Westwood, Hammett and Fairey

Today I decided to research on Vivienne Westwood, Shepard Fairey and Katherine Hammett. All of these people have inspired me to produce more great work for my ethical fashion brand. Along the way it is great to know that these people dabbled and work with the same issues I am tackling today. Observing and researching them will enable me to create more artwork for FMP.

Vivienne Westwood is somewhat a powerhouse for British fashion. If you have never heard of her you have definitely been sleeping under a rock. Wake up. She has numerous fashion accolades including: British Designer of the year, Queen’s export award and outstanding achievement in fashion design. What amazes me is that she pays homage to our country as well. She dedicated her spring/summer 2012 menswear to the 2012 Olympics and to celebrate the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee, she launched a new capsule collection inspired by gowns Queen Elizabeth had previously worn. Moreover, she’s all for ethical as well - she and photographer Juergen Teller went to Africa in 2011 to work on her autumn/winter 2011-2012 ethical fashion Africa. In the programme she gathered thousands of local women to utilise their skills to produce bags for Westwood, and earn a fair wage in return.

See Westwood visits Africa

When you think of Katherine Hammett, the first thing that comes to peoples mind is her hardworking dedication to ethical fashion. She’s been invited by OXFAM to visit African cotton farmers in Mail to promote fair trade. Furthermore, she’s been working with normal manufacturers to help famers convert to organic. Another aspect about these fantastic three people is that they are very versatile. For example: Hammett has eyewear licenses worldwide, Westwood made her mark on the interiors with a selection of new table-cloths designs in support for eco charity Cool Earth.

Shepard Fairey is one of the best street artists of our time. I’ve always known about Fairey since I was young. I known that he created the propaganda poster for Barack Obama, which gained the artist worldwide exposure, and it certainly helped the president take the seat for the White House. What I really love about Shepard Fairey is that he doesn’t just stop at making posters. He wants to go the extra length. He is very flexible and versatile – his work has been utilised in screen prints, stencils, stickers, masking film illustrations, wheat past, collages, sculptures, painting and murals.

In the video below Shepard Fairey spent several weeks in New York in July 2011 and February 2012, creating and printing the works for his forthcoming exhibition at Pace Prints. In this video, he discusses the ideas behind the works and the printmaking processes that he used. All the works were created at the Pace Paper studio and Watanabe Press in Brooklyn.

Peace