Ben Fashion Design Interview

G: What materials is your final design made from?

B: So my trousers are looking at a variety of up-cycled polyesters from suit trousers which were all from charity shops and then the jacket is made from upcycled neoprene from a combination of different wetsuits. I have woven the storm flap at the back of the jacket out of about 40/50 green plastic bottles. I have also used a combination of rubbers from the inner tubes of bicycles to act as fusing for my seams.

G: What techniques did you use to put it all together?

B: So it was quite difficult because I was working with atypical materials. The trousers I just sewed as standard, but it was quite a lot of panelling which was a bit of a struggle to make sure there was no warping in the way that they fall. With the jacket, I glued the majority of it with this strong e6000 glue which is really versatile. I stitched where I could but it was just too thick to do the whole thing.

G: How did you make the storm flap?

B: So I firstly I made a device to make all of the plastic bottles into string, it was effectively a peeler. I then knotted the string together to create a thread and then weaved it through a huge loom.

G: And how long did that take?

B: Probably 45-50 hours, maybe more. On just that little section. It was kind of to prove and proscribe value to something to means other than the actual materials, like the craftsmanship involved has given the bottles value that they didn’t have in the first place.

G:  What was the hardest part when creating it?

B: Twirling it was really difficult, getting the shape correct. It taught me a lot as it was really emotionally strenuous when the deadline was looming and I wasn’t seeming to get anywhere. But I found some really weird ways of getting stuff to glue together, like pinning two sides into a board. It felt quite rewarding when that worked out.

G: If you could create more designs to create a collection, what would you create?

B: So I like to poke fun at stuff, touching on functional fashion but in a much more conceptual way. For example, because I have used quite a lot of hard wear in the jacket it doesn’t really feel like a garment but more like a costume. So I would say more garments like that, and more garments exploring sustainability. Whether that be using techniques such as weaving, beading, printing or the fusing of plastic.

G: What was your inspiration when creating your design?

B: It took me months of thinking to develop the concept behind the piece but it developed just quickly enough that it was all fulfilled within the design. Essentially I was looking at, capitalism, underground culture and sustainability. I used the men’s suit trousers as a metaphor for capitalism, mocking the constriction of it by subverting, inverting and superimposing on them. For example, I have massively enlarged the back pocket and then layered it over another pocket. Those who wear suits as a group of people, would be the kind of group of people who could be scornful of more liberal cultures, like punk which defy a convention. So I am mocking that contrast again by using materials which really fitted into the aesthetic of punk, such as neoprenes and plastics. I have referenced Carol Christian Poell alot, Maison Margiela and also rave photographer Molly Macindoe. A lot has gone into it. I think it’s important in fashion to have something behind what you’re doing, and it has made the project much more interesting because at every point that I had a question about the design..because I had thought about the concept so much it had direction. Every question I had, I could answer.  

G: What is your opinion on sustainable fashion?

B: I think it’s interesting because there’s so many different routes into sustainability. I think sustainability can create divides especially if you look at high-end designers who are marketing to a specific kind of consumer and making a ‘thing’ out of being sustainable. That is their business strategy not an actual motive to make change . We should be encouraging people to shop more at charity shops or fixing and recreating their own clothes. That would be a true initiative.