CALL ME MAGPIE

“Around the world, the beauty and cultural wisdom of age-old craftsmanship is on the verge of extinction. 

Highly-skilled craftsmen and women have become an endangered species as more young people have chosen other 

career options. This, and the  globalised production has brought many traditional, 

craft-based businesses to their knees. Those that remain are often small, family-run enterprises, without the 

financial resources to attract and develop new talent and without the skills to create sustainable business models. How can traditional craftsmanship survive in the modern world?” 

–  TILLY MACALISTER-SMITH Business of Fashion

My two internships at HOH Hoferhecht embroideries and Marques’Almeida became the starting point for my graduation collection. HOH Hoferhecht Embroideries is one of such companies Macalister-Smith is talking about. After a three months internship at Marques’Almeida in East-London, I spent three months in Vorarlberg, Austria, learning about traditional embroidery techniques at HOH Hoferhecht Embroideries.

In my graduation collection I have tried to put the beauty and cultural wisdom of craftsmanship in a new daylight. Working with iconic archetypes such as an oversized shirt and angling leisure, adorned with traditional craftsmanship.  By overlapping traditional techniques and key-items the cool kids my age want, I want to revalue the intrinsic beauty of crafts for a new generation of young consumers.

I used the traditional embroidery technique of HOH Hoferhecht Embroideries and the art of artificial flower making. The use of colour and the choice of material is inspired by the craft of manufacturing fly fishing flies. Out of these techniques, I developed large floral 3-D forms growing out of the garments.

My boys became a queer mix of the new London clubkid boys mixed with a touch of posh etiquettes.

In the end, true golden crowns are made of gold.-