CONTENT CREATOR OF THE WEEK: HOLLIE LOUISE

CONTENT CREATOR OF THE WEEK: HOLLIE LOUISE**

If you don't follow Hollie Louise already, you need to immediately! We absolutely loved putting this week’s CCOTW together. She’s a master of making merch and one of the most unique, creative Thoosies out there. Hollie Louise has turned her love of theme parks into her own, unique creative style. Her designs aren't recreations of the merch you'll find in the ride shops — they're her own takes on the rides and attractions she loves, packed with cool details.

We caught up with her to find out more about her theme park obsession, her approach to fashion design and the inspiration behind some of her favourite pieces.

FROM ADVENTURE ISLAND TO ALTON TOWERS

So, where did you first get the theme park bug?

“When I was younger my parents took me to Adventure Island every now and then in the summer and I always loved going. Then when I was 16 my friend had a birthday party at Thorpe Park and we went in a limo, defo a cool experience! But what made me love them was when I visited Alton Towers for the first time. I later decided to make the themes of the rides my portfolio to get into uni; then I thought it could be cool to make a jumper inspired by Th13teen after making a wreath covered in embroidered leaves for my final piece and the more I visited the park the more obsessed I became with going!”

So, what’s your home park and your favourite ride ever?

“My favourite park is definitely still Alton Towers but my home park is still Adventure Island, I'm from Essex so saying Thorpe Park is a bit of a stretch! My favourite ride is Wicker Man, I just love it!”

Your creations are all about theming, what's your favourite themed ride?

“My favourite is, again, Wicker Man. I love the smell of the pre-show. I wish it was a candle! The fact that it's made out of wood is so cool, and Big Bob being on fire is insane at night.”

We’d love a Wicker Man Candle too! What's your favourite merch you've ever bought?

“I have so much it's hard to choose! I love my Scarefest mugs, I have the Th13teen and Wicker Man one, or my Smiler cup I take it everywhere! I also have a Curse at Alton Manor notebook and pen which my brother bought me so I take that to uni every day, honestly I love everything I've bought home!”

YOUR AMAZING CUSTOM MERCH!

What actually got you started making your own clothing? What was your very first attempt, and how did it go?

“I've been sewing since I was 10 years old and then got into pattern cutting/sewing a lot more during lockdown as I had a lot more time to develop my skills. Ever since I've made it my goal to have everything in my wardrobe made by myself, so almost everything you see me wear is something I've made myself! The very first thing I made was a dress by hand as I didn't have a sewing machine yet. It had a zip but being 10 it was very rough and we all start somewhere!”

Wow! That’s a really impressive goal. So is clothing purely a hobby, or do you see it as a career?

“It definitely started as a hobby, I initially decided not to go to uni after I left school. But after I figured out I did not want to do a standard office job I chose to go to uni and I'm currently starting my final year! My dream is to be able to sell my theme park designs to all the fans out there who share the same love for the parks as I do.”

Can you take us through your process when you start a completely new piece?

“I start with getting as much inspiration as possible. With my theme park makes, some rides are a lot easier to get inspo from than others, Galactica was VERY difficult and Nemesis Reborn was much easier to work with. I'll then start designing and thinking of different ways to add the details e.g. embroidery, crochet, appliqué and begin sampling. When I'm happy with what I've got, I'll start working on the final piece. Seeing it come together is very exciting!”

How long does it normally take you to complete a design start to finish?

“It varies depending on what I'm making. Pieces which require a lot of embroidery, like my Oblivion hoodie, take a very long time as it leaves me sometimes waiting for it to finish so I can carry on with the whole piece. Making a bag isn't as time consuming as it doesn't have as big a surface area so there's not as much detail. Having said that, it depends on how much detail I can cram onto it, I like adding as much as possible without it looking messy. The only piece I have timed making was my Nemesis Reborn hoodie which took 42 hours from designing to the final product!”

When you make your clothing just for yourself, or do your Thoosie mates request pieces from you too?!

“I mainly make clothing for myself; I have made a few pieces for my friends and family which is exciting and always fun seeing other people wearing something I have made, it's so surreal!”

THE OBLIVION HOODIE

We love your Oblivion hoodies — please tell us about them!

“I have made 3 Oblivion hoodies in total! The first was for me, second for Coaster Gemz and my most recent for Bash (Mohawk Man). All three of them are different which makes them completely unique. Initially I looked at the colour scheme of Oblivion, thought about the chevrons and how I could incorporate them into the design, then when it came to what I was going to put on the hoodie, I listened for the phrases said on the ride. Don't look down was very obvious, but I also memorised the whole of the Lord of Darkness' speech to sew that onto my sleeves, I had to re-ride it a few times! After I had all the ideas, I had to work out the best way to get the text onto the piece which, in this case, was embroidery. It's the most durable finishing technique and lasts longer than other processes like screen and lino printing.”

WICKER MAN, DISASTERS AND THE OFFICIAL-MERCH TEST

What's your favourite piece you've ever created?

“My Wicker Man hoodie, I made one for my boyfriend too as it's his favourite ride as well and when we see our on-ride photo it's pretty cool to be matching! It's special as it's my favourite and I love the fact that it has so much mixed media on it. It was fun crocheting the horns and Big Bob on the back, as well as the appliqué for the flames and Wicker Man logo on the front.”

There is so much detailing, have you had any disasters when making something?

“My biggest disaster would be my embroidery machine literally chewing my fabric at the last part of making something, I have to start that part of the piece all over again because sometimes the hole is too big to fix, it's a huge pain! This happened with my boyfriend's Wicker Man hoodie, I had to make a new sleeve but then I ran out of the embroidery thread and it had a domino effect of disaster!”

Do you always get asked, 'hey where did you get that merch?'

“I have had people approach me and ask where I got it from so when I say "I made it" many say they thought I bought it in the shop and it looks official, high praise thank you! Recently I had someone in The Smiler queue say to me they were looking for where I got my Nemesis Reborn hoodie from and pulled up my TikTok of my making it, I haven't had that happen before!”

FROM HOBBY TO FUTURE CAREER

You've done hoodies, bags, PJs — what's next?

“Honestly I have no idea! I have a full list of things I want to make but it's hard to choose when I have uni to think about too. Uni is my main focus but I plan on making my graduate collection related to Wicker Man so fingers crossed I have the creative freedom to do so and I can share my ideas with everyone!”

For now, university is the main focus, but there's already a very exciting project potentially waiting in the wings and Wicker Man isn't the only attraction on Hollie Louise's creative hit list.

Curse at Alton Manor is another project she's keen to tackle. Hollie Louise and her best friend both love the attraction, so she's planning matching hoodies for them. She's even got an idea for a Curse at Alton Manor bag which could be her most extravagant idea yet.

There's just one slight problem. “I have no idea how I'm going to pull it off!”

We definitely need to see that one when it happens.

So next time you're in the park and spot someone wearing the most fantastic merch you've somehow never seen before, take a closer look.

It might just be Hollie Louise in her latest creation.

FIND HOLLIE LOUISE

Want to see how the creations come together? Follow Hollie Louise on TikTok: @Hollie_louise_