DEMONTAGE Magazine 2021: Issue 1

TEXTILES DESIGN SUSTAINABILITY CULTURE LIFE

COMMUNITY

ISSUE NO 1

FASHION

ISSN 2753-9784 (PRINT)

A FASHION AND TEXTILES MAGAZINE

DEMONTAGE.ONLINE

#DEMONTAGEMAGAZINE #MA_FASHIONANDTEXTILES_DMU

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EDITOR'S LETTER We are in a pandemic war.

Our DMU designers have shown resilience and battled through despite the unrest around them. It has been a tough road with no certainties, however, they have shown what can be possible through these challenging times.

They are our future designers; the industry looks to them for the next innovation and future solutions to our design problems.

I am proud to announce DeMontage magazine.

A De Montfort University (DMU) showcase highlighting the incredible journey of our 2020 – 2021 DMU graduates and current MA fashion and textiles designers.

In our first issue, you will see the diversity of projects and how designers have adapted their working practice reflecting on current issues through digital and sustainable outcomes.

Yukun Deng featured on our front cover uses 3D rendering, rapid prototyping, and video to realise and present his sustainable modular footwear collection.

DAVINA HAWTHORNE

He has been carving out a name for himself through sheer determination, perseverance, and hard work. Shortlisted for the ArtsThread Pentland Design competition and winner of the ANTA Masterpiece Award. He has been featured in numerous trend forecasting magazines and as a result of entering the ANTA competition was quickly snapped up by ANTA to be their footwear sportwear designer.

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History, place, and community play a key role in Christina Wigmore’s digital textile prints.

2020 saw her working on a live brief ‘street stories’ a community-based project which DMU collaborated on with Arch and Bid Leicester. Here augmented reality is explored in Leicester’s empty shop windows (pages 29-32). Inae You one of our graduating textile designers (pages 39 -42) and founder of RosieLee Tearooms explores the gentrification of Leicester’s city centre here she uses her exquisite hand-drawing skills to document some of the hidden gems amongst the nooks and crannies of the city centre.

IMAGE: PRINT DESIGN BY INAE YOU

Identity has never been so prevalent. It is explored through our design communication project set by DMU’s subject leader of fashion Della Swain and led by the talented artist Jane Thomson. Here designers explore gender, race, and British-ness. We showcase some of the best on pages 47 - 64.

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EDITOR'S LETTER CONTINUED>>> Black Lives Matter has come to the forefront. Caryn Franklin fashion identity commentator and FACE (Fashion Academics Creating Equality) member is calling on white academics AND white students to step up on behalf of Black and Brown colleagues and friends read further about the latest campaign pages 6 to 8.

It’s amazing to see the innovative ways in which designers have adapted to working from home and so good to see designer Phoebe Thorne cooking up some incredible biomaterials from her kitchen. These hand-crafted materials, sometimes unpredictable in nature, show potential starting points for use in swimwear (pages 89 - 94).

Last but not least check out all our online activities at demontage.online and if you enjoy DeMontage spread the word to the wider community!

FRONT COVER Footwear: Yukun Deng Model: Tzu Yin Chen Photographer: He Yi-Syuan Photography Assistant: He Yi-Yun

IMAGE; MODULAR FOOTWEAR BY YUKUN DENG

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Contributing Editors Lorraine Henry King Jo Horton Laura Dickinson Bethany Bell Christina Wigmore Jo Cope Jane Thomson Othello De' Souza - Hartley

Contributing Image Editor

Stephanie Choy

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Contributors Caryn Franklin Zoltan + Media FACE X Christopher Kane Pascal Mattias Balint Barna Odira Morwabone Toni & Guy Intraspectrum Studios Alice Sear Monet Aluko Matt Evans Antony Woolmer Fariha Choudhury Chen - Ni Hsu Simran Dhond @hannah.karpel @yelsss Della Swain Colin Renfrew Arch Creative Bid Leicester Samantha Sargeant Phoebe Thorne Hongyu Hou Theognosia Chrysostomou Devika Bahadur Danielle Sprecher

Avis Charles Jane Cameron Natalie Hayton Stephen Hughes Heini Taksula Lucy Wilding Caroline Gurnett Karen Deacon Jane Cameron Brett Prestidge Paul Rawson / Antony Campbell (parc) Carol Wiseman Martin Zahringer Otto Louis Byrne Christopher Colville - Walker Nick Palmer Yukun Deng Tzu Yin Chen He Yi - Yun He Yi - Syuan Inae You Innouiio Sarah Bladen Biddie - Charmaine Beneyto Moonji - Abilaha Bhohi

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SEE MY FACE: IN CONVERSATION WITH CARYN FRANKLIN AS FACE ANNOUNCES ITS LATEST CAMPAIGN CARYN FRANKLIN

In the current climate of BLM culture and our personal complicity of staying silent about race inequality, we have the power to change things NOW. As a member of FACE www.weareface.uk I’m calling on white academics AND white students to step up on behalf of Black and Brown colleagues and friends.

You may never have given much thought about your race or the white-centred experience and comfort of living your life without racism. This is your priviledge.

Start thinking about it. Use your priviledge and your power NOW to acknowledge the lack of race diversity in your learning environment.

How many Black or Brown students are on your course?

How many Black and Brown lecturers teach on a regular basis?

What about visiting lecturers or presentations from Black or Brown industry experts to enhance learning of our global marketplace?

If we are white, we must acknowledge our lack of race knowledge and the alienation young creatives of colour are feeling and experiencing without the encouragement and support of permanent lecturers or regular visitors who understand the debilitating way racism works.

IMAGE: LEICESTERS STATUE OF LIBERTY

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Caryn Franklin MBE, BA (Hons) MSc (Psych) MBPsS is a fashion and identity commentator, agent of change, visiting professor of diverse selfhood at Kingston School of Art. A former fashion editor and co-editor of i-D Magazine (82-88) and TV broadcaster for 15 years on prime-time fashion programmes, self-authored documentaries, news and current affairs commentary alongside journalism and book authorship, Franklin has explored the politics of image and self-esteem extensively over nearly 40 years of fashion practice in commercial, educational and activist positions. Projects have involved international design names and everyday users of fashion as well as refugees in battle zones, workers in free-trade-zone slums, mental-health and body-image experts, MP's and Government.

IMAGE: LEICESTERS STATUE OF LIBERTY

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"IN THE CURRENT CLIMATE OF BLM CULTURE AND OUR PERSONAL COMPLICITY OF STAYING SILENT ABOUT RACE INEQUALITY WE HAVE THE POWER TO CHANGE THINGS NOW" CARYN FRANKLIN

We are not delivering quality for students of any race (white included) when we don’t present diverse perspectives. And we are not supporting the too few Black and Brown academics in our system by ignoring the many race inequality barriers to recruitment, progression, and flourishing for all people of colour.

Young-creatives, FACE needs you to add your voice to our drive for race equality by filling in this 5-minute survey – you can be from any Art-School discipline. Survey here https://v4tfm4r3aj9.typeform.com/to/pojqMg6e

And to all white academics come and join me and other white academics from around the country to discuss radical progress.

Be empowered to take your demands for change back to your institution.

We need more Black and Brown academics in our system now. Help us to dismantle systems and create new pathways.

Apply here https://www.weareface.uk/contact Want to learn more read this simple FACE post https://www.weareface.uk/blog/see-my-face

IMAGE: LEICESTERS STATUE OF LIBERTY

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PHYSICAL DIGITAL PHYGITAL

MODULAR FOOTWEAR: YUKUN DENG

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ADAPTING Yukun Deng has gone from strength to strength, in 2017 he participated in the design of observer's footwear competition for the Beijing Winter Olympics. This enabled him to visit and study the 2018 Pyeong Chang Winter Olympics in South Korea. He was later shortlisted for the Arts – Thread, Pentland Churchill design competition in 2020. He states ‘I was so honored to have been shortlisted for such a prestigious competition. It was a wonderful experience to be given the opportunity to have an interview with Churchill's granddaughter‘. He went on to win the masterpiece award for the Chinese sportswear company Anta. They were so impressed that they employed him.

Now a sportswear footwear designer for Anta. Yukun said that participating in the various design competitions while he was studying was one of the best ways to exercise his design thinking and creative abilities..Yukun’s MA collection titled “Adapting”, is about humans adapting to a changing world namely the increasingly extreme climate.

IMAGES: MODULAR FOOTWEAR BY YUKUN DENG

IMAGES: YUKUN DENG

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The collection is inspired by future retroism and survivalism and takes modularity to the extreme. The diversity of shoes within his collection can be freely combined and worn in different ways. His ideology of modular systems demonstrates that the life of the shoe can be extended.

IMAGES: MODULAR FOOTWEAR BY YUKUN DENG

"MY COLLECTION INVOLVED EXPERIMENTING WITH THE NEW ORDER OF SHOES BY THIS I MEAN A NEW IDEOLOGY AND WAY OF DESIGN THINKING THROUGH THIS MODULAR DESIGN SYSTEM." YUKUN DENG

Yukun is interested in the efficiency of recycling and sustainability through design that enables longer-lasting products. He is excited by the prospect of expanding the limits of shoe design and hopes to encourage a spiritual culture that enhances consumer recognition of such products.

Yukun considers the balance between business and academia through enterprise and research to improving design capabilities and efficiency as well as achieving resource conservation.

Yukun explains ‘my collection involved experimenting with the new order of shoes by this I mean a new ideology and way of design thinking through this modular design system. My ultimate goal would be to successfully combine art and business. He goes on to say I am interested in creating 3D products in Virtual Reality, for me the future of fashion design is a mixture of the digital and the physical.

Instagram: @design.by.yukundeng

IMAGE: MODULAR FOOTWEAR BY YUKUN DENG

"IT WAS A WONDERFUL EXPERIENCE TO BE GIVEN THE OPPORTUNITY TO HAVE AN INTERVIEW WITH CHURCHILL'S GRANDDAUGHTER"..

YUKUN DENG

PHOTOSHOOT CREDITS: FOOTWEAR: YUKUN DENG MODEL: TZU YIN CHEN PHOTOGRAPHER: HE YI-SYUAN PHOTOGRAPHY ASSISTANT: HE YI-YUN

INDUSTRY INSIGHT

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DEMONTAGE TALK TO PARC ABOUT SHOWING AT LFW DURING COVID parc menswear co-founders Paul Rawson and Anthony Campbell first crossed paths on the MA Fashion Course at Central St. Martins in 2005 under the tutelage of industry legend Louise Wilson OBE. Their following years were spent accruing a design and styling clientele of some of the most prominent names in British fashion and the arts including Richard Nicoll x Linder Sterling, Martine Rose, and Bodymap for Michael Clark. The pair have also nurtured and supported hundreds of fashion students as course leaders of institutions including the University of Westminster and the London College of Fashion parc was conceived in 2017 when the designers were invited to exhibit as part of the Queer Art(ists) Now exhibition at the renowned hub for emerging artists and designers, the Archive Gallery, east London. Their masculinity-querying series of multimedia artworks focused around crystal-encrusted jockstraps (worn by post-punk band HM Ltd in their music video for Pictures of You) organically became the prelude to the inaugural parc menswear collection. Series 2 continued the music industry love affair with parc, dressing rising stars Arlo Parks and 220Kid. To date, the brand has worked with artisans and accessories and textile designers including James Millar, Rarethread, Noel Stewart, Jodie Ruffle, and Carol Wiseman. As a collective, they developed and produced the rich fabrications, embellishments, and accessories that rapidly established the parc aesthetic.

IMAGE: PARC - SERIES 3 / AUTO PORTER

IMAGE: PARC - SERIES 3 / AUTO PORTER

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DEMONTAGE: How have you adapted to showing at LFW? PARC: Showing during digital fashion week gives a certain sense of democracy to the viewers which is really exciting. This led us to rethink how we connect with that audience and what is relevant for fashion now.

DEMONTAGE: What were the difficulties in showing digitally?

PARC: The main issues we have faced are timings, restrictions enforced by COVID 19 Guidelines, and the effect on sales. Showing digitally means that collections have to be ready much sooner, in order to shoot art-direct and edit a digital outcome. Within our Series 2 collection, we made a short film, showcasing our collection on friends on Hackney Marshes, working with other creatives in our network to produce something very lo-fi, fun, and uplifting. This was during the first lockdown when restrictions had eased slightly, and the first time we’d all been together for a while. With Series 3, we shot on location on the coldest day of the year, but again working with collaborators to produce something really true to the parc brand. The government restrictions meant that only 4 people are allowed to be on a shoot at a time so lots of organisation and sharing roles and multitasking.

IMAGE: PARC - SERIES 3 / AUTO PORTER

"SHOWING DURING DIGITAL FASHION WEEK GIVES A CERTAIN SENSE OF DEMOCRACY TO THE VIEWERS WHICH IS REALLY EXCITING. THIS LED US TO RETHINK HOW WE CONNECT WITH THAT AUDIENCE AND WHAT IS RELEVANT FOR FASHION NOW."..

PARC

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DEMONTAGE: Do you have any positives to showing work digitally?

PARC: Having a digital platform provides another place for designers to show and promote their work, under the umbrella of LFW. Being part of LFW digital has allowed us to produce collections and show them in our own way. Many designers are finding the current climate challenging, so we’re all having to adapt and change the way we show in order to remain current.

The nature of designing is to problem solve and find new solutions; it has produced some really exciting outcomes.

IMAGES: PARC - SERIES 3 / AUTO PORTER JEWELLERY: PARC X CAROL WISEMAN

P A G E 21 42 | D E M O N T A G E

IMAGE: PARC - SERIES 3 / AUTO PORTER

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PHOTOSHOOT CREDITS: PARC - SERIES 3 / AUTO PORTER Jewellery: Parc X Carol Wiseman, Photography: Martin Zahringer Model@ Otto, IMG Models, Grooming: Loius Bryne Art Direction: Christopher Colville - Walker

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DEMONTAGE: What did you show at the recent LFW? PARC: For February LFW we showed our new collection, Series 3 Auto -Porter. As we were working in the middle of another lockdown, and Brexit changes, we made a conscious decision to use what we had in our studio, only ordering trimmings. Over the previous seasons, we had ordered sampling fabrics from Italian mills that we hadn’t taken forward, prints that remained unused as well as garments we had previously developed and shelved. This meant that we could create something that felt very honest and sustainable, we feel that there are many practices explored during this process that we will take forward to future collections. We also showcased our jewellery range, which has been in development for 18 months - parc x Carol Wiseman, with the restrictions of the pandemic a number of the artisans we were working with had to close their studios for a period of time, so delays are inevitable. We feel incredibly proud of the final outcome, especially in terms of the process and collective energy.

DEMONTAGE: What advice would you give a current fashion student and or graduate showing their work digitally for the first time?

PARC: Be open to finding and working in ways that are different from the traditional methods of presenting work, the industry has changed, although I think there is still a desire to have the experience of a traditional runway, there are so many new and innovative ways to present fashion.

Find out more: https://parclondon.com/ https://londonfashionweek.co.uk/designers/parc

TRENDS

ILLUSTRATION: HONGYU HOU

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2020 BAG: HONGYU HOU

IMAGES: PRODUCT RENDERING USING RHINO AND KEYSHOT SOFTWARE BY HONGYU HOU

How do people that are afraid of technology manage in a Covid Pandemic?

Hongyu Hou addresses issues around Technophobia which is a fear of technology. She aims to design products that merge technology with more human characteristics.

Products are designed to have loveable characteristics and act as your friendly companion.

Why not have a bag that double’s up as your friendly pet?

Instagram: @suehahahahah

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PET BAG ILLUSTRATION : HONGYU HOU

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HISTORY PLACE COMMUNITY

IMAGE: DIGITAL PRINT BY CHRISTINA WIGMORE

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QUIRKY LEICESTER STATUE INSPIRES TEXTILE DESIGN

CHRISTINA WIGMORE

I am interested in emotional attachment to textiles, objects and place. The psychology of nostalgia and the sense of wellbeing experienced from reconnecting with fashion, everyday objects, and the stories, real and imagined, that accompany their past use and glory.

I’ve always had a certain affinity with Leicester’s replica of New York’s Statue of Liberty which once stood proudly on top of the Liberty Shoes building on Eastern Boulevard. The factory opened in 1921, it is long gone and has now been replaced by student flats. However, the statue was saved and re-sited on Bede Island opposite the old factory. An incongruous and unusual site to behold. The statue now stands in the middle of a busy traffic island.

The plinth has a plaque that reads; “when men yield up the privilege of thinking, the last shadow of liberty quits the horizon” Thomas Paine 1737-1809.

Thomas Paine and his quote don’t have anything to do with the statue or the Liberty Shoe factory, but the quote does resonate in our current Covid dominated world where none of us are really free to travel across the world. The story of the statue and the factory does have a connection with freedom and travel, however.

My interest in the statue led me to do some research that uncovered the story of the Lennard Brothers, who owned a large shoe manufacturing business with headquarters in Leicester.

IMAGE: LEICESTERS STATUE OF LIBERTY

DIGITAL PRINT: CHRISTINA WIGMORE

After the First World War, the Lennard brothers took a trip to New York to investigate modern shoe production methods. They were so inspired by the vision of the Statue of Liberty as they approached New York Harbour by sea, on their return to Leicester they renamed their company Liberty Shoes and had a replica statue made and placed on top of their new factory.

Drawing on elements of the Liberty Shoes’ story, I created a large-scale textile print design. A 2020 Liberty Shoe is layered over the iconic Statue’s headpiece and ocean shipping lines representing the inspired trip of the Lennard brothers between Leicester and New York. The result is a fun and joyful textile design which now features a series of panels across an empty shop window in Leicester’s Market Street as part of the Street Stories public art project.

The design has a nostalgic, retro feel and a connection to a historical object. In the current Covid crisis it resonates and reflects the concept of liberty and freedom and the uncertainty of when we will be able to walk free once again across the world.

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"IN THE CURRENT COVID CRISIS IT RESONATES AND REFLECTS THE CONCEPT OF LIBERTY AND FREEDOM AND THE UNCERTAINTY OF WHEN WE WILL BE ABLE TO WALK FREE ONCE AGAIN ACROSS THE WORLD" CHRISTINA WIGMORE

Street Stories was commissioned by the Leicester Business Improvement District and delivered by Leicester design agency Arch Creative. My design was selected to represent De Montfort University Fashion & Textiles MA Department alongside ten other artists active in the local community who were tasked with producing creative responses to past and presentsuccess stories of Leicester’s pioneering people and innovations.

The Street Stories project aims to create an engaging ‘street museum trail’ for city centre visitors to enjoy.

The windows of ten currently vacant shops feature images on large-scale printed vinyl panels which reveal animated imagery and narratives triggered as passers-by scroll over the windows with a free smartphone app to bring the empty shop windows to life.

The project aims to regenerate and bring new life to some of the city’s rundown shopping streets to help attract new retail tenants to the empty shop units.

Find out more about Street Stories www.bidleicester.co.uk/streetstories/

DIGITAL PRINT: CHRISTINA WIGMORE

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FASHION MEETS A SOCIAL CAUSE JO COPE X SHELTER

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SHOES HAVE NAMES Stories of homelessness have never been told like this before. Shelter has joined forces with conceptual fashion artist Jo Cope for the Shoes Have Names art exhibition.

Part of London Craft Week, this free exhibition was held at the wonderful flagship Shelter Boutique shop in Coal Drops Yard, in October 2020. The show featured a collection of handmade artworks inspired by the personal experiences of real people facing homelessness.

Ten international artists, shoemakers and designers were paired up with a person that Shelter has helped through its frontline services. Its success has now prompted its national tour to start soon in 2021 - 22.

ELISABETH THORSEN X MISSIE

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DEMONTAGE EXCLUSIVE

Here in a DEMONTAGE exclusive Jo talks to us about her experiences in getting the exhibition up and running

DEMONTAGE Jo we would love to hear how you managed to get such an ambitious project up and running.

These things are never easy and take such a long time to get it all going...

JO COPE Yes indeed!

I guess it all started with those first steps into the Shelter retail space in Coal Drops Yard.

What struck me about this amazing charity retail space was not only the hand-picked second life designer pieces but also the activism in the air. The large posters which lined the walls brought my attention of Shelters history fighting for the homeless. I instantly knew this would be a great space to create an exhibition, to use my work as a conceptual footwear artist for a greater cause.

I got in touch with Hattie Lamb the passionate shop manager and started a conversation which turned into me writing a three-page pitch to sell the concept to the wider Shelter Charity team!

I had previously exhibited as part of London Craft Week and this was the perfect partner to help us bring new audiences to the Shelter shop. Shoes Have Names concept came out of the desire to make homeless individuals be seen, respected, important and more human rather than invisible under the blanket term of 'homeless.'

TABATHA RINGWOOD X KIMBERLY

Inspired and thinking back to my own 80's childhood when shoes had individual names, I wanted to mirror this in some way so that shoes give honour to individual stories and names of previously homeless people. For the design and craft of the shoe to symbolise the significant parts of their journey and stories.

As a conceptual artist I use shoes as vessels to create a visual language and from this project, I wanted to expand on my practice to encourage others to work in this conceptual way.

The project needed a community of designers and artists, to enable the exchange of knowledge and contribution.

"IT STARTED WITH THOSE FIRST STEPS IN THE SHELTER RETAIL SPACE." JO COPE

DEMONTAGE Amazing how the project has come about from those initial first steps! How did you pull together the designers and artists?

JO COPE I have built up a really wonderful network of creatives who are both friends and respected associates, I started to contact people to see if they would be interested in joining forces.

Richard Hudson, marketing manager for Shelter started working on gathering the stories and participation of ten people they had helped survived homelessness. .

JANA ZORNIK X LOLA

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The artists and designers involved were given around six months to research, talk with their partners and make the final artworks. It was a real joint effort with everyone involved.

Despite the upheaval of Covid we managed to have two really wonderful community meets, where designers and individuals helped by Shelter came together over tea and biscuits which ended with an acapella song by the amazing Missie!

This really gave us the opportunity to build relationships where we would not have ordinarily met. We all found out that we all had so much more in common than we would have imagined. The designers and artists were chosen for their diverse approaches to craft. I also wanted to be inclusive of people at different stages in their career so chose from student to couturier! Curating and creating an exhibition, working with multiple people takes a lot of work and energy. It was one or two phone calls a week for at least a year constantly keeping up the momentum. We continued the hard work right to the end and hand-built the exhibition out of around five hundred bricks.

KRIS WALSH X SARAH

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DEMONTAGE What an achievement! You must have been so happy and relieved to see it all happen in the end. What was the general reaction to the exhibition Jo? JO COPE I have to say I was so happy - it was amazing to see the success, we had people queuing outside the door to get in.

The biggest surprise was the emotional response - visitors telling us their own stories and empathising with others. We ran the show as a guided tour as we wanted to make sure visitors had an experience and learned all the wonderful things about each artist, artwork, and the Shelter stories.

DEMONTAGE Now it's due to go on tour! Would you have imagined this two years ago?

JO COPE You never know how far a project is going to go - you have big ambitions, but it takes a lot of hard work to get them going.

There has been an overwhelming response to the project which reminds me of how valuable it is to see through your ideas to the end. There are many angles that people are interested in, for some it’s about the craft meet homeless and for others, it's about the event. For me, it is all about design, art, and collaboration and how the project can be a template for alternative methods of communication between charities, audiences, and fashion.

– stay posted www.shoeshavenames.com

CAROLINE GROVES X ANONYMOUS

IMAGE: INAE YOU

CULTURAL - CREATIVE INAE YOU Can “the Cultural-Creative Industry” help the stagnated tea industry in the UK change to a more sustainable conversation? I have experienced British tea culture with beautiful English gardening, antiques, afternoon tea, and various classic tea brands, these vibrant experiences gave a lot of inspiration and business ideas. I positively believe that the industry has potential growth opportunities. I considered running a small business and started learning about tea by contacting private sellers in the UK to collect antique tea wares produced in the UK. I soon realised the tea industry in South Korea has not developed as much as the other Asian countries and is more likely to succeed than any other beverage industry. Market leaders of coffee brands have recently introduced tea menus and tea food and its trend is starting to increase.

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‘PLACE’ IS THE MOST FUNDAMENTAL CONTEXT TO CONTAIN GENUINE CHARACTER. HUMAN CONSCIOUSNESS AND EXPERIENCING THE PLACE WHERE THEY ARE BORN AND CURRENTLY HAVE LIVED ARE DEEPLY CONNECTED TO EACH OTHER. INAE YOU

I am the founder of “Rosie Lee Online Tearoom” established in 2017 it is a cultural forum that sells tearelated products. The aim of the virtual tearoom is aimed at the South Korean market to show visually what British tea culture is, how people in Britain enjoy tea and food, and to give a flavour of the “traditional English style”. “Rosie Lee Tea Selection” is a carefully curated tea magazine published every month. It contains 30 different teabags imported mainly from the UK. The information guide helps customers find their taste and choose what tea fits their daily mood or daily health condition. My MA at De Montfort University has been an opportunity to expand on the already existing products I was using and to create my own products and stories within this platform. Outcomes from my MA project are expected to be applied for the commercial and practical products for all tea kitchen and lifestyle-related products.

DIGITAL PRINT: INAE YOU

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‘Place’ is the most fundamental context to contain the genuine character.

Human consciousness and experiencing the place where they are born and currently have lived are deeply connected to each other. Thus, Leicester is the place where I live, feel and experience. My research took me to the history of this city focused on the fashion-textile industries to the current urban landscape based on creative-led urban regeneration. Gentrification is a global issue, Leicester is not exempt. Despite the urban revitalization, the city has ended up gentrified with a lot of empty spaces, estate agency ad boards, and overgrown wild plants in and amongst the urban landscape. As one of the residents in this city, I have attempted to capture Leicester’s urban character and my emotional attachment through my textile designs and observations. The MA final project is the next step towards product that contain more vibrant local characteristics..

DIGITAL PRINT: INAE YOU

Instagram:@rosielee_tearoom

DIGITAL PRINT: INAE YOU

IMAGINING AND EXPERIMENTING MAKING

NEW

MIXED

MEDIA

TEXTILES

JO HORTON

METALLISED FABRIC: JO HORTON

My interdisciplinary creative practice as a textile designer encompasses the craft of embroidery, metallic surface design, and metal finishing technology. It sits somewhere between stitch, print, and electrochemistry: using conductive ink to draw a pattern or mark to attract liquified copper salts held in a tank and cultivate its growth onto fabric. Aligned with new mixed media design tropes a magical cycle of immersion, control, and manipulation is used to produce embroidery-like effects with technology, more often used on other materials and in jewellery, engineering and aerospace.

In my linear metallised designs, I explore the potential of electroforming to create deception, to give an illusion of metallic embroidery, which reveals itself fully when handled feeling very different to conventional approaches or when closely inspected to find that the texture and quality underneath has been copied in exact detail. Electroforming is a unique historically rich technique, the hybrid child of electricity, chemistry, and materials-developed and promoted as part of the surge of ingenuity in Victorian Birmingham and the Black Country. It is a process of electrically depositing layers of metal: if a thin layer is needed specialist electrolyte solutions are used to create an electroplated permanent layer of metal on top of another; if a self-supporting thickness is needed a related manufacturing process electroforming is used.

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'BY WORKING WITH MUSEUM ARCHIVES, KEEPING COPIOUS NOTES IN BOTH STUDIO AND LABORATORY SETTINGS, AND ADAPTING INDUSTRIAL EQUIPMENT I HAVE BEEN ABLE TO CREATE A BOUNDARY-BLURRING APPROACH TO EMBROIDERY'

JO HORTON

Decorative, protective, efficient, and repeatable it has been used for a myriad of objects, cutlery and silverware, and fashion accessories since the 1840s. During my MA at the University of Central England in Birmingham, I was drawn to the idea of developing new-old methods of metallising and layering materials, simultaneously I had located a mid-century copy of the Canning Handbook of Surface Finishing Technology and was inspired by J.P.P Higgins’s Cloth of Gold-A History of Metallised Textiles (1993).

Some early themes in my practice reemerged: transformation, the magicalphysical, making curiosities inspired by the work of Simon Costin, and preservation.

My textile practice was informed by the Pitt Rivers Museum, Oxford with small layered drilled decorated glass showcases, in the style of flower presses, that contained and sometimes allowed the escape of the contents. The textile components were stitched by hand and machine, discharge and pigment printed on dyed grounds, distressed and embellished with electroformed coated oddities like dried-out frogs and other natural forms, fabric applique, and bespoke beads.

NOTEBOOK: JO HORTON

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Throughout my career, I remained inspired by the work of Frances Geesin in the exhibition Through the Surface (2004) and the prophetic words of my MA External Examiner Professor John Miles, who had recommended practicebased research as an ideal route for me. In a now or never attitude I began my Ph.D. at De Montfort University, whilst working full time there as an academic. In 2018 I completed my studies, influenced by the historic work of Birmingham-based company Elkingtons and Co., phenomenal inventor-artist-chemist Alexander Parkes, and the craft of goldwork.

Such is the zeitgeist of technology I found that without the digital and electronic developments of the past ten years and more I would not have been able to achieve the unconventionally produced but visually historic-looking effects I desired.

By working with museum archives, keeping copious notes in both studio and laboratory settings, and adapting industrial equipment I have been able to create a boundary-blurring approach to embroidery.

I have found real meaning in looking back to look forward to unpicking historic technologies and materials, science-art inventions, and tools translating them for the twenty-first century and contemporary craft practice.

My next step as a practice-based researcher and maker is combining the strength and qualities of electroformed embellishment to be shaped and support its own weight with the delicacy, texture, and mark-making of hand embroidery to create a new iteration of the cloth of gold in gold, silver, copper and what else?

METALLISED FABRIC: JO HORTON

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Jo Horton is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts and is currently a Caird Research Fellow 20212022, RMG. A member of the editorial board of the Journal of Textile Design Research and Practice.

She has worked in the surface design and textiles industry and established her profile in academia over three decades.

Jo convened the international symposium Adventures in Chemistry and Technology: Exploring the Legacy of 19th Century Innovation in Textiles, Jewellery and Materials, at De Montfort University on the 11th September 2020. It was supported by the Society of Dyers and Colourists and attracted nine speakers and over 60 delegates from twelve different countries.

RMG: https://www.rmg.co.uk/

'I HAVE FOUND REAL MEANING IN LOOKING BACK TO LOOK FORWARD TO UNPICKING HISTORIC TECHNOLOGIES AND MATERIALS, SCIENCE-ART INVENTIONS, AND TOOLS TRANSLATING THEM FOR THE TWENTY-FIRST CENTURY AND CONTEMPORARY CRAFT PRACTICE'.

JO HORTON

NOTEBOOK: JO HORTON

IDENTITY

FAMILY PHOTO:: STEPHANIE CHOY

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Stephanie Ka – Yan Choy is a British born Chinese designer currently studying her MA Fashion and Textiles course at De Montfort University. She is keen to celebrate her cultural heritage and show a personal perspective of her experiences growing up in the UK of Chinese descent through her work.

She is inspired by photographs from travelling to Hong Kong and other places in China, learning more about her own country’s history from family and friends who live there. This ideology is what drives her.

Her MA research focuses on pushing the boundaries of multiculturalism. She explains it is interesting to me to break the mould and stereotypes of Chinese manufacture and culture. Chinese products, in general, are seen as being cheap quality and easy labour with the majority of fashion products being labelled ‘made in china'. She goes on to say ‘I do believe that British Chinese culture and fashion is not being celebrated enough so I want to build this into my conceptual thinking’

She uses an electric mixture of media incorporating digital, hand-drawn, and collaged elements within her illustrations.

She tells a very personal story of her family and of them working in a takeaway. She goes on to say ‘I would like people to understand that Chinese takeaway workers are just like anyone else’.

Stephanie lovingly shares her love of Chinese florals and everything surrounding her family when growing up in her British - Chinese takeaway home. The warm homeliness and rich cultural heritage that are so deep-rooted to her is often taken for granted. Underappreciated, perhaps at times misunderstood and underrepresented. She emphasises that through her illustration work she brings awareness to the rich diversity and heritage of British Chinese culture.

Standing loud and proud.

ILLUSTRATION: STEPHANIE CHOY

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ILLUSTRATION: STEPHANIE CHOY

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ILLUSTRATION: STEPHANIE CHOY

ILLUSTRATION: STEPHANIE CHOY

Instagram: @skyc.design

Othello De' Souza - Hartley Mixed Media Artist

PAINTING: OTHELLO DE' SOUZA - HARTLEY

© PHOTO ZOLTAN ALEXANDER ZOLTAN+MEDIA LONDON

PAINTING: OTHELLO DE' SOUZA - HARTLEY

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IMAGE: OTHELLO DE' SOUZA - HARTLEY

AVOIDING PAINTBRUSHES DEMONTAGE: Othello can you tell us a little about yourself and your work?

OTHELLO: I am a mixed media artist. My artistic mediums include photography, film, performance, sound, drawing, and painting. I received an MA in Fine Art from Camberwell College of Art and previously studied photography at Central St Martins. My work explores a range of subjects from identity, emotions, masculinity, gender, and the changing perceptions of the black body.

DEMONTAGE: We recently saw your ‘study’ paintings being exhibited online at the Anticlone Gallery can you tell us a little more about these?

OTHELLO: My paintings which I titled ‘study’ I describe as my visual diary and see as a catalogue of my emotions based on what I am feeling. I find painting to music helps me navigate around the canvas, usually to contemporary jazz or beats. I tried to avoid brushes except for the base and use anything from bulldog clips to twigs.

ILLUSTRATION: STEPHANIE CHOY

DEMONTAGE: So why avoid paintbrushes?

OTHELLO: I find using a brush generic. I love the textures that I create when using unconventional materials. I find I get more interesting marks and layers that I don’t get from using a brush. I find that using my hands for example means I get in touch with my senses. It’s more of a feeling and connection to what I am creating.

DEMONTAGE: What inspires you the most and why?

OTHELLO: I take inspiration from architecture and texture, particularly brutalist architecture. The geometric forms and use of materials such as concrete and the way the light falls on shapes and details really inspire me.

DEMONTAGE: Why and when did you start to paint? You started out in photography what made you move into painting?

OTHELLO: I started painting in 2017 after a few attempts previously. I have always wanted to paint physically, but I was painting in my head, imagining the type of paintings I would like to create, but something was holding me back. Although I take inspiration from paintings for my photography work. I admire painters such as Caravaggio, Rembrandt, Edvard Munch, Jean Michelle Basquiat, Mark Rothko and lately Frank Bowling and Pierre Soulage.

Painting was a little more tranquil and something I can do between projects. I managed to get my studio and it really helped me to push my work in a slightly different way. I thought let me take that step and not hold back. I haven’t looked back since.

DEMONTAGE: Why use Black as the main colour for your paintings? Does this have any significance to, like you say perceptions of the black body?

OTHELLO: Black is like a blank canvas; it can be kept all black or mixed with a splash colour. I have been exploring this in my latest paintings with subtle hints of colour. Black is intriguing and subjective, it’s the symbol of wealth and luxury when it comes to the black dress, black tie events, and black cars, but black skin is revered in some cultures and deemed unattractive. For me, black is both mysterious and powerful.

DEMONTAGE: I see you wear a lot of Black too!

OTHELLO: Haha yes! Black clothes are my signature style. I find wearing black uncomplicated and don’t have to worry about matching colours. When I first started to wear black, I thought it created absence, but soon realised it was the complete opposite of how people perceive me.

DEMONTAGE: Create absence? What do you mean? Can you expand on this?

OTHELLO: I thought if I wear Black I could disappear into the crowd. I am generally an introvert / extrovert person depending on where I am and in what situation I am in. Professionally I would say I am an extrovert. Socially I am an introvert. I find people pay a lot of attention to what I wear.

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PAINTING: OTHELLO DE' SOUZA - HARTLEY

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IMAGE: OTHELLO DE' SOUZA - HARTLEY

DEMONTAGE: In this case, it would be interesting then to know who are your favourite designers?

OTHELLO: I am very interested in Japanese avant-garde fashion designers such as Yoji Yamamoto, Issey Miyake and Rei Kawakubo. What interests me is the philosophy behind their designs and their connection to art.

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DEMONTAGE: So do you think that it is more about the silhouette you wear rather than the colour Black that brings attention to what you are wearing?

OTHELLO: I think people tend to look twice if they see something that is unusual in shape. I guess black is subtle and shows the shape rather than it being in your face say like bright colour. It depends on what designers you wear and the intricacy of the detailing and silhouette....

I love clothes that do not restrict movement and is not traditional in silhouette.

DEMONTAGE: So where have you exhibited your work and have you got any other projects coming up?

OTHELLO: I have had solo shows at Offshoot Gallery, Koppel Project Exchange, Sulger-Buell Galley Campo XXV Aprile (Rome Art Week), The Museum of Liverpool, Camden Arts Centre and The Underground Gallery and featured in group shows at the Shanghai Centre of Photography, Open Eye Gallery, Sulger- Buell Gallery, Gasworks Gallery and the APT gallery London.

DEMONTAGE: Wow that’s a long list!

OTHELLO: Ha ha ha a yes! I have been busy. I currently have work in the voices of fashion exhibition at the Centraal Museum which is a physical group show. A major new exhibition around Black Couture Beauty and styles https://www.centraalmuseum.nl/en/exhibitions/voices-of-fashion and Autograph https://autograph.org.uk/commissions/othello-desouza-hartley currently showing online, which will be a physical show in the autumn.

I am currently working on raising funds for two projects – Silent key holders of power (looking at patriarchy - photographic project) and Fathers and Sons (relationships - video art project).

FIND OUT MORE: HTTPS://WWW.OTHELLODESOUZAHARTLEY.COM/

ILLUSTRATION: BETHANY BELL

ALL THAT'S ME

BETHANY BELL

Often, one’s identity can be defined through legal documents such as a passport, or birth certificate, or sets of numbers assigned to an individual to set them apart from others, for instance, a national insurance number, or customer reference number that may be given to you by a company. In my opinion, this quantitative, cold approach to identity may be useful when dealing with large numbers of individuals and are a quick way of deciphering one individual from another.

However, I do not believe that it is all that one’s identity is. I believe that a person’s identity is a combination of all that they are, their interests, ethos, personal style, etc., and the influences and experiences they have been subject to throughout their life, to make them who they are in the present.

IMAGE: BETHANY BELL

IMAGE: BETHANY BELL

The first project I have undertaken studying MA Fashion and Textiles was exploring the idea of identity. I wanted to explore and showcase my ideas surrounding identity, and to do this I chose to analyse what I thought makes me the person I am today, what makes up my identity, and why?

To me, my family is my earliest influence. From the career I have chosen, to the kind of music and film I consume, I can attribute these aspects of my personality to my family. Leading on from this, these influences would grow, for instance; the 70's and 80's music belonging in my family vinyl collection, given to me by Grandad, would also influence me and my personal style, or perhaps my creative work.

Of course, liking retro music and cinema, and wanting to pursue a career in Fashion and Textiles, does not make me who I am completely. I can attribute a lot of my interests and creative inspirations to growing up in Britain. I grew up in Leicester, England, and the first time I travelled outside of the British Isles was in January 2020, on a trip to New York. Growing up, family holidays consisted of camping, often in Barmouth, Wales, or caravanning on the Lincolnshire coast, in places such as Chapel St. Leonards and Skegness. I loved these holidays, and I always found that the British coast seemed to be a place where stereotypical British culture would be in abundance. I loved to observe how people celebrated their holidays, with fish and chips and British Pubs, or through visiting local museums and centres. Although observing these kinds of practices in mundane, everyday life also interests me. For example, exploring identity for my project, I took a trip to Tesco and took pictures of subjects that to me, were very stereotypically British, for example, a crate of Hovis bread, that’s packaging was particularly patriotic.

PHOTO: BETHANY BELL PHOTO: BETHANY BELL

Again, these experiences of growing up in Britain can be shared with many people, and do not make me an individual just on their own. All the things I have mentioned throughout this writing, and much more forms my identity. It is the combination that makes me who I am, or anybody who they are. Identity, to me is eclectic and busy, and identity could not be defined by a single number or document.

Instagram: @_b_bell_design_

ILLUSTRATION: BETHANY BELL

"GROWING UP, FAMILY HOLIDAYS CONSISTED OF CAMPING, OFTEN IN BARMOUTH, WALES, OR CARAVANNING ON THE LINCOLNSHIRE COAST, IN PLACES SUCH AS CHAPEL ST LEONARDS AND SKEGNESS. I LOVED THESE HOLIDAYS, AND I ALWAYS FOUND THAT THE BRITISH COAST SEEMED TO BE A PLACE WHERE STEREOTYPICAL BRITISH CULTURE WOULD BE IN ABUNDANCE".

BETHANY BELL

IMAGE: BETHANY BELL

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JANE THOMSON Jane, can you give us an introduction to the Identity project?

We chose ‘Identity’ as the title for the design communication brief for a number of reasons. The transition from BA to MA is an opportunity for the student to investigate their chosen subject on a much deeper level. The encouragement to write their own brief allows the student to take ownership. With guidance, each individual travels their own creative path regarding the many ways in which to effectively communicate their creative concepts. It gives an opportunity for the designers to explore their own identities but also identity in the wider context.

How do you challenge designers and get them to think about identity through fashion/textile illustration?

Jane Thomson is a lecturer for both De Montfort (DMU) and Nottingham Trent University.

With a background in Fashion knitwear and knitted textiles, Her fine art practice explores the female form combining the translucent and opaque to both obscure and highlight areas of the body.

Illustration and visual communication is the key focus of this design module but before the physical exploration of visual communication starts, the designers are encouraged to immerse themselves in the concept of Identity.

Observing, feeling, and listening are senses that can initiate a wealth of original philosophies regarding individuality such as sameness, identification, and self-awareness. Encouraged to think about their own experience regarding a range of topics including Identity crisis, brand identity, mistaken identity, and collective identity to name a few, the breadth and depth of researched contextual sources play an important role in the development and exploration of visual communication.

ILLUSTRATION: JANE THOMSON

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"LINKING EMOTION, THOUGHTS AND FEELINGS TO ART MEDIUM AND MATERIALS BEGINS TO FOCUS THE DESIGNER/ILLUSTRATOR ON THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN AN IN-DEPTH CONCEPT AND ITS PHYSICAL MANIFESTATION." JANE THOMSON

Linking emotion, thoughts, and feelings to art medium and materials begins to focus the designer/illustrator on the relationship between an in-depth concept and its physical manifestation. If through the concept of Identity, words such as transparent, invisible, and unseen are referenced, then the direct link between these terms and choices of medium and techniques used, are paramount in the visual communication of an idea.

Images can become opaque through the layering of tracing paper, portraits manipulated, embellished, or disconnected revealing the muse’s experiences.

Embracing Individual and innovative approaches to illustration styles is encouraged, student’s creative and artistic voices seen and heard. The presenting of final pieces of work also benefits from the ability to innovatively express personal design ideas.

Utilising a variety of presentation methods ranging from film to art installation, artwork manipulated through the use of CAD or the creative addition of textile or multimedia, helps to produce a focused and conceptually evolved collection of final fashion illustrations.

Instagram: @j_t_illustration @janethomsonart

ILLUSTRATION: JANE THOMSON

BEAUTIFUL BROWNS AND THE JOY OF HEROIC SKIN LORRAINE HENRY KING

PUSHING AND EXPELLING: HENRY KING ( DEC 2018)

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As a practice-based researcher in film costume, textile art and surface adornment my research interrogates the way skin interacts with an action hero’s costume and how that reading shapes who the audience reads as, or believes to be heroic. Skin as costume, or more precisely, as a costuming device, is a well-respected area of study within the film and theatre costume practitioners’ community. Using the actor’s skin and body by using partial dress, nudity, painted skin or having the actors gain or lose muscle and body mass are all considered elements of costuming that communicates character.

Black skin (and all the shades of brown skin that encompasses) as costume is explored through the associations with the colour brown and our interactions with post-colonial discourses of stereotyping around black skin and systemic racism. Earthy browns, usually recede whilst lighter browns and bright flowerlike colours blaze before it. Brown is associated with packaging materials, waste, dirt and faeces. The experiments and embellishments in my textiles work interrogates when browns shift in our perception into being valued and precious through transformation into the realms of being burnished, polished, molten or metallic.

HEROIC SKIN (NOTEBOOK INCLUDING IMAGES FROM THE FILM BLACK PANTHER 2018) HENRY KING (DEC 2018)

This shift supports the contextualisation of precious brown and by extension, skin tones within a new framework. My manipulation of leather, twine, layering of voiles with text and sequins used as skin can be linked to Conor’s theories on ‘skinshine’ with associations of ‘forms of toughened or impermeable skin’ to produce a ‘reassuring condition of impenetrability (Conor 2004:53). The experiments speak to precious, metallic and flexible skin like armour with Afrofuturistic overtones.

LEATHER BEADS AND SEQUINS HENRY KING (2020)

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It is because white skin is rarely discussed that its ties to heroism and impenetrable skin are invisibly embedded assumptions and readings within costume design. These are only highlighted when contrasted to the poor regard for black skin. White skin is ‘placed as the norm, the ordinary, the standard’ (Dyer 1997:3) thus outranking bodies of colour. This black/white binary is relevant, but I am more concerned with colourism and the myriad of beiges and brown pushing and jostling for attention in my journal entries, artwork, planning, and notebooks, that all sit alongside blueprints awaiting later development.

As a Black British woman, I am studying Hollywood superheroes and challenging the limited interactions with positive black masculinities. The international dissemination of Hollywood's limited and negative associations with black masculinity means many issues around skin colour need to be unpacked.

Misreadings need to be exposed and challenged across every aspect of the arts before the reading of the film costumes, textiles or surface embellishment I create could be read equally heroic on a black body as they automatically are on a white body.

References: Connor, S. 2012. The Book of Skin. Second Edition. London: Reaktion Books.

Dyer,R. 1997 White Routledge: Abingdon

STICK NO STONES - HENRY KING (JAN 2019)

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"AS A BLACK BRITISH WOMAN, I AM STUDYING HOLLYWOOD SUPERHEROES AND CHALLENGING THE LIMITED INTERACTIONS WITH POSITIVE BLACK MASCULINITIES..."

LORRAINE HENRY KING

Lorraine Henry King is a textile and multimedia artist, broadcaster, and researcher. She leads institutional initiatives to support widening participation in the Academic Support department and teaches cultural studies at the London College of Fashion (UK).

Instagram: @lorrainehenryking

MOTH/KING - HENRY KING (NOV 2019)

ARCHIVE GOLDSMITHS DMU WESTMINSTER IMAGE: THE DEMO / CATHERINE WALTON

IMAGE: THE DEMO / CATHERINE WALTON

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GOLDSMITHS Jane Cameron, Textile Collection Curator What does your role involve?

My role involves predominantly facilitating students, researchers, and artists using the collection as part of their studies and work.

As well as managing the exhibition programming, I am involved in developing and making the collections more accessible through supporting student and staff-led projects and wider community engagement initiatives. Our exhibition programming includes events, workshops, and performances alongside our regular Talking Textiles, a public event where a selection of material from our collection is made available for handling and discussion.

Can you tell us a little about the collection?

The Goldsmiths Textile Collection is a teaching and research resource comprising around 4,500 pieces, which includes teaching samples, embroidery, textile art and a small selection of global and historical dress and accessories. The material collection is complemented by a slide collection of previous students’ work, an archive of teaching material, and a reference library.

We are a public gallery and welcome all visitors from both within and out with Goldsmiths. Visitors can consult the reference library during opening hours and appointments can be made in advance to view items from the material collection by emailing textiles@gold.ac.uk https://www.gold.ac.uk/textilecollection/

IMAGE: GOLDSMITH ARCHIVE

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What is your favourite piece of the archive and why?

The Demo (mid-1980s), by Catherine Walton The Demo is a work of art that is social, political, historical; it is both of its time and current. This narrative textile triptych packs in so much!

The artist Catherine Walton produced this piece in the mid1980s, so during the Thatcher years when there was a significant amount of unrest and political activism in the UK. While we cannot tell from the piece exactly what the demonstration is about, it does depict a scene that was common up and down the country during this period.

The innovative artistic use of a wide range of stitches, colours, and textures is employed effectively to narrate the scene.

Superbly executed embroidery brings out the demonstrators' characters and emotions, juxtaposed against the featureless riot police (bar one whose guard slips, exposing their human vulnerability).

For me, it is emblematic of the wider collection and the power of textiles to extensively engage with communities, cultures, values, and experiences.

IMAGES: THE DEMO / CATHERINE WALTON

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IMAGE: NATALIE AND TEAM

DMU Dr Natalie Hayton Assistant Archivist, De Montfort University Special Collections, Leicester, UK What does your role involve?

As volunteering, teaching and learning co-ordinator, the majority of my time is spent mapping our collections to a variety of course subjects and modules, and then sharing them with students to demonstrate how engagement with archival resources can enhance their studies and research.

Can you tell us a little about the collection?

Fashion has been studied in some form at DMU since 1882 and there are many materials in the archive that chart the development of the prestigious courses on offer at the university today. Holdings relating to fashion also include collections for local industry and manufacturing firms as well as some famous alumni, such as lingerie designer Janet Reger.

IMAGE: ANDREW LOGAN COLLECTION

What is your favourite piece of the archive and why?

While not specifically a fashion collection, the Papers of Andrew Logan, artist, designer and impresario is a favourite of mine and I always use it for teaching sessions with fashion students. Immensely popular, readers always become animated and excited by its artistic creativity, its dynamic representation of race, gender and sexuality, and allround inspirational qualities, especially when viewing photographs relating to the Alternative Miss World (AMW) costume event which launched in 1972. Inspired by Miss World beauty pageants and Crufts, Logan developed an alternative fancy-dress contest like no other: ‘It would not be about beauty, it would be about transformation.

IMAGE: STEREOSCOPIC VIEWER

The Alternative Miss World would allow anyone to enter: men and women on equal footing: racial parity in a pre-cosmopolitan London; sexuality set free in a million guises. And everyone would be judged on the same criteria as the dogs at Crufts: poise, personality and originality’ (Accent Magazine, March 2017). As well as the photographs and other AMW ephemera, there are so many wonderful items in this collection including a stereoscopic viewer with slides showing images of Logan’s art studio and one or two garment/sculptures such as the ‘war and peace’ themed headpiece.

If you would like to view any of the materials mentioned in this piece contact: archives@dmu.ac.uk Useful links A09 Papers of Andrew Logan https://specialcollections.catalogue.dmu.ac.uk/records/A09 Andrew Logan: Art and Alternative Miss World’. Special Collections Online Exhibitions https://library.dmu.ac.uk/specialcollections/onlineexhibitions

WESTMINSTER Dr Danielle Sprecher: Menswear Archive Curator What does your role involve?

As curator I am responsible for the care, management, and development of the Westminster Menswear Archive collection. This includes making the collection accessible: digitally, for in-person visits, and for teaching. I also research curate exhibitions, publish, and do talks about the collection.

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IMAGE: DANIELLE IN THE WESTMINSTER COLLECTION

Can you tell us a little about the collection?

The Westminster Menswear archive (website: www.mensweararchive.com and catalogue https://westminster-atom.arkivum.net/index.php/wma) is a teaching collection of around 2000 garments and accessories that was established in 2016. The collection is focussed on European and Western menswear from 1900 to the present day. It includes fashion design, utilitarian and workwear garments, military uniform, sportswear and tailoring.

What is your favourite piece of the archive and why?

Three Piece Tweed Demob Suit – Jacket, 1945-1947, unknown designer (accession number WMA.2018.261.1) Brown wool tweed striped double-breasted jacket which is part of a threepiece suit. This is a great example of British mass-produced tailoring from the mid-twentieth century when suits were worn by most men in the West.

Even more significantly, it was made under the demobilisation scheme for men leaving the British and allied armed services after the Second World War. They were given ‘demob’ suits as part of an outfit of clothes to replace their military uniform to help them re-enter civilian life.

Find out more: https://www.mensweararchive.com/

IMAGE: THREE PIECE TWEED DEMOB SUIT – JACKET, 1945-1947, UNKNOWN DESIGNER (ACCESSION NUMBER WMA.2018.261.1)

EXHIBITION BOWIE

IMAGE: SPACE CENTRE PHOTOGRAPHY BY BRETT PRESTIDGE

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CH - CH - CH - CH - CHANGES TURN AND FACE THE STRANGE Words by Christina Wigmore In autumn 2019 the new intake of MA Fashion and Textiles designers were presented with an exciting one-of-a-kind creative challenge for their first term at De Montfort University.

Paul McNicoll (programme leader at the time) worked with Leicester’s National Space Centre to negotiate an opportunity for the MA designers to present work at a special live event in January 2020, celebrating the talents of musician and artist David Bowie. The work needed to demonstrate innovation across fashion, textiles, contour, footwear, and accessories, taking inspiration from Bowie‘s experimental years (1969 - 1972), when he created Space Oddity and Ziggy Stardust, which also coincided with the Apollo moon landing.

PHOTOGRAPHY BY BRETT PRESTIDGE ILLUSTRATIONS: SAM SARGEANT

PHOTOGRAPHY BY BRETT PRESTIDGE EMBROIDERY SAMPLE AND ILLUSTRATION:SIMRAN DHOND

The designers were blissfully unaware of the changes that would happen just a few weeks after their show when the Covid pandemic hit the UK and they all had to make changes, adapt their practice, and ‘turn and face the strange’, much as the lyrics of Bowie’s Changes song described! "Changes" became one of Bowie's bestknown songs and the lyrics reflect his chameleonic personality, changes in the world at the time, and the frequent reimagining of his musical style during the 1970s.

David Bowie was a master of adapting his music and creating different personas and guises. There is no doubt that fashion and styling played a huge part in his work and success. “Bowie had a genius for continual change himself, reinventing his sound and his image throughout the decades. Each album seemed to find Bowie in a different persona, with a new sound to match his new look.” (Gross 2002)

PHOTOGRAPHY BY BRETT PRESTIDGE LEATHER SAMPLE: YUKUN DENG

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Designers were tasked with responding to Bowie’s work and creating individual pieces to be exhibited at the Space Centre alongside an immersive musical and visual performance by the five-piece David Bowie live tribute band. The Space Centre’s 360° planetarium provided a cinematic immersive experience: the atmosphere was electric.

Thirteen DMU MA designers were handpicked for the show which sold out instantly.

It was a unique experience that worked with many senses and on so many levels. A platform for designers to show their talents, to work collaboratively, and to realise their designs in an imaginative and inspiring community setting.

Watch: https://youtu.be/O_vipGOcouc

PHOTOGRAPHY BY BRETT PRESTIDGE TEXTILE PRINT:INAE YOU

PHOTOGRAPHY BY BRETT PRESTIDGE ILLUSTRATION:SAM SARGEANT

PHOTOGRAPHY BY BRETT PRESTIDGE ILUSTRATION BY THEOGNOSIA CHRYSOSTOMOU

MATERIAL

IMAGE: BIODEGRADABLE SAMPLE / PHOEBE THORNE

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FUTURE

BIODEGRADABLE SWIMWEAR PHOEBE THORNE

IMAGE: BIODEGRADABLE SAMPLES / PHOEBE THORNE

Traditional swimwear – bikinis, one-piece bathing suits, speedos, etc are often made from man-made synthetic materials such as Lycra and Spandex (Glenn. 2015). Materials such as these are known to contribute to microfibre pollution and have an inability to decompose or biodegrade.

However, Swimwear could be looking at a more sustainable future.

Amid a worldwide pandemic, Phoebe Thorne utilised her home kitchen and food waste to experiment with biomaterial production.

Inspired by Clara Davies ‘Cooked’ Bioplastics, Thorne collected and dried out the banana peel, kiwi skin, and eggshells, before blending them into composites, ready to be added to a biomaterial solution.

Thornes’s experimentations found that beautiful bright colours such as bright pink could be created using Hibiscus and rich frosted bronze could be made using banana peel.

Thorne tested these finished materials for flexibility, strength, moldability, waterproofing, and constructability, allowing the designer to start prototyping wearable swimwear.

Could this be a new future in sustainable swimwear?

References: Glenn, H. 2015. Swimwear Basics. Available from: https://www.seamwork.com/magazine/2015/08/swimwear-basics (Last Accessed: 01 July (2021) Instagram:@unpollutedwaves

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IMAGE: BIODEGRADABLE SWIMWEAR / PHOEBE THORNE

IMAGE: BIO-MATERIAL RECIPE BOOK / PHOEBE THORNE

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IMAGE: BIO-MATERIAL RECIPE BOOK / PHOEBE THORNE

R K S E U C I C M N AL R FO E P IGN S E D

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NICK PALMER: PATCHWORKING POSITIVITY Words by Bethany Bell It could be said, that for many people worldwide, the 2020/2021 lockdown restrictions appeared to stop normal daily activities in their tracks. For creatives, worldwide restrictions particularly impacted the availability of materials and access to workplaces necessary to continue their trade.

Generally, these kinds of barriers may make one feel disheartened and perhaps lost. For Fashion Designer and CSM MA graduate, Nick Palmer, the lockdown felt like a school holiday, which usually would have happy and relaxed connotations. However, as an adult, there is always the ever-present worry that life must go on, and your time must be spent doing something worthwhile. Palmer found himself yearning for something to do, and thus, his brand ‘N Palmer’ was launched in 2020 and his A/W 2021 collection was created.

“Finding colour in what felt like a seemingly bleak time” was an aim of Palmer’s, which was explored through his work. Palmer achieved this by looking at motifs, music, and memories that evoke positivity and nostalgia.

The history of fashion is a constant source of inspiration for Palmer, and his A/W 2021 collection looks to the seventies for bright bold prints, florals, and imagery associated with the era. Photography by Meryl Meiser and the curious popularity of the owl motif throughout the decade were used by Palmer to inspire his work, as well as music from artists such as Boney M, Nina Simone, and Simon and Garfunkel. Palmer found himself reminiscing on his hometown of Indiana, USA, as well as other places he has lived, such as New York and London. Through this, the motif of the house emerged and was used throughout the A/W 2021 collection.

"FINDING COLOUR IN WHAT FELT LIKE A SEEMINGLY BLEAK TIME” WAS AN AIM OF PALMER’S, EXPLORED THROUGH THE A/W 2021 COLLECTION. PALMER ACHIEVED THIS THROUGH LOOKING TO MOTIFS, MUSIC AND MEMORIES THAT EVOKE POSITIVITY AND NOSTALGIA.

IMAGE: NICK PALMER - DEBUT COLLECTION

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IMAGE: NICK PALMER - DEBUT COLLECTION

Patchwork using woven and knit deadstock fabric and vintage clothing and accessories is Palmer’s remedy to the lack of structure lockdown caused within his life.

Combining the use of vintage and retro patterned fabrics, with the technique of patchworking allowed Palmer to create this much missed structure within the garments themselves. Vintage sheets and upcycled shirts are re-imagined into bias stripes and geometric patterns, which are patchworked into final garments in a clean, refined fashion.

The clever upcycling and obvious clashing of vintage pattern in Palmers work encourage the wearer to ask questions about the life cycle of the garment. Palmer wants the consumer to think about the journey that their clothing has been on, and where it may go next.

Each piece within the collection is unique, due to the nature of using offcuts and vintage fabrics in limited quantities and is intended to be worn beyond the A/W 2021 season.

Palmer’s debut collection was showcased at London Fashion Week 2021, as part of the BFC’s DiscoveryLAB, along with an accompanying film.

IMAGE: NICK PALMER - DEBUT COLLECTION

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For more information visit: website: http://n-palmer.com/ Instagram at @npalmerstudio

LFW - Discovery LAB

https://londonfashionweek.co.uk/schedule/216/discoverylab-presents-npalmer-in-collaboration-with-toniguy

Images: Creative Direction: Nicholas Palmer Photography: Balint Barna Model: Odira Morwabone MUA: Jenny Green Hair: Toni&Guy Video Editing: Instraspectrum Studios

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CHRISTOPHER KANE X FACE

CALL OUT for PLATFORM!

IMAGERY: PLATFORM ISSUE C/O CSM STUDENTS @YELSSS & @HANNAH.KARPEL

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COMPETITION Christopher Kane X FACE (Fashion Academics Creating Equality) are working together to invite students that identify as non – white from both undergraduate and postgraduate courses to be part of an editorial team of the bi-monthly PLATFORM digital zine. This unique collaboration aims to raise the profile, voices, and talent of Black, Brown, Asian, Southeast Asian, and Chinese minority students who are often unheard and unseen.

Participating students will get the opportunity to network and collaborate while building on key skills and confidence needed for the fashion industry. Creatives are free to cover any subject they like; exploring their unique voice to bring glamour, excitement, and knowledge to the agendas they wish to communicate to the fashion world and beyond.

Initially, students are asked to put forward a range of ideas that can take the form of photography, animation, illustration, video, carousels, Stories IGTV, anything that lends itself to the Instagram PLATFORM. Submissions will be shortlisted and students are then invited to participate in further collaborative workshops and Q & A sessions enabling them to share and develop their ideas further. Students have the opportunity to be mentored by experienced creatives working in the industry and with other Black and Brown academics from across a range of universities around the UK. Alumni of PLATFORM have gone on to contribute to Vogue.com, Gal Dem, and Stack World.

So, what are you waiting for!? WATCH THIS SPACE! link in bio @_weareface and @christopherkane and www.weareface.uk

POST CARD PAGE 103 | DEMONTAGE

GALLERY

POSTCARD: DAVINA HAWTHORNE X BUDDY PENFOLD

CLOCKWISE FROM TOP LEFT: KAREN DEACON. DELLA SWAIN X LAURA DICKINSON. STEPHEN HUGHES X HEINI TASKULA. DELLA SWAIN X LAURA DICKINSON

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POSTCARDS: CAROLINE GURNETT X LUCY WILDING

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POSTCARD: DAVINA HAWTHORNE X BUDDY PENFOLD

Online teaching and learning have brought about many challenges during the pandemic, and one of the realities of this was the physical distance between staff and students across many universities. Obviously, nipping for lunch together or socialising after a day working hasn’t been a ‘thing’ and as a reaction to this DMU Fashion lecturer Stephen Hughes organised a mini collaborative postcard project. Giving all involved a fun activity to focus on.

Stephen partnered people together from across the DMU fashion team to engage in new types of dialogue. Inspired by Basquiat’s infamous collaborative postcards, each colleague would create original artwork on their card then swap with their partner who would then make an intervention.

Stephen points out 'the idea was to raise our spirits during the Christmas season and to bring us together in a creative way, I think we succeeded in that, so much so that our collaboration has inspired some creative tasks in our teaching practice.

Stephen Hughes: www.stephenrhughes.co.uk

Last WORD

WE ARE RESPONSIBLE FOR EACH OTHER Poem By Laura Dickinson

IMAGE: BETHAY BELL Instagram: @_b_bell_design_

THEY LIFTED THEIR HANDS TOGETHER THROWING NOT A MORTAR BOARD BUT A COLLECTION OF WILTING STARS REMOVED FROM ORBIT ROUND THEIR HEADS AND PROPELLED TOWARDS THE SKY THE LONGEST HELD BREATH LET OUT INTO THE DEEPEST SIGH

SPINNING STARS GREW HIGHER UNTIL SUSPENDED, IN INK BLACK EMPTY SPACE THEY CONNECTED CONSTELLATIONS SPARKS OF ORANGE, BLUE AND RED IN BETWEEN SPOKE OF SOMETHING ELSE TO UNDERSTAND THAT OF WHICH WE HAD NOT YET SEEN

IMAGE: CHEN - NI HSU Instagram: @chenniinspiration

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WE ARE RESPONSIBLE FOR EACH OTHER FORGIVE THE WORLD AND MOVE ON BUT THAT’S HARD TO SAY WHEN YOU’RE LIVING IN THE SILVER LINING OF A STORM CLOUD THERE IS NO MORE COLOUR IN SILVER THAN IN GREY

I AM IN WONDER OF THE STARS AND THEIR ABILITY TO EXIST SO FAR APART IN SEARCH OF THEIR ANSWERS AND NO WHERE ELSE TO GO WE EACH JOINED IN MASS EXODUS TO THE BEACHES, FIELDS AND HILLS BREAKING OUT OF THE CLOUD AND SETTLING PEARLESCENCE IN ESSENCE ESCAPING FROM THE DISCONNECT.

IMAGE: SAM SARGEANT

Instagram: @samantha_sargeant

STEP BY HEAVY STEP, LIFTING EACH BOOT FROM THE GROUND MUD CLUNG TO OUR FEET AS IF PROUD TO HINDER US THE WEIGHT OF JUST BEING, NOW WHEN I THOUGHT BACK TO OUR EARLIER DAYS WE HAD PRAYED FOR MORE THAN THIS

LOOK UP I LOOKED. NOTHING IT WAS AS IF THE COSMOS HAD LEARNED FROM OUR ISLAND AND U TURNED THEMSELVES BACK TO THE SKY WITH A SMOKY VENGEANCE THAT COVERED THEIR TRAILS I HAVE NEVER SEEN SATURN BUT I IMAGINE ITS RINGS ORBIT WITH SUCH BALANCE SUCH GRAVITY WE CRAVED

IMAGE: SIMRAN DHOND

Instagram: @simmydoo

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BUT WHAT A SIGHT WHEN YOU REALISE THE ENERGY OF 1000 PEOPLE CANNOT BE CONFINED TO THESE SMALL GLOWING ROOMS STACKED ON TOP OF EACH OTHER AS IF TO BE ORGANISED THOUGH TECHNOLOGY HAS BECOME OUR ONLY MEANS OF INTERACTION WE WILL NOT FALL INTO STANDBY

WHAT I DID SEE ON THAT NIGHT WAS A STRANGE LUNAR ECLIPSE GOVERNMENT AND ARTS CONVERGING MOON MOVING THROUGH THE EARTHS PENUMBRA OUR ARTS REMAIN DEFUNDED SHROUDED IN DARKNESS BY THE VERY ROOVES WE LAY UNDER WE ONCE AGAIN TURNED AWAY FROM THE SKY TO OUR SCREENS TO CONSUME THE REMNANTS OF OUR ART SCENE

IMAGE: THEOGNOSIA CHRYSOSTOMOU

Instagram: @theo_chrysos

NOTHING NEW TO BE MADE WE STARTED AGAIN RETRAINED BUT NOT IN CYBERSECURITY AND AS WE LEARNED THESE NEW WAYS OUR MOON APPEARED FROM THE SHADOW OF OUR OWN EARTH A SUPERMOON WE WATCHED IT BLOOM AND NOW THAT STORY IS OURS TO TEACH TO THE WORLD

IMAGE: FARIHA CHOUDHURY Instagram: @designbyfc

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DeMontage Magazine PUBLISHER: DAVINA HAWTHORNE DE MONTFORT UNIVERSITY, THE GATEWAY, LEICESTER, LE1 9BH