Hayley Scanlan on how she nearly quit fashion
Not that her work wasn’t selling well; it was. Supermodel Erin O’Connor was so impressed with Scanlan’s degree show, she commissioned the designer to make her a bespoke studded leather jacket, while Marina Diamandis approached her to create a wardrobe for her tour with Katy Perry; Little Mix and Jessie J were also wearing her signature, stand-out pieces. Even so, it was hard to make a living.
“I was standing having a conversation in my studio and I was nearly crying,” she says. “I was thinking, ‘What else am I going to do?’ My stuff was doing really well, but everything goes back into the business. It would be different if I was on my own, but I’m a mum, I have two babies, and sometimes I can’t take a wage because I need to get fabric or get photos done. How long can you keep going without taking a decent, proper wage?”
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