Sophie Wheeler
Fashion BA Hons
Cambridge School of Visual & Performing Arts
Graduates: 2023
Specialisms: Sustainable Fashion/Textiles / Textile Innovation/Textile Art / Genderless
My location: York, United Kingdom
Sophie Wheeler
First Name: Sophie
Last Name: Wheeler
University / College: Cambridge School of Visual & Performing Arts
Course / Program: Fashion BA Hons
Graduates: 2023
Specialisms: Sustainable Fashion/Textiles / Textile Innovation/Textile Art / Genderless
My Location: York, United Kingdom
Website: Click To See Website
About
Creating exciting colourful textiles has always been a passion of mine as well as not adding more chemicals to an environment crippled with invisible toxic chemicals. My collection ‘The Dazzle of Halibut’ is driven by concerns of the waste generated by the fashion industry. Inspired by large silhouettes, playful colours, and patterns I have played with knitting and tufting textiles, using waste yarns to create a collection visually exciting.
I wanted to create something that was visually appealing and sustainable at the same time. The avoidance of conspicuous consumption of the new stimulated my initial process, which turned to discarded fabrics. I started with only natural and recycled domestic textiles; dyed with waste avocado stones from a local sushi restaurant. These fabrics run through my design in the linings, however the donation of a range of deadstock yarns, from Missoni and John Smedley changed the collection’s course. My hand-tufted fabrics are camouflaged as textiles for the home, in this way they hide from the outside world. But slowly my inconspicuous aspirations were becoming their opposite. An irony that reminded me of my favorite childhood storybook character Halibut Jackson, created by the British illustrator David Lucas. Halibut, a shy dressmaker who ‘didn’t like to be noticed’ who liked to ‘blend into the background’ became the inspiration for my collection’s aesthetics.
Competitions
