Austin Mutti-Mewes from Hardy Amies visited the BA (Hons) Bespoke Tailoring course and brought in samples from the Hardy Amies archives.
As part of London College of Fashion’s Better Lives programme, BA (Hons) Bespoke Tailoring were invited to participate in a project with ‘Create London’ and curators from the William Morris Museum, Valence House Museum, the White House Museum and local community groups to celebrate the history and heritage of North London and Hardy Amies as one of the most influential designers of the twentieth century.
The overall project aims to highlight and celebrate The White House’s history and its connection to the iconic British tailor, who lived there as a child during the 1920s and 1930s.
Through in-depth research and a presentation by Austin Mutti-Mewse (former curator of the Hardy Amies Archive) LCF students explored his life and work, discovering his cultural heritage and early life in North London, and the origins and techniques of his tailoring. It provided an opportunity to identify the importance of craft communities and the need to retain bespoke tailoring skills.
The students were required to consider ways of broadening the appeal of bespoke tailoring and how to influence this market, either through collaborations with other brands, makers or artists, or by identifying product innovations such as smart fabrics and technological development?
The students presented their work in an informal presentation to Hadrian Gerrard from Create London and Austin Mutti-Mewse, during which they received valuable feedback on their research ideas, sketch books, illustrations and design boards.
The project commenced as a curriculum project in Autumn term 2015 and will continue until Summer Term 2016 with a panel of judges who will select three winning students whose work may be part of an exhibition in Valence House Museum in Dagenham as part of the celebration of the overall project. LCF staff and students will also deliver three workshops to students at Barking and Dagenham College as an extension of this valuable project.
We will be following the project to bring you the results in the summer.
- BA (Hons) Bespoke Tailoring
- There are places on BA (Hons) Bespoke Tailoring in UCAS Extra for a limited period find out more through the UCAS website
- Photography by Oliver Vanes