A former Dundee art student who was saved from a serious skiing accident in France thanks to her brightly-coloured ski jacket is to launch her own studio to design and sell her potentially life-saving, custom-made ski clothing.
Paula Fox, 25, was inspired to create her own design range, PonyoSquid Ski Apparel, after she was knocked unconscious in the 2012 accident in the Alps.
The Duncan of Jordanstone College of Art and Design graduate was skiing down the slopes when she encountered ice on the run and hit the ground with a thump fracturing her collarbone and causing nerve damage to her shoulder.
Paula says she was lucky to be rescued and could have been left to lie for longer, possibly suffering further injury if she had not been wearing bright clothes.
Now, after graduating this summer, the textile designer has launched a set of colour-coded ski jackets to help improve safety on the slopes.
She has already exhibited her collection at the New Designers exhibition in London in June and the jackets were featured in the top five designs at Cool Hunting, an international creative hub.
Paula originally from Clackmannanshire but who says Dundee “stole her heart” during her student days said she has also been shortlisted for the prestigious Shell LiveWIRE Grand Ideas Awards.
It offers winners a prize of £1,000 and a PR campaign for their business and, if successful, it will help pay for the studio she intends opening.
Still suffering from the effects of the accident, Paula says she was lucky.
“If I’d been wearing dark colours it would’ve been much harder to be spotted as it was getting dark,” she said.
“I need surgery for it and that’s supposed to happen soon but I’m going to have to reschedule it because it’s going to come right at the start of the ski season when all the marketing kicks in.”
Paula’s jackets have already been praised for their originality as they are colour-coded according to the skier’s ability.
Beginners wear green, blue is for amateurs and red for advanced and solar-operated lights attached to the pockets mean it is easier to be spotted in the event of an accident.
Paula says if she is successful in the Shell LiveWIRE Grand Ideas Awards she will use the winnings to help set up her own textile studio at Wasps in Dundee, where she can operate as a designer/sole trader.
But the real prize, she admits, is the opportunity afforded to the winners going through to the Young Entrepreneurs of the Year Awards, which has a prize of £10,000.