Olivia Tate
Olivia Tate is a feminist illustrator, small business owner and creative. She has just entered her final year studying Illustration at Sheffield Hallam University after undertaking a placement year with the Sheffield Hallam Enterprise Team. Within her placement year she won the Inspirational Student Entrepreneurship award and the Santander Breakthrough 2023 award.
Olivia has been freelancing in illustration since 2019. She has collaborated with diverse clients such as Andro & Eve, the Barnsley Civic and Disco Wonderland. Through her illustration, Olivia celebrates and explores female empowerment, body positivity, self-love, the LGBTQ+ community and mental health. Her work serves not only to initiate meaningful conversations but also to educate and raise awareness.
Adding to her list of achievements, Olivia has recently won Sheffield Hallam Union’s competition for the LGBTQ+ mural. Her winning creation, ‘Pride is still a riot’, is set to adorn Sheffield Hallam University’s Owen Building, a testament to her commitment to promoting inclusivity and diversity.
Throughout Olivia’s placement year she embarked on new ventures such as curating her first event for International Women’s Day. This event took place in March 2023 at the Hallam Pop-up shop, and showcased 20 women owned, local businesses.
More importantly for this occasion, Olivia used her placement year to develop a new business idea into sustainable fashion – Violet Venom. The inspiration for this new business venture was to seamlessly merge her illustration background with her love of fashion and passion for sustainability. Recognising the pressing issue of fast fashion and textile waste in today’s world, Olivia aims to mitigate its impact through Violet Venom. Her vision is to up-cycle and customise pre-loved clothing, breathing new life into garments that might otherwise be discarded, thereby contributing to a more sustainable future. Her mission is to make sustainable fashion accessible, showing the world that style can coexist with responsibility.
The brand has had to soft-launch before its official collection drop as local feminist musician Delilah Bon debuted a hand-painted Violet Venom two-piece set on cover of the Misfits 2.0 Spotify Playlist cover. Over the last few months, Olivia has been working on a collection of one-off customised pieces, building anticipation for the official launch of Violet Venom. The goal is not just to be a fashion label but a symbol of sustainability, a name synonymous with conscious living.
Olivia Tate is not just an illustrator; she is a creative powerhouse and an advocate for positive change, using her talents and businesses to make a lasting impact on the world of art, fashion, and sustainability.