Helen Storey merges fashion and science by eloisa artuso

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HELEN STOREY MERGES FASHION AND SCIENCE APR IL 9, 2014

Well-k n own for h er in n ovative ways of h ow to merge fash ion an d scien ce, L on don -based Helen Storey MBE, an award win n in g British artist an d design er, laun ch ed h er own fash ion label in 1983 an d wen t on to question tradition al n otion s of glamour an d women ’s image th rough h er h ybrid projects. A professor of Fash ion an d Scien ce at L on don College of Fash ion an d codirector of T h e Helen Storey Foun dation , Helen focuses on tran scen din g aspects of social an d en viron men tal subjects wh ile directly en gagin g th e public. Startin g with ‘Catalytic Cloth in g’ th at seek s to explore h ow cloth in g an d textiles can be used as a catalytic surface to purify air, an d ‘Won derlan d’, wh ich examin es plastic pack agin g an d n ew approach es to its use an d disposal, sh e h ere speak s to rêve en vert about creativity, in ven tiven ess an d artistic expression s on beh alf of a better future. rêve en vert: You h ave a well establish ed back groun d in fash ion , h avin g foun ded your own label an d spen t time train in g with Valen tin o. Wh at was th e best of work in g in h igh fash ion an d wh at was th e worst? Wh at are th e aspects of couture th at you h ave carried over in to your career? Helen Storey: In th e early eigh ties, work in g at somewh ere lik e Valen tin o was on e of th e few places in th e world wh ere you could see th e power of tak in g an idea in to mark et in such an extraordin ary way. At Valen tin o I really got to see h ow you build an empire from an idea, as a design eth os. It was a un ique experien ce in terms of settin g a stan dard th at I tried to reach – but also foun d h ard to reach – both in terms of th e quality of th e work an d un derstan din g all th e oth er sides of th e busin ess. Gettin g an idea of h ow to become someth in g successful an d someth in g th at people wan t is a very valuable form of k n owledge, n o matter wh at you do. rêve: Wh o are your fash ion icon s? Helen : Most of my fash ion icon s are n ot in th e fash ion busin ess at all. I th in k if I h ave icon s or people I admire, th ey ten d to be people th at h ave don e extraordin ary th in gs with th eir lives, th ey h appen to sh are some artistic form, an d th at could be an yth in g, from a sin ger to a poet to a campaign er. Alth ough th e form in wh ich I h ave work ed for so man y years h as been th rough dress, it h as been th e medium rath er th an th e th in g I was passion ately in love with . Wh at I’m really in terested in is h ow you affect con stan t ch an ge in th e world th rough fash ion . rêve: In 2003, you started Primitive Streak with your sister wh o is a biologist, wh ich is a scien ce-art collaboration . Wh at are th e ben efits of work in g creatively across disciplin es an d h ow does it affect your th in k in g? How can you describe your creative process embracin g such differen t worlds as scien ce an d arts? Helen : I h ave come to un derstan d th at with in th e world of scien ce is everyth in g th at we are an d everyth in g th at is,(as best we k n ow it)an d th at with in th e arts – an d I in clude fash ion in th e arts, in th e way I work with it – is h ow we experien ce our h uman ity. So, wh en you h ave th ose two th in gs togeth er, it is h ard to un derstan d h ow you migh t ever th en wish to separate th em. Wh en th e world of art gets to work with scien ce, it gets a real way of look in g at th e n ature of art itself. T h e arts are very good at en gagin g people emotion ally an d aesth etically, an d th e scien ces ten d to be very good at en gagin g people in tellectually, so you put th ose two th in gs togeth er an d you get someth in g th at can tran sform th e oth er an d often mak es th e collective output better th an eith er th e artist, or scien tist, could h ave th ough t of on th eir own .

rêve: You h ave foun ded th e Helen Storey Foun dation . How would you describe your work th ere? Helen : It is a wish to drag th e future in to th e presen t. We work righ t to th e edge of wh at a future migh t possibly be an d we fin d ways across disciplin es of work in g with th e public to brin g th ose ideas to people n ow. Wh eth er it is a n ew tech n ology an d ask in g th eir opin ion on its poten tial, wh eth er it is an altern ative way of bein g able to un derstan d ourselves emotion ally, or wh eth er it is producin g cloth es with an added purpose. At each stage we try to k eep it lik e a n eck lace, we try to k eep all th e beads on it, so on e pearl would be education for youn g people, an oth er pearl would be scien ce, an oth er pearl would be fash ion , an oth er pearl would be th e media an d h ow you talk to a public domain . You h ave a n eck lace of association th at k eeps all th ese th in gs togeth er at th e same time. rêve: On e of your most recen t projects, Catalytic Cloth in g , in vestigates h ow cloth es can be used as a catalyser to purify air. How is it possible to improve th e quality of th e air we breath e just by wearin g a pair of jean s? Helen : We are tak in g a tech n ology th at already exists, but at th e momen t it is in pain ts an d on urban an d arch itectural surfaces, such as th e pavemen ts in places lik e Westmin ster. We took th e data an d th e fin din gs an d foun d th at it could purify a very small amoun t of air because th e surface area of cemen t an d pavin g ston es is very small. An d th e eurek a momen t we h ad was to realise th at th e surface area of us (i.e. our cloth es/fibres) is a billion times h igh er th an th e arch itectural surfaces. T h erefore, we are th e most effective air purifiers if we can get th e catalyst on to our cloth es. We th en tried to th in k of th e most democratic way of doin g th at, we did n ot wan t to produce a special design er bran d, because we k n ew th e tech n ology on ly work s on scale. So, we h ad to piggyback to a h uman beh aviour th at h appen s in an y case: everybody wash es th eir cloth es an d everybody walk s on th e streets – th at is wh en we realised it n eeded to be a laun dry product. At th e stage we are n ow, we h ave don e in itial tests to mak e sure it doesn ’t do an y damage to sk in , or affects an y water life or th at n oth in g will h appen in th e wash in g process itself. It is curren tly sittin g with in th e Research an d Developmen t departmen t of on e of th e world’s biggest laun dry producers, wh o h ope to upscale it in to its laun dry products to be able get it on to our super mark et sh elves. rêve: Wh y do you th in k th ere is such a miscon ception of sustain ability in fash ion an d wh at do you th in k we could collectively do to ch an ge th is? Helen : I th in k it depen ds on wh eth er you perceive it as a problem. Some people un derstan d th at th ere is a problem an d a ch allen ge th at we all n eed to face an d th ere is still a lot of people wh o eith er don ’t care, or don ’t k n ow. It is a slow process of realisation s. T h e h ope is th at we get clever en ough to solve some of th ese problems, before it becomes irreversible. But on a day-to-day level, wh at people can do is to become more aware of wh at th ey are buyin g, wh en th ey are buyin g, an d wh at th ey wan t wh en th ey do so. T o mak e it very person al, I h ave an addiction to earrin gs, an d every time I go to Claire’s accessories or somewh ere lik e th at, I watch my brain goin g towards an oth er pair of earrin gs, wh ich I absolutely don ’t n eed. I try to practice n ot buyin g th em an d with in 10 min utes th e urge to h ave th ose earrin gs is gon e. If you scale th at ‘addiction ’ up an d everybody wh o h as th e opportun ity to buy someth in g k eeps buyin g, even if it is n ot n eeded, th at leads us to th e problem of mass con sumption . On on e level it is a h uge problem (on e we feel impoten t to impact) an d on an oth er level it is a very person al on e, so I th in k th ere are small th in gs th at we can all do, an d a million small th in gs scaled up equals big ch an ge. rêve: Wh at are th ree easy th in gs you do everyday to in corporate sustain ability in to your life th at oth er people can also do? Helen : T h e first on e is to stop myself from buyin g stuff th at I don ’t really n eed. T h e secon d is th at I don ’t h ave an y pets an d I don ’t h ave a car, so I walk or ride everywh ere. I believe th at everybody h as a gift an d it migh t tak e a wh ile to discover it, but wh atever th is gift is, it can be used in some way towards th is particular issue. Wh at I also try to do wh en work in g with studen ts an d th e n ext gen eration of design ers an d th in k ers is to empower th em to do someth in g with in th eir daily lives th at also addresses th e same issue.

rêve: Wh at’s your life motto? Helen : T ryin g to evolve to a n ext stage of con sciousn ess…. ! T h ere is a sen se th at we h ave been ask ed as a species to evolve again , we h ave been a species th at h as n ever question ed if th ere will always be en ough of everyth in g for us, but n ow we realise we h ave to. An d in order to accept th at an d to respon d to th at, we h ave to be able to appreciate ‘th e oth er’ in a n ew way. For example, we are h ard wired to be bon ded an d attach ed to our immediate family an d maybe a couple of circles of people outside of th at, but actually our in ability to empath ise with ‘th e oth er’ wh o lives on th e oth er side of th e world, wh o is strugglin g an d wh o we may n ever meet, we fin d it very difficult. If we don ’t fin d ways of doin g th at th ough , th en it may be th e en d of our species. T h at is wh at I mean by evolution , it is an evolution of con sciousn ess, because I th in k th e plan et will always be fin e, but th e way we live an d th e way we live with in n ature h as to ch an ge n ow – an d I th in k we’re strugglin g with it, but I still th in k th ere is h ope. We are th e smartest species on th e plan et. rêve: Wh at’s n ext for you? Helen : I h ave a project th at work s with th e n ext gen eration to co-design a tech n ology th at allows our cloth es to express wh at we are th in k in g an d feelin g. In th e first in stan ce, we are goin g to use th at tech n ology on th e cloth es of a youn g gen eration wh o will be presen t outside th e n ext Climate Summit in Paris in 2015. It’s a n ew way to give th em voice in relation to wh at th ey th in k an d feel about th e world we are ask in g th em to in h erit.

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