The House Shares A Documentary Film Of Its Partnership With Youth Creative Education Groups In Wales
Creative director Sarah Burton’s Fall 2020 collection for Alexander McQueen was inspired by Welsh folklore and craft. On a research trip to the country in 2019, the design team met Charlotte James and Clémentine Schneidermann, who lead Ffaswin Studio, a socially impactful fashion program for school-age children in Southern Wales. From this meeting, the team’s conversations around developing the collection into an active community project became a reality.
The project encompassed a series of workshops developed for young people based in Welsh communities around Merthyr Tydfil and Brynmawr, with the aim to inspire and bring insight into fashion and the creative arts.
Conceptualized by Charlotte and Clémentine together with the McQueen team and coordinated by youth worker Michelle Hurter at Blaina Community Centre, it began in June 2020. Casting, customization, photography, and embroidery workshops were built and designed to offer hands-on experiences of the ways to make clothes and images.
The house shared a documentary film, directed by Jacob Parish and featuring the photography of Ffion Roberts and Sage Hurter, that follows the creative process of the program.
Combining footage of the creative process – including gorgeous shots of the Welsh countryside that inspired the collection and continues to inspire creativity in the young creatives – and interviews with the students, the film is an embodiment of the importance of creative education for young people and their communities.
The project is a further extension of Alexander McQueen’s ongoing commitment to fashion education. Launched in 2019, it includes open-access installations and study programs that are extended to school-age and college students across the UK, and a plan to donate and redistribute left-over materials for student collections.
Photography | Ffion Roberts and Sage Hurter
Filming and Direction | Jacob Parish