Designer Bethany Williams' Alternative System exhibition at The Design Museum London until September 2022

Exhibition: Bethany Williams: Alternative Systems
The Design Museum, London Kensington
Featured designs include  a handwoven shirt and trouser set made with plastic waste from the
"Adelaide House" collection.

 

London fashion designer Bethany Williams whose work has won accolade for embracing the discussion of social and environmental issues, is regarded as one of the most exciting new designers of the past decade.  Now some of her most exciting creations are on show at The Design Museum in London Kensington until September 4th 2022.

Bethany Williams works with recycled jerseys, and repurposed tent materials.

Bethany Williams has carved a name for her commitment to environmentally-friendly processes, designing apparel with an eco-social-conscious attitude, working with organic, recycled and dead stock materials to create bright, bold clothing.

Bethany Williams uses organic cotton and waste ribbon in imaginative ways
to highlight the adaptability of materials.

With a focus on sustainability, the reduction of waste is central to Bethany's ethos. The label regularly breathes new life into old materials by taking used textiles and building innovative garment designs around them, creating a playful collage aesthetic.

From the "All Our Children" collection.
Some of the materials used by Bethany Williams include recycled tent materials
and waste material supplied by adidas. 

According to the brand's Managing Director Nathalie Hodgson, Bethany "likes to combine social and environmental issues together, and also works with local and social manufacturing partners and everything in the supply chain is considered."

Ruched dress from "All Our Stories" collection in deadstock silk crepe de chine,
depicting the Crying Tiger (screen-printed) base on an 
Artwork by Melissa Kitty Jarram.

Nathalie says, "Each season she works with a collaborative artist and a charitable partner and have that as the core base of the story to start the research process."

She said Bethany gives creative freedom to the collaborative partner and then select the final artwork that gets incorporated throughout the collection.

Knitted "face" cardigan and shorts from "All Our Children" collection,
made with second-hand knitwear and wool.
The outfit features patterns derived from a drawing by the founder of the Magpie Project,
Jane Williams and her daughter.

Bethany's creations are striking and bold, with stand-out motifs and bright colours.

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

Last year her work with The Magpie Project, a charity that supports women and children under five in temporary, unsuitable or no accommodation, featured a gender-neutral capsule coat collection which was stocked exclusively by the iconic department store Selfridges.

As the Women’s Institute community creates a personal blanket for every baby born into the Magpie Family, Bethany featured a blanket as a piece of fabric, and made that the  heart of the capsule collection.

Photos of exhibition at The Design Museum by Lucia Carpio.