This London Fashion Week, Bethany Williams will present her gender-neutral capsule coat collection, exclusively for Selfridges.

As with every collection and project Bethany works on, the social and environmental issues go hand in hand.

“This particular project was inspired by our ongoing work with The Magpie Project, a charity that supports women and children under five in temporary, unsuitable or no accommodation. The Women’s Institute community creates a personal blanket for every baby born into the Magpie Family. A blanket is so much more than a piece of fabric, it is a feeling of comfort and shelter and I wanted that feeling to be at the heart of this capsule collection.” – Bethany Williams

Drawing on her inspiration, the collection saw Bethany dive into the historical heritage of vintage and antique wool blankets from across the UK. All the blankets are carefully sourced from vintage sellers, whether that’s Antiques Markets or car boot sales. Steeped in history, each blanket sourced tells a story from the textile and weaving techniques to the county, town
or village it was made in. One of her favourite pieces sourced for the collection was found on a pitch-black frosty morning at Sunbury Antiques Market at Kempton Racecourse. With her phone touch as her only source of light, she came across a rare and usually very expensive Welsh, patterned wool blanket with brightly coloured pink and orange patches.

With this collection, the story continues, as each blanket is given a new lease of life through Bethany’s artistic vision and mastering of design-led upcycling techniques, which created this capsule collection. Shapes for the details on each garment come from historical research into childrenswear that she explored with the V&A Museum of Childhood. The complimentary
colour palettes, slightly oversized fit and skilful patchwork techniques all create a unique, bespoke-feel to each garment.

Handcrafted in London, the nine upcycled blanket coats are available in three different jacket styles. Each garment is conceptualised by allocating a specific blanket to each style of jacket based on its weight, thickness and colour. The outer material is the blanket wool for optimal insulation with a 100% organic cotton lining, sourced from Wales.

This collection is part of Selfridges sustainability initiative, Project Earth, committed to putting sustainability in the heart of the business and reinventing the way we shop.

“We are so thrilled to be continuing our partnership with Bethany Williams. Bethany joined the Selfridges menswear edit as part of our Bright New Things programme, and we are so excited to now be launching this collection straight from her LFW presentation. She was a clear choice
to be included as one of our key Project Earth partners due to her innovative approach to sustainable and socially conscious work – Jack Cassidy, Head of Menswear at Selfridges.

Thanks to these strange times, the old style rules are out and boundaries are blurred. We’ve been wearing tracksuits for the 9–5, bringing out tailoring for virtual celebrations and wearing our usual going-out-to-the-bar outfits for our going-out-to-get-some-milk trips. And yet, it has also given us time to reflect on our tastes and question: what dowe really want to wear when all bets are off? Who are the brands we truly identify with, and why? And with spring just around the corner, how do we want to emerge back into the world?

Freed up from trends and the usual fashion rules, self-discovery is key. With that in mind, Daniel Sannwald’s surreal photographs capture the many sides of your character you can explore this spring and beyond. A distillation of true, individual style.

FIND NEW FASHION FRONTIERS

Many of us have, understandably, lost all momentum when it comes to getting dressed. But perhaps that makes for the perfect opportunity to discover something new and explore a braver side of ourselves. For starters, donning bold colour is an easy win to boost your mood – JW Anderson, Bottega Veneta and Marni have that in spades this season, brightening up any rainy day. Delving deeper, earth-conscious designers such as Bethany Williams, who champions upcycling, and community-orientated brands like Labrum London, whose collections showcase untold stories of West Africa, make for design with a strong message – a (stylish) way to express yourself and your values, without saying a word.

MIX AND (MIS)MATCH

Have you found yourself wearing some, shall we say, unorthodox outfits over the past year? Thought so – but we bet a few have opened doors to clothing combinations you may not previously have considered. A designer who’s forever freeing up room for new ideas, Virgil Abloh said of his latest Off-White collection, “I thought of this muse, sort of half businessman, half youthful teenager – and how they can crash together.” Channel that childhood playfulness and newfound experimental side of yourself. How about a hiking vest with a collared jacket? Wellies with tailored trousers? Clashing prints? Patchwork denim? Why not!

RECONSIDER THE CLASSICS

Trench coats. Ties. Adidas’s Tristripe. All mainstays in men’s wardrobes for as long as we can remember. How can we shake things up a bit? Alexander McQueen’s answer is a spliced, reversible version of a belted trench – part of a collection created during lockdown that drew on archive styles and deadstock fabrics for inspiration. Ties – as much neglected as the office water cooler right now – showed up as belts at Versace and in shirt fabrics at Craig Green. Grace Wales Bonner, meanwhile, said of her collaboration with adidas Originals, “I was interested in elevating the familiar, and bringing an eveningwear and tailored sensibility to this essential collection.” Across these designers’ collections, the evolution of traditional menswear ‘uniforms’ grants you free rein – when you find what works for you, go for it.

With the capsule label created by Christopher and Tammy Kane landing at Selfridges – including exclusive pieces you won’t find anywhere else – we dive into the world of More Joy. It’s minimal designs and honest, pleasure-seeking ethos are the breath of fresh air we all need right now.

Curated past season stock, prototypes, archive and show pieces, to be sold from 20+ small, global, independent brands – with all proceeds going directly back to the designers.

Inspired by the Rewiring Fashion manifesto facilitated by The Business of Fashion, Selfridges will open the Rewiring Space in the Designer Studio, Oxford Street on 3 December 2020 for six weeks.

The Rewiring Space is the first outlier born from conversations between the group of designers, CEOs and retail executives brought together to rethink how the fashion industry could and should work in the future, prompted by the global impact of the Covid -19 Pandemic. The Rewiring Fashion manifesto was created with 64 founding signatories.

The space will represent current and past season menswear, womenswear and accessories from brands including Christopher Kane, Neil Barrett, Erdem, 16Arlington and with prices up to 70% less than the original retail. The founder of each brand has been part of the ongoing Rewiring Fashion digital gatherings – a forum for open dialogue, idea sharing and collaborative opportunities between fashion voices from around the world.

Founding signatory, Stefano Martinetto, Chief Executive of Tomorrow Ltd who support brands including A-Cold-Wall*, Maisie Wilen and Coperni, has been instrumental in the delivery of the Rewiring Space project at Selfridges. Additional independent labels have been invited to participate in the project by the Selfridges buying team.

For Selfridges, the Rewiring Space is a natural next step as the shop continues in its commitment to embedding circularity into the business with new retail models. This is in alignment with Selfridges agreement to reset and think differently – as signatory of Dries van Noten’s Open Forum Letter and the Rewiring Fashion manifesto itself – as well as with the delivery of the retailer’s transformative Project Earth sustainability plan. 

The Rewiring Space is part of the RESELLFRIDGES initiative, a permanent in-store and online Resale offer to provide new ways to shop (and sell) pre-loved, vintage, collectable and archive products. RESELLFRIDGES combines Selfridges sustainability commitments with a curation of rare and unusual products across price point and era.

The Rewiring Space will celebrate the distinct identity of small brands outside of the traditional parameters of season. With proceeds going directly back to the designers, the project addresses practical issues of stock management and cashflow, significantly exacerbated by the current climate, while also offering customers a unique product mix and retail environment.

“The purpose of the Rewiring Space is to change perceptions of newness and seasonality, while we rethink what our own calendar will look like in the future. Supporting small, independent partners has never been more important and by working together with industry leaders we can tackle real issues with both transparency and creativity.” says Selfridges Executive Buying Director, Sebastian Manes.

Stefano Martinetto, CEO of Tomorrow said: “We welcome the initiative and commitment from Selfridges to create such a significant dedicated space for the designers participating in Rewiring Fashion. This space offers an opportunity for customers of the brands to get access to prototypes, samples and unique one-off pieces that would not normally be available, allowing them to get closer to the pure creativity of these designers. Christmas will be a little different this year, and this is something different for the fans of these brands to look forward to.”

Prada, in collaboration with Selfridges, presents the new ‘Prada Holiday’ pop-up store, a magical space dedicated to exclusive gifts for men and women during the Holiday period.

The installation concept is characterized by a modern reinterpretation of the typical festive motifs. Large multi-level silhouettes create three-dimensional compositions on which the products are displayed. White and red, evocative colours of the festivity, are the protagonists of the space and decorate both the columns and the iconic chequered floor. The triangular Prada logo also stands out in white and red.

Two Iconic Jumpers Worn by Princess Diana Are Back

The Princess of Wales’ “black sheep” and “I’m A Luxury” jumpers made headlines in the ‘80s. Now they’re back, thanks to collaborations between their original British designers and NYC brand Rowing Blazers

A young Lady Diana Spencer, newly engaged to the Prince of Wales, made headlines when she wore a now-iconic red jumper to watch her fiancé play polo in 1980. Emblazoned with rows of white sheep – and one black sheep – it was interpreted by some in the press to mean that the Princess-to-be may have felt like something of an outsider in the Royal family.

The “sheep sweater” – which Diana wore on several other prominent occasions during her marriage – was actually designed in 1979 by two twenty-something Londoners, Joanna Osborne and Sally Muir, and produced by their cheerfully-named brand, Warm & Wonderful. Selling their knits from a market stall in Covent Garden, they counted not only the Princess of Wales, but also David Bowie, Andy Warhol, and a collection of other ‘80s icons among their customers.

Osborne and Muir – now fine artists whose work has appeared in the Royal Academy – haven’t produced the design or used the “Warm & Wonderful” name since 1994… until now. This, and another iconic knit famously worn by the late Princess, are back, produced as exclusive collaborations with Rowing Blazers, an irreverent, vintage-inspired New York brand worn by the likes of Timothee Chalamet and NBA star Russell Westbrook.
“As artists, we’ve always identified with black sheep ourselves: because of a recessive gene, black sheep are born with black wool in flocks of otherwise white sheep (in a flock of a hundred, there might only be one black sheep!),” wrote Osborne and Muir. “Since Diana’s first public appearance in one of our bright red sheep jumpers — at a polo match in 1980 — she and the design have been inextricably linked. As Princess of Wales, she wore the sweater on several other occasions, eliciting a great deal of press commentary and making the design incredibly popular, not only here in the U.K., but around the world. Throughout the ’80s, our sheep sweaters were carried at department stores from New York to Tokyo.”

The sweater’s popularity also, of course, led to many knock-offs. While the design has been copied many times over the years, Osborne and Muir’s “Warm & Wonderful” jumper is the first and most famous: The Victoria & Albert Museum even has one in its permanent collection.

Another iconic Diana knit – a soft pink and white sweater with the cryptic phrase “I’m A Luxury” blocked out across the front – also forms part of Rowing Blazers’ FW20 collection, again produced in collaboration with the jumper’s original designers: Gyles Brandreth, a British writer, entertainer, and sometime Member of Parliament, and George Hostler, an artist and sculptor turned knitwear designer. Known for their sense of humor, the pair made sweaters for the Princess of Wales, Elton John, and for Gyles himself – whose own television career became closely intertwined with their colorful jumpers.

Gyles says, “When I was appearing regularly on TV-am, Countdown, and game shows like Give Us A Clue, George and I created new jumper designs for me to wear for each appearance. This was all before the age of the internet – let alone the fax. Because he was based in Leicester and I was in London, I’d call him to discuss an idea, or send a doodle of a design to him on a postcard; he’d then create the jumper, parcel it up and send it up to London by train. I’d be at the parcels office at St Pancras station several days a week picking up packages from George.”

Of the collaborations, Rowing Blazers creative director Jack Carlson says: “Both of these sweater designs have been copied or referenced by others over the years (sometimes without crediting or acknowledging the original designers). But collaborating with the original designers is exactly what makes this so special to me. I can just picture Joanna and Sally in their twenties, selling their jumpers to Sloane Rangers, pop stars, and royalty. I think there’s a lot of nostalgia in the air right now, and a great renewed interest in Diana’s style in particular. When I was little, in the early ’90s, my family lived in Hampstead in north London, and my mother had one of the original Warm & Wonderful sheep sweaters. It looks as great now as it did then. And I’ve collected vintage Gyles & George jumpers online for years – but an authentic ‘I’m A Luxury’ sweater is nearly impossible to find. The timing couldn’t be better for Rowing Blazers to bring these iconic designs out of the archives with the brands and designers who originally created them.”

Rowing Blazers Autumn/Winter ’20 collection, including the Warm & Wonderful sheep sweater and Gyles & George “Luxury” sweater, will be available exclusively at rowingblazers.com, Rowing Blazers’ New York flagship, Selfridges London and Selfridges.com.