Interwoven X Fashion Open Studio
One of Progress to Process exhibitors Polly Redfern transforms food waste into new product.
Fashion is one of the most polluting industries in the world. The global repercussions in terms of climate change and social justice, caused by irresponsible manufacture alongside our own wasteful habits as consumers, are horrifying. By 2050, the fashion industry will have used up a quarter of the world’s carbon budget - if clothing habits and manufacturing do not change for good.
By BEL JACOBS
But, beyond upcycling and repurposing, how can we change the ways we source, produce and consume? Progress to Process is Makerversity’s new public programme series re-imagining fashion’s production processes. By breaking down and challenging unethical production, from materials and manufacture to marketing, the series aims to explore new ways for makers, designers and companies to collaborate towards change.
Part of the Earth Day season at Somerset House and Fashion Open Studio within Fashion Revolution Week, the first stage of the programme, Interwoven, takes the form of a weekend festival. An exhibition, debates and workshops explore how innovation intersects with design and activism to create sustainable change within fashion and beyond. Climate change activists, designers and brands, across the fields of technology, science, textile and fashion, will help audiences reconsider what they wear and how it was produced. How can we imagine new manifestos for the future of textiles, together?
Co-curated in partnership with textile producers Bysshe Partnership and Doppelhaus with fashion designer Eliza Collin, the exhibition focuses on innovative textiles, from locally produced sustainable clothing to experimental materials. Collaborative works by fashion designers explore perspectives around textile innovation at the crossroads of design, science, fashion and activism. Alongside current and re-imagined use from materials to production and consumption, the exhibition seeks to make visible the interwoven conversations between fashion consumers, makers, climate change activists.
Exhibitors will be present throughout the weekend to engage with audiences around sustainable textile initiatives and processes. Alongside a participatory space for audiences to express their relationship to fast fashion and climate justice, a textiles clinic powered by Doppelhaus will allow them to bring in garments to uncover the full story behind their production. Debates, talks and workshops will run alongside the exhibition, focusing on specific themes within sustainable textiles and fashion, from bio-designing fabrics to fashion activism’s link to climate justice.
Makerversity is a curated membership community of makers and creative businesses working within Somerset House Studios. Powering their members to success, they act as a catalyst to make radical and unexpected collaborations happen, bringing together leading and emerging voices on innovation and future making. Since 2017, the Makerversity cultural programme at Somerset House has interrogated making’s social power and cultural relevance. Collaborating with members to shape the programme empowers them to share radical projects, create new work and inspire the public. Their approach is interactive and hands-on, engaging with audiences invested in future art, tech and design as citizens, activists, consumers and concerned corporate innovators.
April 27th 2019, 2pm-4pm. Fashion Open Studio: Making BioLeather Workshop with Tina Gorjanc.
27th April 2019, 4.30pm-6pm. Fashion Open Studio: Future Textiles Debate with Alexis Cuddry, Aday; Tina Gorjanc; Abbie Adams and Karolina Suchanek, CAVE Textile Design, Polly Redfern, Eliza Collin, Curtis Oland (work pictured). Chaired by Martin Brambley, founder of Doppelhaus
27th April 2019, 4.30pm-6pm. Fashion Open Studio: Protest Art Textile-Printing Workshop with Bodypolitic. Tickets £8 Early Bird, £10 Full Price
28th April 2019, 2pm-4pm Fashion Open Studio: Upcycling Plastics Keyring-Making Workshop with Rehandle. Tickets £8 Early Bird, £10 Full Price
28th April 2019, 3pm-4pm. Fashion Open Studio: Innovative Wardrobes: Shopping Less and Styling Smart with Alice Wilby. Tickets £8 Early Bird, £10 Full Price
