Birmingham born fashion designer Alexandria Chantiluke was raised in a proud British-Caribbean home and spent much of her childhood exploring the creative arts. In 2015, she was selected as a finalist in the Savile Row Training Academy: National Design and Tailoring Awards. She won the annual Hawes and Curtis shirt design competition and her design featured as part of the autumn/winter 2017 collection. She graduated in July 2016 with a BA Honours in Fashion Design from Nottingham Trent University.
Alongside this, Alexandria has spent a year working in the fashion industry with bespoke tailors Timothy Everest and Richard James on Savile Row in London. She speaks of this time as ‘an amazing experience and one of my greatest achievements to date.’ The motivation for her work often stems from themes of black culture as she enjoys studying: black British history, the art of tailoring, black masculinity, poetry, postmodernism and hip hop culture. She often uses her designs to celebrate the beauty that is found in black culture both past and present. Her final graduate collection ‘Swamp 81’ highlighted the war that black-British people are still fighting regarding rights to equal treatment.
In 2017 she was named Radical Designer of the Year at an international design competition and in 2018 she was named one of Birmingham's top 30 under 30 for her work in fashion and the Birmingham community. In 2019 she delivered a motivational speech on the TEDxYouth stage and was also named one of the Future Faces of Birmingham.
Alexandria is now building her own brand in which Fashion design is just one part. She is also an activist for mental health awareness and speaks openly about her own experiences suffering with Generalised Anxiety Disorder. Alexandria has a passion for creative writing, she had her first poem published at the age of 9 and continues to write and perform her poetry to this day. In addition to this she is committed to supporting young people in schools and volunteers her spare time delivering annual school presentations.
Alexandria is now working towards creating a new menswear collection whilst she continues to build the other parts of her brand.
Alongside this, Alexandria has spent a year working in the fashion industry with bespoke tailors Timothy Everest and Richard James on Savile Row in London. She speaks of this time as ‘an amazing experience and one of my greatest achievements to date.’ The motivation for her work often stems from themes of black culture as she enjoys studying: black British history, the art of tailoring, black masculinity, poetry, postmodernism and hip hop culture. She often uses her designs to celebrate the beauty that is found in black culture both past and present. Her final graduate collection ‘Swamp 81’ highlighted the war that black-British people are still fighting regarding rights to equal treatment.
In 2017 she was named Radical Designer of the Year at an international design competition and in 2018 she was named one of Birmingham's top 30 under 30 for her work in fashion and the Birmingham community. In 2019 she delivered a motivational speech on the TEDxYouth stage and was also named one of the Future Faces of Birmingham.
Alexandria is now building her own brand in which Fashion design is just one part. She is also an activist for mental health awareness and speaks openly about her own experiences suffering with Generalised Anxiety Disorder. Alexandria has a passion for creative writing, she had her first poem published at the age of 9 and continues to write and perform her poetry to this day. In addition to this she is committed to supporting young people in schools and volunteers her spare time delivering annual school presentations.
Alexandria is now working towards creating a new menswear collection whilst she continues to build the other parts of her brand.