Grace Clarke

Growing up within a working-class household, owning new, affordable, and undamaged items were valuable moments. This I will never change, and I am extremely proud of this. Having to reuse to survive is a big element of my final collection and designs, also including an element of trash fashion, upcycling, and recycling clothing in this collection; It really brings something significant to the items. My collection celebrates and brings light to everyday people doing this. The overall relevance of my final collection ‘What a Load of Sh*t’ to the fashion and art world is the impact of the real situation in the fashion indus¬¬¬¬try. The process of my recyclable art begins with my own ethics. Second-hand consuming, making, and reselling has always been the norm to me. This fuels my entire ethos of being a fashion student, ethically sourcing materials, if not second-hand, it will be deadstock or fabric that has been donated. My final collection is entirely this, collected objects that people would assume to be litter and unusable. Putting this much love into my work puts so much perspective into my personal life. Some fabrics are market sourced from independent traders within Birmingham rag market, I have collected waste fabrics to upcycle; using different parts of work uniform to produce a new garment. I have included heavy duty elements that my father uses within his trade, e.g. bungee cords, zip ties, builders line etc. During childhood I created things from just bits and bobs around the house, hence the inclusion of trash fashion, upcycling and recycled clothing. Everything I have incorporated, used, or repurposed were materials considered a part of everyday life, bringing significance to the items. Throughout my research I’ve looked back on how I used to ‘make do and mend.’ I started exploring the world of rubbish; collecting and involving my peers, family, and anyone else who could spare a few crisp packets or tin ring pulls to create art. This inspired my final designs being, a dressing gown coat, workers “junksuit” (jumpsuit), P.E shorts & a sports bra combination, all these garments are printed with personal designs I have created. Finally, a string bag homage dress and an oversized blazer, fitting my dad’s sizing’s. All garments are finished with handwritten labels by my mom, as she used to write in my own school uniforms; my buttons are zip-tie bottoms, this also being another main embellishment. My collection is extremely personal for instance, I collected my mom (NHS worker) and dad’s (electrician) work clothing to produce different items, I took my dad’s old work cargos which were worn/broken and created a cargo jumpsuit from draping, this inspired my final printed jumpsuit. For my mom’s work clothing I transformed a work polo top into some sports shorts taking inspiration from my days in primary and high school attending football clubs. Throwaway culture has become hugely over-saturated and overlooked with a lack of transparency, visibility, traceability, data flows and the list goes on. My aim for “What a Load of Sh*t” is for people to realise you do not need a lot of money/recourses to create art and fashion, it’s all about using what you must for it to be an advantage. I enjoy giving discarded objects or lifeless materials a new meaning of life. It is not only a fascination, but also a goal of mine to produce sustainable clothing or at the very least inspire and encouraged people to join the cause in helping the crisis of overlooking garments and seeing them for what they truly are - a piece of history created with a purpose to be worn and cherished. It is satisfying to not only yourself some money, but also help lives across the world unknowingly by giving your hard-earned money to charitable causes who often rely solely public funding and donations. My final collection has allowed me to investigate in great depth the secrets of the fashion industry as well as how consumerism and the detrimental effects garment-makers suffer from. In response to this, I aim to propose the idea of upcycling and the notion that everyone who’s anyone can create their own fashion/art on a budget. Sustainability on a whole is a huge subject, my core idea in engaging consumers and positively influencing behavioural changes and decisions made focused around shopping habits and considerations when discarding of textiles. Portfolio Item 3