By Joely Walker

The Canadian King of Knits, Mark Fast, took traditional wool and shredded it into something sexy. Blending lycra with the finest luxury wools, he creates slinky body-hugging dresses and cool tubular separates, all from a humble domestic sewing machine. We caught up with him backstage before his S/S14 show...

How involved do you like to be with the hair and make-up?

We work organically together, this season I had a really strong vision of a gothic chic girl and I spoke to Nick Irwin on hair and he came up with the idea of the wigs and we just went for it.

The make-up look is quite A/W...

Goths don't go into hibernation in the spring time and I wanted to bring out the darkness, contrasting to the bright colours in my S/S collection. There's a dark thread of lycra integrated in the clothes which I think really complements the all over dark reference.

What was your inspiration for the collection?

I listened to old Nine Inch Nails tracks which I used to love when I was a teen and wanted to resonate that interest of wanting to be apart of something - be it a family, a group or a culture - into the clothes. Now everything's so spread out into the Twitter universe, there's nothing to hold on to or be a part of.

If you were to sum up the collection, make-up and hair in one word what would it be?

Twisted

What's your favourite book?

ELLE, of course.

What's your favourite film?

The Skin I'm In with Antonio Banderas

What's your most treasured fashion item?

My mum gave me this bracelet with 'Fearless' engraved on it. It's something my Grandma told me before she died, 'Never fear life'.

The make-up look by bareMineral's International Make-Up Artist Sarah-Jane Froom. 'Petrol lips' and dewy skin...

Hair by TIGI's Nick Irwin. 'Camden goths' using wigs from the market...

Follow @ELLEBEAUTYTEAM on Twitter for live updates from backstage...