Meet Isabel Manns | Founder & Creative Director of British Contemporary Womenswear brand Isabel Manns

We had the good fortune of connecting with Isabel Manns and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Isabel, what was your thought process behind starting your own business?
When I was studying at Parsons in New York sustainability was engrained in us from day one. I knew that I wanted to have my own brand in the future and I wanted to produce everything in the UK to support local businesses and reduce our carbon footprint. This was when I came up with the idea for reversible clothing – it justifies the price point from making our clothes in London as you get two outfits in one which also hopefully means that you “buy less but better quality.’

I wanted our brand to be as sustainable as possible so we also have 5 sustainability pledges: reversibility for sustainability, minimal waste, made in England, sustainable materials and season-less collections.

We designs all of our clothing in such a way that fabric waste is kept to a minimal, the prints which I design, are also created so that they can be cut in any direction, to reduce fabric waste, and any leftover fabric is used to make headbands and scarfs.

Can you open up a bit about your work and career? We’re big fans and we’d love for our community to learn more about your work.
I don’t consider myself as only a fashion designer as I am also a print designer as I design all of our prints, which is what we are known for. I start by painting or taking photographs of what inspires me, which is primarily nature and the English garden. Then, I turn them into digital artworks so that they can be printed onto our fabrics.

The print design is my favourite part of the design process as I love experimenting with patterns and colour combinations and always considering how they would look on an item of clothing.

I started painting from a very young age and as I turned 17 years old I knew that print was going to be a very important part of my future. It was also why I applied to study at Parsons as I could take electives in print design alongside a womenswear fashion degree.

I then also worked for a print studio called The Style Council in New York after I graduated where I designed prints for them. This experience was very valuable as it taught me how it is done at a professional level.

My brand is known for colour, print, reversibility and that it is sustainably made in London.

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
I have been lucky enough to have great mentors in New York whilst I was living there including people from Parsons, previous jobs I worked and interned at such as Alexandra Vidal and Tanya Taylor.

Before setting up my business I also read “The Fashion Designer Survival Guide: Start and Run Your Own Fashion Business” by Mary Gehlhar and Shoe Dog by Phil Knight which I found extremely helpful and inspiring.

Website: www.isabelmanns.com

Instagram: isabel_manns

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/isabel-manns

Facebook: isabelmannsfashion

Image Credits
Charlie Cluff – photographer Sabrina Ortolani – photographer