Skip navigation

Jake Birks

JAKE BIRKS

FASHION BA (HONS)

The circus is at the forefront of every design project undertaken by Jake Birks, with his SS19 womenswear collection evoking a sense of nostalgia and intoxication influenced by festivals, fairgrounds and circuses. The designer, who is originally from a village called West Lilling on the outskirts of York, likes to work on the stand to manipulate fabrics to create elegant and bold silhouettes with ruffles and gathers.

The background design aesthetic has been influenced by the Japanese concept of Wabi Sabi, which is about finding beauty in imperfection. The dominant concept of regression accented by Wabi Sabi has formed the basis of the source of inspiration for his collection. 

Silhouette plays a big part in Jake’s collection. He has looked at a variety of circus and festival costumes, combined together to create new shapes with added volume. The colour palette has been inspired by the glitter and metallic colours regularly seen at festivals, used as embellishment on black fabrics.

Jake’s collection is aimed at women with an expendable income, having the elegance of an evening gown mixed with loud statement pieces.

He completed a four-month placement at Christopher Raeburn while at University, as well as a four-month placement at Beautiful Soul London.


a sign in front of a crowd
+

Northumbria Open Days

Open Days are a great way for you to get a feel of the University, the city of Newcastle upon Tyne and the course(s) you are interested in.

a person sitting at a table using a laptop
+
NU World Virtual Tours
+

Virtual Tour

Get an insight into life at Northumbria at the click of a button! Come and explore our videos and 360 panoramas to immerse yourself in our campuses and get a feel for what it is like studying here using our interactive virtual tour.

Latest News and Features

Northumbria University team collecting their award at the Student Nursing Times ceremony.
L-R: Lee Jackson, Anindya Chatterjee and Jacinta Lepcha from SmartCarbon
Professor Alan Godfrey and Jason Moore with video glasses to support fall risk assessment
Sir Vince Cable and Professor Andy Long pictured outside Northumbria University
CCE1 Northumbria University
Digital supply chain team
Construction site
Working Well in Healthcare panel discussion

Back to top