We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Faith Blackburn a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Faith, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. Learning the craft is often a unique journey from every creative – we’d love to hear about your journey and if knowing what you know now, you would have done anything differently to speed up the learning process.

I started being interested in making my own clothes when I was 15 because I could never find the clothes I imagined in my head and if i did find them, I needed my clothes to fit perfectly. After learning basic sewing with books and videos I decided to go to Art School for an Associates Degree in Fashion Design. I graduated when I was 19 and started an Internship at a custom wedding dress and alterations shop. I also interned for a former teacher who taught me leather sewing and I learned that this was my true passion. I wouldn’t change anything, however I didn’t know I had autism until I was 23, and I figured out that clothes not fitting me properly is actually a trigger for my anxiety, so autism only helped me find this path and artform to express myself and fix all my clothes to fit how I like.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

I became interested in Fashion due to my love for costume design in films such as Star Wars and Tim burton films. I loved the creativity and power fashion can give. My designs are often inspired by mental health and spooky themes because it helps me express emotions without words.I started off doing costume design, but also loved gothic fashion and started sewing leather to be more focused on products to start my business of freelance design. I taught myself corsets with a book and decided to focus my business on leather jackets, vests, corsets, etc. I currently sew any leather fashion and plan to continue making my own designs and evolving from Etsy onto my own website later. I aim to produce high quality handmade products, you can’t find anywhere else. I do offer custom work and I enjoy helping with cosplay costumes while still focusing on leather fashion.

For you, what’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative?

I love to see people wearing my designs and feeling confident and powerful. When I chose to be a fashion designer, I thought it was a very strong form of art because its wearable art. It takes someone to bring it to life and that’s magical. Being an artist also lets me easily express myself without needing any words.

Let’s talk about resilience next – do you have a story you can share with us?

Growing up, and going through college, I never seemed to connect with people or feel comfortable in social environments. It’s not that I can’t do something, it’s that my brain works differently and processes information differently which I turned into a more powerful thing. I use my creativity and my attention to deal to help myself use designing clothes as my way of expressing to the world, all the things I’m too nervous to say. After I graduated Fashion School, I worked for a local business sewing custom wedding gowns. Since I spent so much time there, my boss began to wonder if I had Autism and I also wasn’t sure. So I ended up getting diagnosed at age 23 and that really gave me insight into how I needed to understand myself better, to control my anxiety and use my skills to start my own design company. I just knew if I made it this far, I could do it.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.etsy.com/shop/Faitheblackburn
• Instagram: @f4ithbl4ckburn

Image Credits
Stephen Beaty, Alan Blackburn