Cosmin Diaconu

Cosmin Diaconu studied on our BA (Hons) Fashion Design, and since then has established his own brand Retrogusto, worked for Levis, started a denim repair company, and even worked on designs for Beyoncé’s Renaissance tour.

Tell us more about your experiences since graduating from ARU.

I’ve had some internships, created two of Beyoncés outfits for the Renaissance Tour, and had my own brand Retrogusto — which was vintage designer clothing that brought in some upcycling. We had shops in the Grand Arcade in Cambridge, and through that I also did a bit of consulting with the Grand Arcade, so marketing, fashion shows. I liked the path it was going in, so decided to have my own fashion show with about twenty seven upcycled garments.

I’ve been working with Levis meanwhile as well. I started as a tailor then moved into District Ambassador, looking after the tailor shops in the South East UK. That’s sort of what I’m doing right now, but also I have my own company Repair My Denim. I offer repair services specifically for denim, but not only.

It's quite a bit! I like a lot of things, I can’t just be stuck on one. It depends on the opportunities as well — what comes and what I want to do.

How did the opportunity with Beyoncé come about, and what was the experience like for you?

I was doing an internship in London back then. Someone reached out to me asking for some help after they saw my portfolio. I was graduating, my collection was at the fashion week, and I think it just got a bit of attention.

I was like “Sure, let’s go, let’s do it.” And then we had this massive order for Beyoncé. Hard work, and also knowing that it was going to be seen by thousands of people, it was a lot of pressure.

It ended up being a project that we worked on for several weeks. It was quite a big design process. Towards the end, when the deadline was coming up, we had to stay up for twenty six hours to finish. No sleep, just plenty of coffee. I remember listening to her songs the whole time, just a reminder that we were doing it for her. I think that really pushed us to give our best,

So that was a big part of something that I'll never forget, but something that really pushed me out there as well. Got me a bit of attention. And also within myself, I understood that I have a set of skills that I am able to do certain things. It allowed me to fully be myself, to do what I do, and have that confidence of being able to do it — which is something that I think as creative people we always struggle with.

It was a crazy experience. I loved it. I loved the people that I worked with. I'd like to think we all suffered together, but a couple of weeks after, when we saw the outfits on the scene, she was singing in them, and there was just this massive crowd. It gave me goosebumps. It gives me goosebumps every time I talk about it. Incredible experience.

And I think, how did I get there? If I wouldn't have gone to uni, probably I wouldn't have done it. It goes back to the networking, to learning a set of skills, and I have to thank Anglia Ruskin for that.

Where and what did you study before ARU?

Before ARU I lived in Romania. I did a A-levels at college — it was accounting, something slightly different. And then I moved to the UK, and I wasn't really sure what I was going to do, so I just worked here and there. But I did go to college to improve my English. Then I started a sewing course with someone in Harlow.

Did you always know that you would go to university?

When I was in college, I knew I wanted to go to uni. I wasn’t 100% sure, but I knew it was a direction that one day I would love to go. When I moved to the UK I struggled with the language, so I decided that I wasn't actually going to do it.

So I worked around for a couple of years, and then I realised that I could do much more. I was already trying to sew stuff, but there was something missing. And though I had a thirst for knowledge, YouTube videos and books were not enough. So I was like “Okay, I think it's time for me to go back into studying”.

And then I came across Anglia Ruskin.

Why did you choose to study at ARU?

I heard about it through someone I was working with when I was doing a security job. She was working just for the summer and as we chatted she mentioned she was doing a course in Chelmsford and told me about Anglia Ruskin. At that point I knew I wanted to go to uni so I did some research, looked up the fashion design course and it seemed pretty good. I was particularly amazed by the alumni work so I decided to apply.

Cambridge also wasn’t that far away — I lived in Harlow, Essex back then. It was about forty to forty-five minutes’ drive. It was pretty convincing, so I was like  “Okay, yeah. I'll just apply for it.”

How did you get involved with fashion design in the first place?

It goes back to when I was a kid to actually. I was one of those kids that wasn't really playing with cars and guns. Well, I had a few, but it wasn't my main thing. But one of my neighbours, she had some dolls, and I used to love to play with them. I was almost creating garments, let's say. Maybe it's a bit too much calling  it that, but my mom was sewing and she had scrap fabric, so just making holes in the fabric and putting the dolls’ arms through. So it was like just playing, really.

I think that was the earliest memory of me and fashion design. After that I was obsessed with TV shows where they were making clothes. I bought a sewing machine for myself, tried to learn how to do it. I've never really understood why I signed up for a sewing course, but I wanted more. I wanted to learn how to make patterns, how to design. I think that's the key word: to ‘design’.

I realised that was something I could try and do, but I really needed help from professionals. I needed someone to shape me. And that's when I decided it was time to go to uni.

What’s the most valuable thing you took from your education?

Having that one-to-one with the teachers, that very close relationship — friendship I can call it now — really helped to get my ideas, those things that you have in your mind, out and actually produce something. It could be an essay, it could be a film. In my case it was fashion, it was garments.

Which aspects of the course most helped your career development, and why?

They're really good at networking, making you collaborating with other people. It's not just you doing something. Throughout the course, from year one, we had live briefs. I remember in the second semester we were working with a company from Norwich, making shirts, and I managed to get an internship with them.

And again, in the second year, we had more live briefs and it was really building you for the industry, getting that experience from year one, I would say.

It worked really well and it pushed us to collaborate, to get to know people around you. Don't just be stuck in your studio, in your class. Go out, reach out to other people when you need the help. We always got extra points for asking someone from the fashion department to come and take a shot of our garments. It builds you to create those connections later on, to reach out when you need to.

And again it goes back to networking, which I think ARU has done amazingly.

What piece of advice would you give to other fashion design students?

Know your worth from the day you start and for the rest of your career. We do spend time and money on learning something. We make our way after university with a BA or diploma. I think you need to know your worth.

And when you apply for jobs or someone else approaches you, remember that you have a set of skills, a set of knowledge that they're coming to you for, that they need from you. Don't be afraid of asking the right price for it, or simply saying "no" if it's not for you.

What was your favourite thing about studying in Cambridge?

I definitely like its variety. There’s so much here. Even though it's a small city, which I think helps to connect to people, there’s a lot. You can just go for a beer, or go walking, and you can meet someone studying, you know, cancer research, or someone like me doing fashion design.

Something I've learned about the city is that it helps you make those connections. One piece of advice as well: go and meet those people. Don't isolate yourself. Be the social butterfly. Create events. Go to other events that have been created. Get involved. I think it's very important, and Cambridge allows you to do so. There are so many opportunities within the university and outside as well. Just go out, discover, explore, visit places, meet people.

There is a small fashion scene. It's sort of hidden, but it is there. There's a yearly fashion show at Cambridge University, and they always ask us fashion designers to participate, either by borrowing garments or helping out.

There's been a lot of fashion shows within the shopping centres, and there's a lot of small boutiques, independent ones. I think that's probably what made me stay here. There is a small fashion scene and its growing, so there are opportunities for that — and I didn't know until I started to explore the city.

What projects are you currently working on, both at work and outside it?

I always like to keep myself busy and there’s never just one project. As I mentioned before, I'm working at Levi's as a District Ambassador, and that's taking most of my time actually, managing the shops. It can be challenging and time consuming, but I actually love it. It's passing on some of the knowledge I have.

And there’s the denim repair business, which started as a Cambridge thing., but sort of scaled up without me knowing that it was going to. Now I have people reaching out from pretty much across the country. Quite a few from London. It’s a service that seems to be in demand right now, so I'm spending a lot of time on it, trying to understand how to professionalise not just the service but the logistics, that side of the business as well.

And then I'm a creative person. I like to design, so that never really dies. There's always something going on with that. I'm currently trying to come up with another fashion show, something slightly different than what we've seen before, where models just walk up and down with people on the sides watching. I like to challenge norms. It's a bit of a secret and I don't want to spoil it too much, but just watch out — there will be something coming out soon.