Homeless; could be, shouldn’t be.
The tension of anybody could be, but nobody should be without a home.
The inspiration for this collection is driven by the work of West End Impact a charity founded by my parents. Based in the seaside town of Morecambe it reacts to crisis – helping people, bringing hope and rebuilding lives. Having been exposed to the issues of poverty it is important to me to be a socially engaged designer.
My aim is to use fashion to raise awareness of important political and social issues. High profile designers Katherine Hamnett, Vivienne Westwood, Alexander McQueen, Pyer Moss and others have used fashion as a platform to highlight social injustice.
Having a home is a basic human right and it is shocking that in today’s society so many have to go without. Even worse, homeless people are stereotyped and spoken of in derogatory terms. Even worse, homeless people who already have nothing can be fined for sleeping rough. Yet, homeless people aren’t the problem, they are the result of the problem. The government takes political decisions that directly affect them but with little regard for them.
The system stinks.
My collection draws on issues affecting the homeless; sleeping rough, danger, hypothermia, anti-homeless spikes and having to make do with cast offs. Elements of these are represented in the chosen materials.
Techniques draw on themes of up-cycling, subtraction pattern cutting and unconventional manufacturing. I have purposely limited my budget to a month’s benefits payment of £317. Because of this, the design process has not been linear but determined by the materials available through up-cycling.
Homeless; could be, shouldn’t be incorporates the contrasts of comfort and hostility, rights and luxury, substance with style and beauty in the midst of crisis.
