A TEENAGE fashion fan is hoping to bring city chic to a North- East market town by hosting an event for up-and-coming designers and vintage clothing retailers.

Kimberley Knowles, 18, of Whinfield, Darlington, who has already set up her own clothes and accessories label, is hoping to create a fashion event similar to London’s Portabello Road and Camden markets later this summer in Yarm, near Stockton.

She is looking for vintage retailers and young designers who would like to exhibit at the event, which is due to be held on July 24.

Miss Knowles, who has been making clothes and jewellery since she was 14, founded her Madison Ivory label aged 16, while completing a fashion design course at Darlington College.

She sells her products, which include T-shirts, dresses and jewellery, through boutiques in Northallerton and Whitby, North Yorkshire, and at craft markets.

However, Miss Knowles, who also sells vintage finds, has struggled to find fairs which cater for her target market. “All the craft fairs seem to cater more for the older generation, and there doesn’t seem to be a lot of those type of events for young people,” said Miss Knowles, who is also setting up a website to sell her designs.

“I want to put on something with clothes from young designers and people selling vintage clothes.”

Miss Knowles, whose style icons are her mother and stars Audrey Hepburn, Sarah Jessica Parker and Brigitte Bardot, began making her own clothes because she found it hard to find what she wanted in high street stores.

“I like unique things,” said Miss Knowles, who works at Joe’s Bar, in Darlington, making cocktails on a weekend. “I couldn’t find what I liked in shops so I started customising things.

“I made a lot for my mum, my sister and friends. People started asking where they’d got their clothes from, so I started making things to sell – and it just went from there.”

To book a stall at the market, email kimberley-knowles@hotmail.co.uk