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Sophia McLean

Profession

BA Fashion Jewellery Alum

College

London College of Fashion

Person Type

Alumni

House of Vintro by Sophia McLean, BA Fashion Jewellery

Biography

Can you introduce yourself and tell us a bit about what you do?

My name is Sophia McLean and I am a designer and maker of a jewellery and lifestyle brand, House of Vintro, which I launched in 2018. I graduated from London college of Fashion, studying Fashion Jewellery design in 2015. Coming from a small town in Buckinghamshire called High Wycombe it was a complete change of environment to studying and living in the city of London.

What have you been working on since finishing your course?

Since leaving my course in 2015 I moved back home to High Wycombe where I got a temp job throughout the summer being a Logistics Coordinator. This then turned into 2 years of working at a manufacturing company but during those 2 years I worked to save money to start working on my fashion jewellery career.

Did you always know you wanted to pursue a career in fashion?

Absolutely! I knew from a very young age that I wanted to pursue a career in fashion and was one of the only things I had a real passion for. I remember at the age of 12 in my year 8 art class that I declared to myself that I was going to graduate from London College of Fashion! I didn’t know how I was going to get there, but I am a strong believer that anything you speak into existence will happen if you believe in it enough. And fast forward to July 2015, it happened.

What inspired you to launch your brand House of Vintro?

I am going to be totally honest in this question. Once I graduated from the course, I was so excited to start working in the fashion industry. However, when it came to finding a job in the industry, I always got turned down from interviews saying “you don’t have enough experience” and it was after those moments I thought to myself “why do I want to work for these companies when I can start my own?” it was that moment that inspired me the launch my own brand and House of Vintro was born soon after.

What have you enjoyed most about the experience of launching a brand?

What I’ve enjoyed most about launching my brand is the creativity. I have the freedom to create designs from my own vision without having the limitations of other people’s opinions. I have never been one to follow trends as they always come and go out of style anyway. Create your own lane!

Any exciting upcoming projects you can tell us about?

I am currently working on a new mens collection to launch hopefully in the next few months.

How have you maintained your creative practice in the midst of the pandemic?

Creating in the midst of a pandemic has been one of the things that has kept me going through it all. Luckily for me I have a small workshop so that has kept me sane.

What are your plans for the next few years? Where would you like to see yourself professionally?

My plans are to keep expanding the brand. Alongside the jewellery and accessories I now have a homeware range of handmade scented candles, reed diffusers and room sprays called Home by Vintro that I also make in house myself. So, the goal is to keep expanding into different areas and eventually turn into a Fashion House.

What attracted you to LCF?

Not only being one of the most top fashion institutes in the world, I knew LCF was where I needed to be from an early age.

Why did you decide to study BA Fashion Jewellery?

Before I went into jewellery design, I started off in fashion and clothing design at college. In one of the projects, we had to do an accessory project and from that point onwards I fell in love with the process and loved to create and bring things to life with my hands. In my last year of fashion design, for our final major project, I designed a collection of fashion accessory pieces which opened the door to the love of jewellery design.

What did you enjoy the most about the course?

Meeting like minded and talented people who could share their ideas and support each other.

Can you tell us a bit about your favourite project completed on the course?

I would have to say my favourite project was my final major project. I based my collection around architecture and futurism, I named it ‘Architect the Future’. I used materials such as Perspex and Copper together to create chunky architectural like pieces adorning the body.

Best advice you received from a lecturer/tutor during your time at LCF?

More is more. Don’t be afraid to go big.

What advice would you give to potential students who would like to enrol on this course?

Believe in yourself and your talent and always stay true to yourself. There is nobody else like you and that’s what makes you unique!