All-rounder: Maddie Williams
By BEL JACOBS
UK designer Maddie Williams scoops top prize at The Redress Design Award 2019, the world’s largest sustainable fashion design competition, which focuses on the critical need to educate designers to address the global textile waste crisis.
Rarely has a collection and a prize been so timely: ecological breakdown lay at the heart of a powerful 3-piece competition collection, entitled Mourners. “[Each of the three characters] represent the eco-grief we are collectively feeling at the devastation of the planet,” said Williams, who holds a BA in Fashion Design from Edinburgh College of Art. “They also act as warning. Memento mori symbolism - the medieval Latin Christian theory and practice of reflection on mortality - is embedded within the textile and print designs to remind us that time is running out.”
Willliams drew inspiration from death gods and rituals, as well as witches burnt at the stake for their links with the natural world, to inform the collection’s silhouettes and rich colours, which was built from reclaimed materials. "Clothing that would otherwise have gone to rag men and ended up in landfill will be dismantled and reworked into new garments,” said Maddie, who interned at Vivienne Westwood.
Screen printing with water soluble inks, done in a shared community print studio, as well as handwoven textural effects contributed to garments that are intricate, dramatic and - given their genesis - surprisingly joyous. “Through my work, I try to show that conscious fashion does not have to play it safe and be minimal, but that it can also excite and tell stories.”
To keep the collection as low impact as possible, materials were sourced in England and recyclability was carefully considered. “I will only use cloth of the same fibre content within each garment, which means they can be more easily recycled back into a pure yarn for re use,” said Maddie.
The ability of fashion to communicate big ideas is vital to her concepts: “Fashion can be a more accessible, democratic medium than academic papers and books for disseminating ideas because of its visual, tactile nature. We need to change the industry drastically - and now.”
Every second, the equivalent of one garbage truck of textiles is landfilled or burned globally. “Curbing waste and carbon is critical. Waste is an urgent concern, especially in Asia, which is home to one of the fastest growing fashion consumer markets and where 50 percent of the world’s clothes are made. Redress is uniquely positioned to galvanise change and to inform the public about the dire need to make drastic changes in the fashion industry,” said Christina Dean, Redress Founder and Board Chair.
“Taking my catwalk competition collection into a commercial up-cycled collection will be a steep learning curve and I’ll be trying my best to keep sustainable, circular principles at the core of what I do!" added Williams. “This is our time to tackle the environmental problems that we have inherited - we won’t get another chance!”
The 10th cycle of The Redress Design Award competition opens in January 2020. Further details to be announced - www.redressdesignaward.com
Learn more about Fashion in Schools
"Clothing that would otherwise have gone to rag men and ended up in landfill will be dismantled and reworked into new garments.”
