Many elements form the fabric of an individual's life. Overlooked yet iconic elements and influences in my own life have helped shape my identity. Am I a northerner? A true Sheffield lass? What is the fabric of my life?
The style and mood of this collection is underpinned by personal elements once nostalgic but now repurposed - my father's flying suit, my grandmother's carpet, my mother's iconic dress sense. All items of fabric which hold a sentimental attachment- and informed by an exploration of Sheffield's industrial past epitomised by a pair of Sheffield Steel fabric shears bought for me by my father and inscribed 'For the Fabric of Life'.
Another focus is Park Hill Flats in Sheffield - a brutalist ugly eyesore to some, an iconic legacy to others. The architects of this social housing experiment hoped to construct a community and create a new fabric of life for the 1000+ residents of these 'streets in the sky.' Park Hill influences the colour palette of the collection and consists of ice blues, steel and soft greys, ox blood burgundy and off-yellow.
A flying suit, present my entire life but undervalued, forms the source piece. My relationship with this highly functional, detailed and beautiful garment - which my dad wears while doing DIY or mowing the lawn - adding to its obscurity. The piece will be used throughout the collection, referencing the workwear fabric and exposing the details and seams of the garment. The linear nature of the flat felled seams also mimics the Park Hill walkways.
The appreciation of the value of items underpins my ethos within sustainable design. Items need to be created with the intent for durability of both quality, production and emotional longevity. Garments need to be produced with the intention of being part of the fabric of the wearers life and not a short-term exchange.
The design process for this collection began with the deconstruction and reconstruction of the flying suit then playing with the idea of modifying and reassembling pattern pieces. The construction element is expressed by the use of rivets, eyelets, bolts and Meccano in the trims. Some of the silhouettes are created from pieced together elements and the shaping of the original flying suit. I hope to create garments that will one day contribute to the fabric of someone else's life, creating an attachment rather than seeing the garment as disposable.
Within my six look womenswear collection I have combined contemporary silhouettes with wearable and statement pieces. My aim is to syndicate moral led design and production with stylish delineation and distance ethical fashion from the dated stigma and connotations it is moving away from. Through the use of remnant or repurposed fabrics and British or EU sourced trims and fabrics to reduce importation carbon emissions. Every effort has been taken to trace all element of this collection and all decisions have a considered balance between aesthetics and ethical and sustainable principles. Anything that has had to be used that is not sustainable has been carbon offset through ClimateCare.org, which calculated the amount of carbon emissions created by this collection to be 3.26 tonnes.
