sustainable leather alternatives such as remnant,
recycled and end of roll leatherette, end of roll ex-designer waxed cotton and recycled
lycra. I stuck with a singular colour scheme and minimal fabrics throughout my
collection to further emphasise the idea of flexibility in one singular entity being able
to become anything it wants to be. By using traditional motorcycle gear techniques
such as pin-tucking combined with a more tailored silhouette I was able to create a
fresh and modern ready to wear collection. Chrome fastenings and trims can also be
seen throughout the collection as a subtile nod to the metallic accents on beryls highly
tuned Italian manufactured 50cc Itom that rode her into the history book in 1962.
No matter who or where you are, always spread your wings like Earhart, kick it up a
gear like Beryl, and be a BAD B*TCH.