Bethany Williams turns up the heat through a personal lense with an exhibition of her latest collection displayed at London’s Design Museum this week, showcasing a provocative and expressive collection for fall.
Williams calls her new collection “The Hands That Heal Us” in a film by Mae Sass. She has built a fashion label through her sustainably-minded vision, which focuses on environmental and social values, working entirely with refurbished and recycled materials or deadstock, with the help of craftspeople, marginalized communities, and charities.
Motivated and committed to her vision of fashion as a force for change, William sees best to work with a different charity each time and donates a percentage of profit to its cause. She has already collaborated with San Patrignano, the drug and rehab center in Italy, the Magpie Project for mothers and children in insecure housing in East London, and Adelaide House – a women’s shelter based in Liverpool.
“The primary focus of this collection are the many hands that touch our clothing throughout the making process, through the integration of artisanal and hand-crafted elements, in the form of weaving, knitting, printing, patchworking, and embroidery,” said Williams. “The life of each garment delicately passes through the hands of our intricate supply chain, and for that we feel immense gratitude to our makers, our tools, and our team that surrounds us.”
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This is a burgundy jacket made from cactus leather, which is a sustainable leather alternative made from Opuntia Cactus that has been developed in Mexico. This shiny, stylish, and simple piece of fall clothing can be rocked with any outfit imaginable. Whether it is a sweater with a pair of tights and boots, or boyfriend-jeans, a crop-top and a pair of white runners. The Yellow-orangey and red leaves matching with this jacket is a combination only imaginable in dreams.
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Made from bamboo silk, which is simply a name given to a rug made from viscose, a blend of viscose and/or fibre extracted from bamboo stalks, it is a fibre that is rapidly gaining popularity for its ability to be a sustainable renewable source. The pants and torso are riddled with an abstract-graphic design, topped off with a unique, swirls. The outfit is finished off with an oversized, black, wide scarf, perfect to protect you from the strong wind of fall.
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The most eye-catching thing about this outfit is the smallest visible thing on the model; a furry handbag with horizontal rectangles differing in thickness, but full of colours you would see being represented in the fall season. This bag is finished off with skinny wooden handles, emphasizing the bag itself even more. Though it is difficult to see, the outfit appears to be a brown, tiny-squared chequered onesie with a silver zipper going down to the waist, with a fitted torso and wide collars. The flared trousers that come down to the ankle enhance the outfit with the knitted fur rectangles on the top, which look like they have been extracted from the bag.