I was recently asked by a writer for the 'Manchester confidential' website to interview Jeff Banks and write an article of my own about the fashion mogule and the 'people's catwalk' event he was promoting - so I went along, pen in hand, asked some questions, got some answers and wrote this about him...enjoy!

Forget London Fashion Week. Last week, saw local celebrities, model scouts and one particular famous fashion designer head to the Trafford centre for ‘The People’s Catwalk’ charity event.
I went along to see what all the fuss was about and find out a little more about the man behind the scheme, mogul designer Jeff Banks.

It turns out ‘The People’s Catwalk’ is a completely new way of fundraising and increasing awareness for the Prince’s Trust charity. The concept is based around allowing people to have their 15 minutes of fame by allowing them to showcase their Trafford Centre purchases on a catwalk in the Orient area with professional styling, professional photographs and a goody bag to boot.

Designer, Jeff Banks, came up with the idea for the event, telling me “I love fashion”, but it’s not just down to his passion for clothes. In reality Jeff is the chairman of the retail group sector of the Prince’s Trust and really believes that disadvantaged youngsters deserve the mentoring and advice the charity can provide to stop them from slipping through the cracks.

“It’s just about giving them the opportunity to help them focus and get into job” he said. “A lot of these young people, all they want is for somebody to take an interest. That’s my real motivation; somebody needs to look after these children.”

Though it was clear that Jeff was devoted to helping, I wondered what had caused him to pursue something so far removed from the high-end fashion designing he was used to. It turns out he doesn’t really see the difference.

“I’ve done the high-end fashion shows and at the end of the day they might use more expensive fabrics than the high-street and yes, they use models they pay a fortune to, but actually the principle is the same, so I don’t see it as a big leap”

Taking time out of his hectic schedule, Jeff really did make the effort to create a special occasion for everyone involved. It’s refreshing to see a high-flying designer lend his time, name and money to help others and allow anyone willing to have a go the chance to be a star for a day.

Aside from opening three stores in China and two in Japan whilst tending to his 136 concessions in Australia and presenting the ‘Fashion on the field’ programme (and that’s in this month alone), Jeff will still be making time to continually support The Prince’s Trust and finger’s crossed will endeavour to run ‘The People’s Catwalk’ event again next year.


Original article at - http://www.manchesterconfidential.co.uk/Health-and-Beauty/Fashion/Jeff-Banks-Peoples-Catwalk_15500.asp

An Autumn/Winter 2010 brief for brands Miso and Crafted following the military concept

Read all about it...

After the show and the celebrations were all finished and I got home I eagerly 'googled' myself ...sad but true!

I had some lovely feedback online and from friends, family, tutors and industry professionals.

The graduate

Holey-moley...I made it to graduate fashion week! Massively unexpected and ultra flattering...but it means another incredibly intense week at uni :(

After redesigning 4 of the garments in my collection, replacing all the collection accessories, making alterations and repairs to the existing pieces and having a minor breakdown I was ready for graduate!!!

My collection showed and there were smiles all round :)

The full collection can be seen in some lovely photos on catwalking.com ... http://www.catwalking.com/GRADUATES/GRAD_10/BA_shows/shows/Salford/shows/07-Jo%20Whiteing/index.html

Are we there yet...not quite!

So the show was done and in my mind my life was now an endless amount of lie-ins and parties (until I woke up and realised it was time to be an adult of course) ...but then this little gem of an e-mail dropped into my inbox and everything changed!

Sleeping by the lion carpet

As my collection continued I became more and more interested in Freud and how his influence was helping to create my collection. I used the idea of skin and weight to create flesh toned pieces with volume and emphasis on certain body parts.

After working super hard, spending a few million pounds, a couple of trips to Paris and countless sleepless nights my collection 'sleeping by the lion carpet' was complete...showtime!

The end is nigh

Final collection begins.......

I based my designs on the concept of artist Lucian Freud and his study of nude subjects. I've always been interested in Freud and wanted to use his beautiful images to hopefully make a scrumptious collection!