Victoria Smith's collection has an obvious youth and playfulness to the pieces, which I later discovered transpired through Victoria’s initial inspiration of tourists. Victoria’s dynamic collection earned her the well deserved Collection of the Year at the LCF 2014 Press Show. Victoria’s youth and modesty, at the tender age of 21, really blew me away.

Victoria has achieved much for her age. While most of her friends are still at uni, partying their weekends (and weekdays) away and scrabbling to hand in assignments left to the last minute, Victoria has a Fashion Design degree from the highly regarded London College of Fashion under her belt, as well as a string of internships at luxury fashion house Christopher Kane. Since her childhood, Victoria has had her sights set on a future in Fashion Design. Her creative tendencies in her youth fuelled her so much that she skipped her foundation year and went straight into the difficult Fashion Design course. Victoria laughs as she tells me how she begged LCF in her interview to take her straight from high school, and she certainly proved herself to them as the cream of the crop.

Without any grace period to adjust to life at university after high school, Victoria was thrown straight into the deep end of a very high intensity workload - admitting that it was very daunting and a shock to be left to her own devices rather than the spoon-fed lifestyle of high school. She quickly adapted to the fast paced work load, sleepless nights and finding out things for herself. After all, she was exactly where she had always wanted to end up. Growing up with what she labeled a “cheesy” desire to be a fashion designer, she felt the pressure to prove all her doubters wrong. From making dresses for her dolls, to a runway collection at the LCF Press Show, I don’t think there's any doubt that we can expect Victoria to be moving from strength to strength in the future.

I was fascinated to learn about the inspiration behind her press show final collection. Last summer, whilst on holiday in Europe, Victoria and her friends began to notice the wide spread of loud and obnoxious tourists at beautiful cultural sites like cathedrals. What bothered Victoria was that they were there just taking photos and not there for the religious experience, with tourist signs plastered everywhere. In her opinion, the mood and regality of such monumental places can be totally destroyed. Like so many historical and natural wonders, they have just become massive money-spinners. As a design student, Victoria naturally noticed some of the more obvious stereotypical outfits and began to take pictures, telling me she captured some seriously hilarious moments that really ignited her imagination and shaped her collection.

With further research, Victoria discovered other studies of tourists that looked particularly at their funny little quirks, and this eventually became the backbone of her collections themes. Tan lines against skin and swimsuits influenced her colour scheme, with the shapes and movements of plastic tourist ponchos giving her inspiration for her billowing silhouettes. Victoria’s detailed explanation of her collection really blew me away, I was impressed by how she took her idea and re-worked it into such a beautiful collection, with clearly tangible links back to her source of inspiration.

Interestingly, Victoria doesn’t have the peachy keen attitude towards the fashion industry that she has immersed herself in, in the way you may expect. She is somewhat skeptical of the iffy industry and the often transparent and superficial materialism that has evolved. Victoria is far more interested in the design and creation process. Despite these negative connotations she finds associated with the the world of fashion, Victoria is still eager to be a part of it. “Strangely, I feel myself drawn to an industry I sometimes can’t stand.” The fast paced and ever changing whirlwind that is fashion has swept Victoria up and has no plans of spitting her out. Victoria has an appreciation for designers and clothing now that only a student who has been through the rigours of such a labor intensive course would.

And really they are. Fashion design is a form of creative expression that is most certainly art.

With this in mind, Victoria has set her future on womenswear design for a luxury brand. When I question her about the choice for luxury wear, Victoria explains how heartbreaking it is to walk into a high street shop and see so many designers' work badly ripped off. After working on her own collections and in the pattern cutting room at Christopher Kane, Victoria knows first hand how many painstakingly long hours can go into making a piece, just to have it recreated in a week. For this reason, Victoria chooses to make her own clothes, wear vintage finds, or favourite pieces she sneaks from her Mum’s wardrobe.

Taking a few weeks off after her graduation, Victoria will soon start her job hunt, with a potential move to Paris on the cards. After living and studying in London her entire life, Victoria is ready to take on a new adventure and expose herself to new experiences - hopefully sparking some new creative ideas. Eager to keep herself inspired, she will work on her own collection on the side, away from the restraints of school, just to see what happens. Whatever happens, I am certain Victoria’s future is as bright as her wonderfully vibrant pieces.

You can keep up to date with Victoria here.