The young sustainable designer
It's probably fair to say that self-taught millionaire designers are something of a (17) ________. But then, even by London College's standards, Leah Marino is a rather (18) ________ designer. Always (19) ________ inquisitive, Marino taught herself pattern-making while remarkably young. She used her design expertise to create a small clothing label which reuses discarded fabrics. She called it ReThread. But Marino is also highly (20) ________ and, aged only sixteen, she sought and then received financial backing from several (21) ________, which allowed her to develop her business. It proved (22) ________ successful and two years later a national retailer acquired Marino's label for three million pounds. She then worked for the large retail group for a time (there was some (23) ________ in her team about having a very young creative director!) before deciding to continue her studies. Despite her sudden wealth, Marino believes that equating money with success is never a good idea and feels (24) ________ to be treated just like any other designer by both tutors and classmates.