Young Yorkshire fashion designer Hollie Lesley Haughin inspired by type 1 diabetes to create catwalk looks

Towards the end of last year, her eponymous fashion label took to the catwalk at the Royal Armouries in Leeds for Yorkshire Fashion Week, following another successful showcasing at York Fashion Week earlier in the year.

Hollie showed her Siphon collection, epitomised by the Siphon dress, a swirling, pleated, architectural creation made in sculpted beige leather, designed to highlight and raise awareness of type 1 diabetes through a piece that reflects hypoglycemia-induced tremors through its inherent movement, with shaking represented through creases moulded into the leather.

Hollie, whose brother and aunt have type 1 diabetes, says: “My garments are influenced by the stages of going through a ‘hypo’ and how that person feels. The big skirt represents dizziness, which is a symptom.

“I want to empower young people with type 1 diabetes through fashion. The dramatic red carpet mood of the work represents awareness-raising opportunities and celebrates their resilience by coming to terms with living with this life-threatening condition to the point of acceptance and being at peace.”

Hollie, 23, from Cleckheaton, specialises in wearable conceptual art, with designs inspired by organic forms, her pieces structured yet fluid, all displaying an elegance, confidence and technical skill that belie her relative youth.

Hollie herself is dyslexic, although she believes that the condition does not hinder her creative abilities, far from it. “Dyslexia definitely makes me more creative,” she says. “I find it easy to think out of the box with creative ideas - for example, designing something that's not been done before, or using an unconventional material.”

The organisers of Yorkshire Fashion Week praised her designs for embodying “both physicality and emotional resonance”, noting her “ability to merge inspiration from personal experiences with innovative design, making it both visually stunning and conceptually profound”.

They were also impressed by her skill in drapery and her appreciation for colour contrast, for blending the ethereal with the structured and the architectural, and for mixing fluidity with strength, creating designs that are visually striking, unexpected and yet wearable.

“Each piece in Hollie Lesley Haughin’s collection showcases her dedication to innovation and her roots in Yorkshire, combining both local influence and universal appeal,” they say. “Her designs not only celebrate the art of fashion but also encourage a deeper reflection on form, structure, and the relationship between fabric and the human experience.”

Hollie works from her home in Cleckheaton, where she lives with her family. “I have a big summer house in my garden, where I have enough space for all my equipment and fittings,” she says, adding that she has an industrial sewing machine.

“I started to love what I do when I went to Huddersfield New College and studied Textiles, Photography and Business,” she says.

“The first fashion item I made was inspired by our college trip to Venice in Italy. I was inspired by shape, colour and texture. I made a nude wool dress with prints of my design, and a textile belt with embroidery of the Venice map and luggage tags.

“I had an amazing tutor called Vicky and she inspired me to become a fashion designer. Vicky took us to Graduate Fashion Week in London and said, ‘This is what you could achieve if you studied Fashion Design at university.’”

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So Hollie went to Northumbria University to study Fashion Design, and instantly fell in love with creating fashion. “I had university support from research to design to creating the final garment,” she says. She was chosen in 2023 to exhibit at Graduate Fashion Week in London (she also won the Accessories award), where she showed two dresses from her final collection, including one with clear, functioning tubes via which the model could simulate an injection with water and air pumping through to represent insulin travelling in the bloodstream.

Today Hollie works as a seamstress at Burberry, in addition to designing and making her own garments for her own brand. She says that the ethos behind Hollie Lesley Haughin is underpinned by her belief in herself and her belief that everything is possible.

“I have been told that the things I want to achieve are not possible, even when I know I can prove them wrong and push the boundaries of what can be done in the industry,” she says. “Also, being dyslexic has been very challenging throughout my life, so having fashion really helps me be creative.”

As a designer she seeks to explore avant garde shapes and tailoring. “My designs really play with the shape of a woman's body, from moulding leather to creating shape with a tailored jacket. I like to celebrate the shape of a woman's body through my designs.”

When it comes to the wearers and those she thinks of wearing her creations, she has in mind influencers and celebrities who want one-off pieces that stand out and highlight their individuality. Lady Gaga, take note.

Future plans include making ready-to-wear designs that are accessible for a range of customers, “while maintaining the feel of my brand and being beautiful and elegant at the same time”, she says, adding that her latest collection was influenced by Switzerland and the beautiful mountains of the Alps.

“I love how creative I can be and the satisfaction it brings when I work out how I'm going to take my design from paper into reality,” Hollie says. “It’s truly a passion I am obsessed with.”

Discover Hollie’s label and work at Instagram @hollielesleyhaughin and to discuss a bespoke design email: [email protected].