Nicola is recent graduate of the University of West of England where she specialized in Fashion and Textile Design. Her design inspiration stems primarily from traditions and carnivals.

This particular collection was heavily influenced by the Santiago Carnival in the Dominican Republic.

Nicola is also inspired by the materials that she works with. She enjoys working with a wide variety of media when creating her textiles, often getting a lot more inspiration in a D.I.Y shop than a fabric shop. This collection is about capturing the atmosphere of celebration, carnival costume and dance. After submerging herself in a concept she creates a series of 3 dimensional textile swatches, which she then sculpts onto the body, to help inform her garment shapes. Nicola likes to use a variety of media and colour when creating her textiles. The collection is heavily embellished with plastic cable ties and colourful wooden matchsticks and some garments are joined together using just these. The collection is full of spirit.