Meet Julia English, Redress Design Award 2019 finalist

Julia English’s competition collection offers a unique proposition: clothes that create genuine dialogue between the designer and wearer. “I use clothes as a medium to ask people about their own experience of fashion and to invite them to question their choices,” says Julia, who holds a BA in Fashion Design from the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology. Her collection’s strong, oversized silhouettes - constructed from dead-stock material including both end-of-roll and damaged stock - are created to be ‘actively worn’, to be remodelled and reconstructed, according to the wearer’s evolving needs. “The garments are designed to require less frequent washing, as stains can be cut away from the exterior surface and areas which feel bulky or sweaty can be thinned by the wearer to increase functionality,” points out Julia. “These acts of co-creation remove the boundary between designer and wearer, helping to build emotional attachment as the clothes begin to reflect their shared history with the wearer.” In turn, these acts of transformation can provide future makers with ideas on how clothing is worn, allowing for smarter, more function-focused designs. Julia’s dream is to foster systemic change in the fashion industry, through engaging and informing consumers. Her inspiration? Kate Fletcher, Professor at the Centre of Sustainable Fashion (London). Julia remembers “Kate once said ‘Even the most progressive technology-based solutions can be undermined by consumer behaviour’,” Julia prefers the term ‘fashion activist’ to ‘sustainable designer’. “This quote has shaped my practice into focusing on the experience of wearing clothing. It’s critical that we evaluate sustainable solutions based on the different ways we wear and care for our clothes, as well as how we make and dispose of clothes. Through looking at ideas around emotional durable design and material culture, my practice explores the functionality and sustainability of wear.”

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