Clover Nash is turning art into fashion prints

A whimsy and fun take on fashion, Nash’s graduate collection Welcome Home, explores the designer’s roots in an attempt to connect with who she is. “It was like designing my ancestors, creating their story, and using them to help heal my inner child,” she says. “My history is full of gaps because there’s been a lot of adoption in my family. I don’t really know where I come from, generally, for the past two generations.” The resulting silhouettes are covered by playful prints. “It is like going to an art gallery and seeing paintings from a distance, but then still being able to go up to them and enjoy them even more.”

“If I stay true to myself, it probably isn’t going to be what the industry is looking for anyway, since what I do does walk the line of costume.” – Clover Nash

Color mixing wasn’t always second nature for Nash. “It comes from years and years of playing around to the point that I can just be confident with it and know that it will work without having to think much about it.” In the past, she struggled with varied palettes, restricting herself to use primary colors, black and white. “I never really ventured. I had to really force myself to learn how to mix them. But I guess confidence was key. Sometimes there are colors that maybe on paper don’t work together, but if you use the right proportions, you can make them work.”

Graduate collections serve as a great opportunity for students to be discovered, but that was never the focus for Nash, who preferred staying true to herself to make a personal statement. “I wasn’t really paying attention to how marketable it was. Although I have been doing well on the course and got some cool opportunities in previous years, I knew that what I was doing was never the hot thing. If I stay true to myself, it probably isn’t going to be what they’re looking for anyway, since what I do does walk the line of costume.”

“The first word that comes to my mind is intense. Very intense,” says Nash when asked about her experience at CSM. But at the same time, she appreciates being constantly pushed to better herself. “I generally enjoyed the experience, but I think that’s purely because of some of the people that I met there, and because I was doing prints specifically. I was also constantly being pushed past what I initially believed I was able to do, which made it very difficult, but was also very helpful in terms of getting me to an elevated point.”

No matter how fruitful the experience has been, it came with some bumps on the road, too. “I think the biggest challenge that I had was kind of figuring out how exactly to pace myself. Like any other designer, I always wanted projects to be the best thing I’ve ever done. But especially during COVID, when we had no access to facilities for a long time, I was rarely able to finish a project on time.” Nash believes tutors should also be more diverse, especially when there is such a varied student body. It would make it easier for all of them to develop their ideas, since they are often informed by their origin, sexuality, gender, and religion.

“I’m so used to always having insane deadlines to meet, and not having that is very refreshing. I can breathe a bit for the first time in a long time.” – Clover Nash

Life after graduation feels good for Nash. She has decided to go back to Newcastle for a while to work on improving her illustration skills while new opportunities arise. “I’m so used to always having insane deadlines to meet, and not having that is very refreshing. I can breathe a bit for the first time in a long time.” Nevertheless, she does miss the constant push to be creative. “I’m so used to having that to motivate me, that now just motivating myself is more difficult. The only person I’m trying to impress now is myself, whereas I much preferred having this wider, overarching, almost like a panel of people to try and not disappoint.”

Her goal is very clear: she would love to land a job as a print designer. However, she is allowing herself to be picky. “I’m trying to not put pressure on myself to find a specific job, I’m just trying to go with the flow, in a sense,” she says. “If I am going to work in fashion, I want it to be somewhere where I’m actually respected. There are so many graduates that the ones the industry manages to take on never get a raise, never get any more power and are basically being used. That treatment and that attitude are pretty commonplace in the industry.”