Hamnett and McDowell launch upcycled anti-Brexit collab

By

Sandra Halliday

Published
May 17, 2021

Katharine Hamnett continues to take a campaigning stance through her work and has just launched a collection on her webstore in a link with designer and fashion reimagined specialist Patrick McDowell. 

The latest Reimagine collection is in support of British businesses and is part of the “fight back against the negative impact of Brexit”.

Hamnett and McDowell have got together to “upcycle and reimagine past season pieces into a capsule collection”. Called ‘HELP’, the capsule also sees them working with other London-based makers and printers.

Included are Hamnett ’s signature teddy jacket and slogan T-shirts that have been reworked in a monochrome colour palette with a splash of red. A new cropped silhouette and the signature ‘HELP’ print come together across jackets and tees.

And McDowell has reimagined each jacket in London and used water-based screen printers, mesh and blade. Hamnett’s slogan tees are made using GOTS Certified cotton printed in the UK.

The pair said that “Brexit is having a huge impact on British sustainable designers and the industry as a whole. Experiencing new import charges, delays on deliveries and extra paperwork”.

Hamnett added: “The only way we are going to get out of this shit, is together. HELP. Work together.” And McDowell said: “Working on Reimagine Katharine Hamnett x Patrick McDowell has been a dream come true. Katharine is the the original proof that sustainability can be sexy and conscious. Brexit has negatively impacted and directly effected the British fashion industry and together we are taking a stand. 

“I think that while ‘HELP’ is humorous — it captures the mood and feeling of now so well. Brexit always was a bad decision and the lack of conviction and organisation is hurting sustainable fashion designers in the UK.”