BLM Design Scotland

In a quirky little cafe, we had a lovely chat with Edinburgh based textile artist/designer, Julia Sutton about the recent mini capsule collection she created for the R Sustainable virtual fashion show. Julia blended her love of painting, fashion, and textiles to create 2D and 3D pieces reflecting the duality of her bi-racial heritage.

BLM is central to the typography in your collection can you tell us what this means to you as a designer?

 As a bi-racial designer, BLM inspired me to work with fabrics reflective of my dual heritage and use a variety of methods to express my vulnerability as well as showcasing my unique take on living in Scotland at this precise moment in modern history. The BLM protests last year deeply affected me and I took a long hard look at my life and wanted to showcase my creative talent as a bi-racial designer while collaborating with other people to make my work available and accessible to everyone. Making sure my garments reflected the struggle and the beauty of the situation that we find ourselves in. Using both vintage and pre-loved garments was my starting point to creating my own narrative for these times.

What is the inspiration behind your collection?

 I was inspired by the punk era and a D.I.Y aesthetic, such as Vivienne Westwood and Malcolm McLaren's take on youth culture in the 70’s. Also drawing parallels with my earlier study of illustration and typography. My work is graphic with a nod to comic art as well as my love of the natural world.

 How do you express your experience as a woman of colour into your designs?

By expressing myself through the medium of fashion I wanted to make sense and understand what was going on in my life and how I was dealing emotionally with the Pandemic alongside the Black Lives Movement. I woke up one morning and started to embellish one of my garments and it just took off from there.

 My colour scheme is black, white, cream and blush pink. Using tones with just a hint of colour; to reflect my bi-racial skin tone.

 I make my designs wearable for everyone, especially women of colour. Our bodies are often curvier and shaped differently, and European designed clothes don’t always fit. Using an oversized garment which really is a one size fits all was important for the overall look. My mesh tops and Stretchy boots accommodates my figure with comfort and style.

You have used recycled materials in your design work, tell us a bit about that?

 Essential to my designs is being environmentally conscious combined with activism, with a strong focus on sustainability. I used an oversized distressed denim shirt dress and a vintage slip as my starting point. For the collection I have used the theme of restriction and upcycled garments that were already in my wardrobe. Using the processes of bleaching, hand embroidery and appliqué, mirroring my inner journey and also what was going on in the outside world at the time.

 I also used water-soluble fabric to create hundreds of black and white and off-white flowers, which have a very 3D and ethereal quality to them I hand stitched them onto mesh tops and the vintage slip. I also embroidered messages of activism of Black Lives Matter, Bi-Racial Power & Anti-Racist.

These messages were then sewn onto the hand-dyed vintage slip. I used beetroot juice to dye the garment as I did not want to use any process that could damage the environment.

All the processes I used can be done at home. After studying textile manipulation for four years, I wanted to use some of the techniques I had learned and explore new ways of mark making on plain fabric. Sustainability and loving the clothes you already have is the basis of my collection.

What are your future plans as a designer?

 Putting together a mini capsule collection on a budget and working with a 3D artist Ashwini Deshpande for the first time was magical to create an animated collection. I want to continue my journey developing new ways to express myself using fabric as a starting point.

I would love to create much larger pieces and focus on some 3D work. I will need to learn more about the digital manipulation of my work and hopefully incorporating sound and visuals. I would also love to do more designing and printing my own textiles in a variety of different colours, while using both hand and machine embroidery to create new and wonderful textures and patterns on a variety of different mediums such as wood and even concrete.

 I hope to have more collaborations as I find my practice is more interesting when working with others to create something unique and beautiful.

 How can people connect with you and your work?

 I do not have a website yet, so can be reached on my email address of joolsec@yahoo.co.uk or see some of my work on my Instagram: @juliacarruthers224.