Wednesday 19 September 2012

Future Cities collaboration for WSP

Sustainability has been an important issue for me ever since I launched Amy Hall in 2010. In many ways it was one of the reasons I started the brand in the first place: a reaction against the mass production that is rife in the fashion industry. It was and still is hugely important to me that all of my pieces are handmade and the best quality possible.

Which is why, when I was approached a few months ago by engineering consultancy WSP and asked to participate in an international fashion project as part of their Future Cities campaign specifically to raise awareness of sustainability, I leapt at the chance.

The plan was to invite a designer from each of the six countries (UK, USA, Germany, Sweden, South Africa and Australia) involved in Future Cities to represent their own city and design three garments in keeping with themes set by WSP. The themes represent some of the critical issues that need to be addressed in order to deliver sustainable future cities.

My three themes were buildings, regeneration & energy. From May to August I spent a huge amount of time researching the themes, experimenting with a vast array of materials and then creating the three pieces.  Yesterday we all flew to Sweden and in a few hours' time all of the pieces from each of the designers will come together and be shown for the first time to a huge audience on a catwalk in Stockholm. This is incredibly exciting, not least because it will be the first time my work will ever have appeared on a catwalk.  Needless to say, I'm feeling a little bit nervous....!

WiFi permitting, I'll be live-tweeting images from the event this afternoon, so keep an eye on our twitter feed for a first glance!

Over the next few days I will also be uploading images and video of the whole process, showing how each of the pieces came together.

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