BEAUTY: Clothing--Bethany Williams

After winning the prestigious BFC/Vogue Designer Fashion Fund last year, Bethany Williams (previously here) is doing even more of what she has always done: not only make responsibly sourced clothing, but contribute to the greater good of humanity. This Spring Summer 2022 collection shown during Digital London Fashion Week called "All Our Stories" continues Williams’ work with The Magpie Project. Inspired directly by the artist Melissa Kitty Jarram’s storytelling workshops with the Magpie families--women and children receiving help from the East London grassroots organization are homeless or at risk of homelessness--Williams wove intergenerational narratives and their values into the clothing, and used book cover waste from book publishers Hachette reworked into joy-giving prints through a textile collaboration with San Patrignano, an education and rehabilitation program in Italy. And as with her previous collections, Williams used Making for Change, a clothing manufacturing hub started in a women’s prison. The project aimed to increase well-being and reduce reoffending rates by equipping participants with professional skills and qualifications within a supportive environment. Through a new collaboration with Mending For Good and a social manufacturing scheme called Manusa, Williams has also pieced together old industry waste swatch samples and turned them into knitwear. Six of the "All Our Stories" looks – which also use merino wool deadstock from Lanificio Ermenegildo Zegna – formed Williams’ submission for the 2021 International Woolmark Prize.

“From now on, social enterprise is integrated in every part of our production process,” says the designer of why this season is a turning point for her brand. “I want to show people that you can do things differently and you can make it work.” Her plans to “provide a nurturing environment for people to train in fashion and encourage employment in the UK” are already well in motion.

And to top it all off, twenty per cent of the profits from Bethany Williams' "All Our Stories" will be donated to The Magpie Project via The Bethany Williams Benevolent Fund. To donate visit https://www.justgiving.com/magpieproject. That is a beautiful thing.

https://www.bethany-williams.com/