YELENA SMIRNOVA

Born in Almaty, the capital of Kazakhstan, Yelena Smirnova, 39, established herself as a designer with her own atelier and a collection of private clients back home, before heading to England and a degree in fashion design at Salford University in Manchester. “Here it is so different,” she says. ”This country has a different approach to design. Fashion is just so creative. People push themselves. And they’re not afraid to take a risk.” Which, for Smirnova, has involved setting up on her own after working as a freelance textile designer, at Temperley and for Eun Jeong, the winner of Fashion Fringe 2008. In her studio she has pictures of Natalia Vodianova pinned to her inspiration wall. “She can be a girl, she can be a woman. She can be sexy, she can be shy,” Smirnova says of her latest muse. And the results of all these ideas? Lighter-than-air, jewel-toned cocktail dresses. “They should never be heavy, they must always be light,” she says.

ELLIOT ATKINSON

When he was growing up, Elliot Atkinson, 25, wanted to be a classical musician. “Though, unfortunately, I can’t read music,” he says. “I have to do it by ear. So that didn’t exactly work out.” Still determined to be some form of artist, he turned to fashion at 16, then headed to Edinburgh to do an MA at the College of Art. Inspired by what influenced him when he was younger — everything from Barbie to catalogues to Lady Penelope — his collection for Fashion Fringe is all about a return to an LA-luxe style of living. Brightly coloured minidresses in bubblegum pinks and graphic floral prints are paired with tough-girl jackets for a look that is, as he puts it, “very 1990s, a bit Kate, a bit Naomi”. All of which lends the collection an opulent feel. “It has an air of casual decadence,” Atkinson says. “I love that whole dressing like Patsy from Ab Fab thing. It’s very luxury-driven.”

JENA THEO

LIDIJA & DEJAN

Lidija Danilovic, 36, and Dejan Agatonovic, 31, went to the same university in Belgrade, both studying to be dentists “to please the parents”. But it wasn’t until they were in London in 2004 — with Danilovic studying at the London College of Fashion and Agatonovic doing an MA at Central Saint Martins — that they met. Agatonovic had worked for several designers before entering Fashion Fringe in 2007 and making the final four. Danilovic has worked for Preen and Alexander McQueen among others. Now they have come together, Agatonovic says it’s all about creating “modern luxury”. For Danilovic, that means something powerful. “When I design, I am inspired to make pieces that girls can wear, instead of pieces that wear the girls,” she says. “That’s important. The clothes are powerful, and they’re for people who know what they want.” As for Agatonovic? “I’m inspired by Lidjia.”

Jenny Holmes, 29, and Dimitris Theocharidis, 31, both graduated from the London College of Fashion before going their separate ways to do stints in fashion buying and graphic design respectively. “We decided to do some things together as more of a hobby,” says Holmes. Getting through to the Fashion Fringe final has focused their ambition. Holmes is inspired by horror films: “They bring a lot of repetition, and the way I work is very much into lots of repetitions of big shapes.” Theocharidis is more into “the details, the tailoring”. They see eye to eye, though, on customisation. “There are things that are reversible,” says Theocharidis. “You have a waistcoat you can take off or wear loose, so a woman wearing one of our designs can translate it to her own look.”

The winner of the Fashion Fringe at Covent Garden platform will be chosen on September 21; fashionfringe.co.uk

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