ONE TO WATCH - KALTBLUT Magazine meets Frederick Morrison creator of THIS IS FRED!

THIS IS FRED is one of the most up-and-coming street wear labels currently in London. We get up close and personal with the designer himself for this short informal interview about is inspirations, aspirations and passions. With THIS IS FRED being only available in a handful of stores, we get an exclusive first look of his new SS15 collection. Model: Denis We. Photography by Karl Slater.

KALTBLUT: What’s your inspiration behind your current collection?

FRED: With this collection I have focused more on ancient Japanese style and carried through the angularity or architecture. I also wanted to make it more risky by using mesh paneling in certain items such as shorts and t-shirts.

KALTBLUT: What are your biggest design influences?

FRED: I pull my inspiration from everything I see and touch. I have always been heavily influenced by architecture especially creations by Zaha Hadid along with Japanese style.

KALTBLUT: Who would you most like to see wearing your clothes?

FRED: Grace Jones.

KALTBLUT: What’s the story behind your label name?

FRED: Before I created the label, I used to make clothes for myself and when anyone asked me who I was wearing I used to say ‘this is Fred’ and it just seemed to stick.

KALTBLUT: Who’s your favourite fashion icon and why?

FRED: I feel I’m repeating myself, but, Grace Jones. I went to see her perform at the Royal Albert Hall a few years ago and she had teamed up with Eiko Ishioka along with Philip Tracey and Stephen Jones and the creations she wore on stage were mind blowing. From there on she has been the one for me.

KALTBLUT: What’s the best piece of advice you were ever given?

FRED: Dream Big (I feel there is always one more step to take, what ever it is you do)

KALTBLUT: Tell us about your journey that led you to this point.

FRED: One of my fondest memories is from when I was a little boy and my granny was making me a waist coat, using newspaper as pattern pieces. Every time I visited her there was either myself or my sister getting a fitting done for a new piece of clothing. She was a superb fashion designer and this is where my spark for fashion came from. I still use her fabric shears to this day. After being hugely influenced by my gran, I always knew in the back of my mind that I wanted to do something creative in my life – I knew a 9-5 office job wasn’t for me. So after studying fashion at Cardonald College in Glasgow, I moved to London to go to Istituto Marangoni. That led me to work for designers such as Belle Sauvage and Gareth Pugh. Then I started “This Is Fred”. I made a range of t-shirts that I used to sell in East London markets such as Spitalfields and The Up Market. Now I mainly sell through my website www.thisisfred.co.uk and my stockists.

KALTBLUT: Why did you become a designer?

FRED: I love the journey of creating something from the very first idea you have to seeing how the end product turns out.

KALTBLUT: What’s the best thing about being you?

FRED: Being my own boss: even though it is a colossal amount of work and I never have a day off, it’s fantastic.

KALTBLUT: What do you do to let your hair down?

FRED: I like to go clubbing. When I first moved down to London about 8 years ago there were fantastic parties such as Boombox, PonyStep and Circus, which I do really wish there were more of.