MSc Fashion Marketing student finds inspiration in personal journey to deliver competition success

A GCU student’s passion for the great outdoors has turned her design dreams into reality – while also raising money for a cause close to her heart. 

We spoke with MSc International Fashion Marketing student, Isabel Marinho, who recently won a competition organised by GCU in partnership with Beatson Cancer Charity and kilt specialists, Slanj.

As part of their Strategic Fashion Brand Management Module, students were tasked with developing a new sub-brand by designing fashion and lifestyle products using the Beatson’s very own tartan, designed by Jane Hunter. 

After a long process - which culminated in an online presentation - Isabel’s outdoor clothing designs, entitled “Beantann”, was revealed as the winner. She will now receive £500 towards the development of her creations, courtesy of sponsor Curtis Moore. The hope is that these will then be sold at the Beatson’s online shop and café, helping to raise funds for the charity. In addition, Isabel has also secured a week of work experience with Slanj. 

This is just the latest chapter in what has been an incredible journey for Isabel. Here is her story:
 

A new start

I’m Portuguese and moved to Scotland around eight years ago. I just wanted a change and Edinburgh was the cheapest flight with all my luggage. I thought I would just be here for a new experience, but here I am eight years later - it’s definitely home. 

I didn’t have a lot of money when I first arrived My boyfriend is Scottish and we completed the West Highland Way twice because we couldn’t afford to go abroad on holiday. I’ve had quite a few personal issues and going camping and hiking in the mountains always makes me feel a lot better. My first degree was in photography, so something really clicked in my heart with the outdoors. This passion definitely provided me with inspiration for the project.

Beatson opportunity

I hadn’t really heard too much about the charity before this module. It was cool to find out that the Beatson had their own tartan; the yellow, brown and grey colours are amazing and really gave me a lot of creative ideas.

I knew I wanted unique products. I wanted it to be useful - not something that you buy for your gran to put on a shelf. I wanted something that Millennials, Generation X and Generation Z could all buy, while remaining fashionable for everyone. The more people that like it will then lead to more money for the charity, so that was my main focus point. I also wanted items that you could buy in a bundle; I decided to go with the rain jacket, bucket hat, backpack, gloves and tote bag.

“Thairis air na beanntan” was the slogan attached to my campaign, which means “over the mountains”. The idea behind the range was to reflect the journey that cancer patients, their families and friends go through.

Promoting the product 

We had to conduct research into how we would get our work out into the public domain. I was looking at promoting through working with Visit Scotland via a collaboration with Glasgow Airport. Tourism was obviously impacted by the pandemic and now there is a chance to encourage people to come to Scotland and see the beauty of the country through the outdoors. 

I was also thinking more about promoting via social media and wanted to raise awareness of cancer cases growing during the pandemic. When people wear the collection, they’ll be able to use a hashtag on social media so they can show the items but also explain their own personal cancer journey to help inspire others.

The big reveal

All students submitted a presentation of their own products and then the lecturers decided which six would be taken forward to the final. 

I was delighted to get to this stage but I always find online presentations difficult because you get distracted by looking at everyone on your screen. I often feel self-conscious about my accent as well and worry people won’t understand me because I use the wrong English words. 

The nerves were definitely there but I spoke for seven minutes and then there was two or three minutes of comments. I basically explained my products and the promotional work around them. From there, I just logged out and they went on to the next person, I didn’t really know what to expect next.
 

Winning 

I then got an email saying thanks for taking part and they wanted to know my availability, so they could give me feedback. Immediately, I thought hearing “feedback” meant that I hadn’t won. I felt a little bit sad because I worked so hard, but at least I was getting the opportunity to learn how I could develop. The invite then came through and it was half an hour, which I thought was really long for feedback; I began to feel self-conscious.
 
Five minutes before the meeting, I clicked on the people it had been sent to and I noticed it wasn’t any of my classmates. 

I went onto the call and one of the girls that works for Beatson said: “Ok we’re going to stop you’re suffering”, and at that point the penny dropped!  

I felt so overwhelmed but I was trying to contain myself because I was on camera. I was actually thinking “oh my god!”; it just felt so good. There were so many emotions going through my head and I didn’t know what to do or say. I was really proud of the fact that I had been able to pass on my message in a way that everyone understood.
 

Family 

I have a personal connection to the charity because every woman in my family has had breast cancer. When I was in Portugal, I regularly attended a cancer hospital to keep tabs on it because there’s a really high chance of me having it at some point. I think this made it extra emotional for me and I had a kind of flashback to everything my family had been through when I heard that I’d won.   

I still remember seeing my lecturer Nicola O’Hare’s face when I found out - she could not have looked any prouder! It was amazing to have Nicola, Louise (McBride) and Aileen (Stewart) there at that moment.

Future  

I work full-time on top of my MSc, so I’m always too busy to have time to stop and think. It’s still not fully sunk in yet. 

The first products to be created will be the bucket hat and gloves because they’re the easiest to manufacture. We’re also going to be looking into working with another Scottish brand to do the jacket and tote bag.

In all honesty, I never thought one of my products would get to this stage. As well as my degree in photography, I previously studied multimedia art and 3D modulation for games. I’ve been more focused on gaming but fashion was always something I personally loved. My friends always say they love my fashion sense and that I should do something with it. I never really thought about it but now, this has happened and I don’t have a clue what to do with my future career!

My dream at one point was to create my own game and to work in game publishing but that was because I never regarded fashion as a career opportunity. I’m already succeeding in gaming but I am definitely not ruling out working in fashion – I’ve always loved a challenge. 

By Ross Clark         
Got an SHLS or GSBS story? Email me at Ross.Clark@gcu.ac.uk or message me on Twitter