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Influenced by the beauty of Scotland's outdoors (and her own outdoor adventures), her line of backpacks, lunch bags and small accessories are in high demand. She says she "accidently started" her own business, but we think that it was definitely set out on her horizon.

Laura designs and sews her handcrafted products from her studio base in the Deemouth Artists鈥� Studios (neighbouring the alum-run Aberdeen Ceramics Studio), where she keeps detail and sustainability top of mind.

Tradition and care embed the tapestry of her brand and using materials that last a lifetime is important to the Fernweh ethos. Many of the products are made using wax cotton canvas which is not only highly durable but has a deep Scottish history and tie to the North East鈥檚 fishing heritage.

The material evolved from oilcloth and sailcloth which would be waterproofed with coatings of linseed oil and flax for making boat sails. After discovering that the sails would discolour and harden, cotton was then coated in wax to provide a more robust material.

She said: 鈥淚 love the making process. All the fabrics we use have a lot of history and heritage behind them, the blending of the story of one fabric with our story is something I鈥檝e always found really exciting.

鈥淚 didn鈥檛 want to design something and send it off to be made in an environment that I didn鈥檛 know what鈥檚 going on behind the scenes. By making my products in-house, I can control the conditions things are made and work to a zero-waste ethos. Our scrap bins are always full of materials, but it all gets used in some way.

鈥淭he wax cotton we use is from Halley Stevensons in Dundee. They鈥檝e been making water-proof textiles since the 1800s and the team鈥檚 wealth of knowledge in that realm is amazing and the materials are fantastic to work with. It鈥檚 a huge bonus to use local materials that are so iconic to Scotland and being to work those into our story is really great. That heritage feel is huge for me.鈥�

Her passion beams from her during our conversation and it鈥檚 that passion that really drives her brand. Her role is much more than the design and production of her line, she takes on every aspect of the business 鈥� she loves it all but the topic of work-life balance is one she鈥檚 certainly battled with.

She shared: 鈥淚t鈥檚 probably one of my biggest challenges in my career to date. I鈥檓 getting better at it but it鈥檚 definitely a work in progress.

鈥淲hen you love what you do so much, it can be hard to say no things. You want to take all the opportunities that come your way because they excite you and when you鈥檙e starting out, you don鈥檛 know when that鈥檚 going to stop. You want to grow your business by taking on awesome opportunities but it鈥檚 definitely one of those things you need to work out over time.

鈥淚鈥檓 much better than when I first started out, but I guess it鈥檚 the nature of the beast.鈥�

Regardless of the juggling, tight deadlines or hurdles, she wouldn鈥檛 have it any other way and encourages other creatives to roll out their talents. 鈥淛ust go for it!鈥� was her reply when asked to give some advice to future makers. But for Laura, passion is a key part of running a business and she urged budding entrepreneurs to keep that in mind before starting the process.

鈥淭here are so many different avenues you can go down in fashion and if you鈥檙e really passionate about what you鈥檙e creating, that will always shine through. Passion is going to make you really push through and make your product work.

鈥淭he more people working in creative careers, the better.鈥�

Learn more about her creative journey and why she continues to work with Gray's students in her Alumni in Focus interview: