By Dorothy Bourne
Published October 9, 2018
Historically speaking, the fashion industry has never been the first place you would look for examples of inclusivity and representation. But things may finally be changing.
The fashion press are waking up to diversity both on their covers and in their editorial teams; both New York Fashion Week and London Fashion Week made headlines in September 2018 when Marian Avila, a 21-year-old model from Spain with Down’s syndrome, took to the catwalk; and once-rigid standards of beauty are opening up to foreground a much wider variety of ages, sizes and skins.
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Into this climate comes a new landmark collaboration between the inclusive art studio, Intoart, and the British knitwear titan, John Smedley. Launching in John Smedley stores on November 15, 2018 and online shall be a capsule collection of nine dynamic and eye-catching designs: unisex jumpers, dresses, scarves and shawls – all featuring hand-drawn designs created exclusively for John Smedley in the Intoart studio by by three talented artists: Ntiense Eno Amooquaye, Yoshiko Phillips and Andre Williams, all of whom have learning disabilities.
This is Intoart’s first foray into fashion. For the last 18 years, the South London studio has worked with people with learning disabilities practising as artists to develop pathways to success and recognition in the fields of contemporary art and design – by providing studio space, supporting their practice, and forging high-profile exhibition partnerships and collaborations. Never before, however, has Intoart teamed up with one of the biggest British fashion brands to create its own range of apparel.
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Thanks to the support and intervention of the designer Holly Fulton, a long-standing collaborator with both Intoart and John Smedley, the two organisations have come together to deliver what is a landmark project for both. For Intoart, the collection represents the most significant commercial impact that the organisation has had on the design industry to date.
The collection will be showcased in the stores’ celebrated Christmas window displays.
But just who are the artists involved in this inclusive show?
Yoshiko Phillips joined Intoart in 2015. She has a bold, graphic illustrative style full of complex motifs, dazzling colours and engaging characters, which she deploys on fashion items, accessories, stationery and prints. Phillips’ ink works on paper are inspired by traditional Japanese embroidery, textiles and block-printed Ukiyo-e art.
Phillips’s work often draws on mythical creatures and animal imagery. For John Smedley, she has created a series of eye-catching patterns in Blaze Orange that evoke the notions of predator and prey.
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Ntiense Eno Amooquaye joined the Intoart collective in 2007. She works across the visual, written and spoken word through print, text, image and live performance. She has exhibited and performed in galleries and museums around the UK and internationally. Her bespoke placement-print silk dress was exhibited in the V&A fashion galleries as part of London Design Festival 2017.
With accents in Cerise Pink, Amooquaye’s designs explore the iconography of fashion and its embodiment in the image of the fashion model.
Andre Williams has been a member of the Intoart collective since 2010. His work is characterised by arresting imagery and dramatic, often humorous typography. Williams applies his graphic drawing style and striking use of colour to screenprint and painted laser-cut wood reliefs of masks, robots and mystical creatures.
His John Smedley knits feature his signature attention-grabbing typographical style and wry wit, using Azure Blue to add emphasis to his high-impact comical messages.
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“The Intoart x John Smedley collection exemplifies Intoart’s vision to nurture creative collaborations that celebrate the extraordinary talents working in the studio. The three artists working alongside Holly and James have created knitwear that speaks to their own strong sense of line colour and style. Presenting Yoshiko Phillips, Andre Williams and Ntiense Eno Amooquaye in such a bold and confident collection means that Intoart can make the case to the design industry and our supporters that so much is possible when our creatives are given opportunities and taken seriously as artists and designers,” says Ella Ritchie, co-founder and Director of Intoart.
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