Source: Eastern Institute of Technology – Tairāwhiti
7 mins ago
EIT fashion designer Jared Capill has ambitions to own his own fashion label and to be known overseas.
EIT NZ Diploma in Fashion student Jared Capill was living in Auckland when his mother passed away during the first COVID-19 Lockdown, changing the course of his life.
Jared, 26, admits it was a difficult time, made worse by COVID-19 restrictions limiting the number of people who could attend his mother, Hebie’s funeral last year.
“I was barbering in Auckland and running my own little upcycling business on the side. I’d get jeans, patch them up with different designs as a hobby, but my friends started buying them.”
“I stopped barbering and got into it fulltime. Then that happened with mum here in Hawke’s Bay, and I just moved down here and brought it all with me.”
The move was made so that he could heal and be closer to family.
“I did not feel good in Auckland and because mum lived here, I just wanted to feel her a bit.”
A cousin of his was keen to enrol in EIT’s level 5 NZ Diploma in Fashion and convinced Jared to go with him to have a look.
“I went along to fill some time and I thought: ‘This looks really cool.’ But then EIT followed up and asked me if I was going to enrol. I said: ‘Yeah, I think I will.’ And here I am.”
Jared has no doubt that he would not be here if last year’s tragic event had not occurred, but he knows that his mother would be proud of him.
“I started this programme because my mum was so happy when I first began patching jeans. She told all her friends and she really liked it.”
But the diploma programme is just the start for Jared, as he aims to study for two more years to get a Bachelor of Creative Practice (Fashion).
“I thought this whole thing was just a silly idea that I wanted to try and somehow it has turned into this,” says Jared.
Denim is still a favourite fabric for him.
“I enjoy going to an Op Shop, taking recycles that have no life left and just giving it a whole new life.”
For Jared, his fashion passion is streetwear. He particularly likes the style of Virgil Abloh, the CEO of Off-White and artistic director of Louis Vuitton’s menswear collection.
“To be honest, I get inspired mostly by moments, like seeing an amazing sunset or just something very picturesque. It makes me want to go do something creative.”
Apart from the memory of his mother, Jared also has another motivation – his five-year-old daughter, Mila.
“She’s in Auckland, which was the hardest part about coming down here. I come from a very Christian family, but I guess I’m on my own journey in that and it is Mila and my mum who constantly just push me to keep going.
Anytime I think that things are getting a bit much and that maybe I should just do something a bit simpler, I think of Mila and mum and just keep going.”
“With mum not being here anymore , a lot of it is unknown. She was a Christian, so I hope she is where she should be.”
As for the future, Jared has also set some big goals for himself.
“Five years from now I want to be in a position where I can work fully for myself, with a brand that’s starting to get known quite well overseas.”
“And then, – it sounds crazy, but in 10 years I’d like to be probably the biggest designer in the world,” he says.
EIT IDEAschool Fashion Leader Cheryl Downie says: “Despite Jared’s adversities, his resilience is quite an inspiration to all of us and we are so pleased he is discovering his future pathway in fashion with us.”
“We are quite a small tight knit community here, and the opportunity to collaborate and network with other IDEAschool students during the next two years of his fashion studies in the Bachelor of Creative Practice will be invaluable,” says Cheryl.
