Fashion entrepreneur showcases new designs
A MIDLANDS fashion entrepreneur has showcased her latest creations with help from a university-backed business support scheme.
Tamara Joseph, who is setting up her own fashion design business – Tamara Joseph, is currently studying a Masters in Fashion and Textiles at University of Wolverhampton.
The 34-year-old, from Bearwood, Birmingham, is also a Senior Fashion Technician at the School of Art & Design.
The university’s Student Placements for Entrepreneurs in Education West Midlands (SPEED WM) programme is helping her with her business ambitions.
The SPEED programme enables entrepreneurial students to set up their own businesses whilst they are studying.
Tamara used the Four Seasons Couture Fashion Show at The Public, in West Bromwich, to display her latest designs. The event was to raise money for the UNICEF Haiti Earthquake Children Appeal.
The new designs are based around her own photography prints and feature a modern take on the classic 1940s cut dress. 
She said the fashion show served as an opportunity to see the true demands of a business, such as sticking to deadlines and financing.
“Being on the SPEED programme has allowed me to take more risks and get more involved with opportunities in fashion design,” she said.
“I want to work mainly in menswear fashion, and I am currently working on a tailoring collection with fantastic prints as lining or detailed printed trims on the shirts.
“I have not limited myself to just menswear though, and most of the fashion shows I am entering are requesting womenswear.”
She said she worked by photographing images and then printing them on material using Computer Aided Design.
“I also offer a memories service, where the customer brings me their chosen image or photo and I make or customise their garments with their keep sakes,” she added.
