Domonique Wilson
A brand is Born
‘Affordable yet adorable’ is how Domonique Wilson describes the products from her emerging fashion business and the 24 year old from Hamilton in Glasgow says her Clothing and Accessories company is growing faster than she ever expected. Domonique is the creator, owner, stylist and designer behind LILYLOVELOCK a brand that has developed following her experience in fashion retail, fashion journalism and her training at Reid Kerr College.
Domonique studied an HND Make-up Artistry at Reid Kerr which she said helped her grow as an artist and adapt for the future. “After leaving high school at eighteen, I took a full-time job with a fashion store where I was already working and a year out there helped me come to the decision that Make-up Artistry was my preferred career route. There were many highlights during the 2 years at College including the opportunity to work with a vast range of people which helped me when stepping out alone into the industry. Although there is an element of theory to the course, there was a real balance of practical coursework too – I really enjoyed the diversity that this brought to my training.”
Successful completion of the HND Make-up Artistry programme requires students to deliver a piece of work titled their ‘Graded Unit’. Domonique says that this element of the course provided her with a real live experience of producing and executing a professional piece of work, developing her organisational and personal skills, working under pressure to produce a quality end product. “Not only did I experience the hands on aspect of this work, it made me realise that this industry is very unpredictable and it’s how you deal with these day to day experiences that allows you to become more successful.”
Domonique graduated from Reid Kerr with top marks from her Graded Unit and began working as a freelance make-up artist and chose to widen her skills and study to be a nail technician. “Alongside the nails and make-up I began freelancing as a beauty writer for various online publications which then led to a regular contribution for pan-European online magazine ‘Running in Heels’ where I wrote fashion related articles and a monthly street style feature. This new venture sparked an interest in fashion which encouraged me to get more creatively hands on in areas of fashion styling and eventually fashion design.”
LILYLOVELOCK began life as a fashion blog in 2008 and Domonique used this as a place to store her inspirational images creating what she describes as her own on-line mood board. “Since the blogs inception, I have watched it grow and in only three years it’s reached almost 4,600 readers! The LILYLOVELOCK brand was born and I began designing my clothing label under the same name.”
Domonique is currently designing some Autumn/Winter items that will be added to the ASOS and Etsy store in the next few weeks, with this comes the planning and executing of an Autumn/Winter lookbook something which she says is one of her favourite things to do regarding the business, giving her a creative buzz when working on a shoot.
Domonique offered some recent advice to current students at Reid Kerr College and said, “If you like stability, weekends off and 9-5 working environments, then this really isn’t the career for you. It is a lot of hard work and striving for a place in the industry. On the other hand, if you like variety then this is the place to be, no two days are the same and you can be assured that you will meet many interesting people and work a variety of projects that will help develop your career.”
NOTES
- You can follow Lilylovelock on Facebook and Twitter or check out the LILYLOVELOCK blog spot at http://lilylovelock.blogspot.com/
- ASOS link https://marketplace.asos.com/search?q=lilylovelock
- Etsy StoreLink http://www.etsy.com/shop/LilyLoveLock?ref=pr_shop
