Haute Magazine - A Digital Fashion Show: Interview with Warren Reilly

Warren Reilly, a design graduate from Manchester School Of Art, (Textiles In Practice BA, Hons) took the plunge and put on a digital fashion show after his catwalk show was cancelled due to the Covid-19 outbreak in March. He discusses how his practice as a textile designer has been affected by the pandemic, and how he’s combatting a creative slump by finding new working methods and online inspiration. Are ‘accessible’ online fashion shows the future for the fashion industry? Are exclusive invite-only fashion shows on the way out? Despite our ongoing concerns with social media, Instagram is proving to be a hugely influential platform for creatives and designers during an economic crisis. Read on to find out how Warren pulled off a successful digital catwalk show on Instagram.

What inspired you to do a digital fashion show?

I was inspired after listening to a Podcast by Business of Fashion with Fashion Designer, Charles Jeffery. Due to the Pandemic, brands are shutting their stores and unemployment is rife, but Jeffery bravely speaks about the importance of adaptation and regeneration during this very difficult time stating: “I believe it’s a subtle reminder for us to reset and look into ourselves.” This resonated with me. It began a thought process which allowed me to think to myself, “how can I use this time to be productive and to adapt to the situation which I found myself in using my creative practice?”. I began to see many photographers using webcam and zoom calls to produce virtual photoshoots in the safety of the photographers and Models own homes; this included work by Bella Hadid & Vogue Italia and Digital Hair-dos by Evanie Frausto. Initially I was due to show both collections at the @Creat_Hive Event (which I attended last year as part of York Fashion Week) in March 2020. Sadly, due to the pandemic, the event was cancelled and therefore I lost out on the opportunity to represent new and existing pieces of work in a professional format. 

Additionally, during my Manchester School of Art graduate catwalk show “Please do not Touch” July 2019, I had very little say in regards to music, make-up and production of the show and I began to think perhaps I could use this time in lockdown to produce a Virtual catwalk show which allowed me to present my work as I intended it to be presented. This included new styling of each look and a selection of appropriate music (see Spotify playlist DIGITAL CATWALK PLAYLIST), and background visuals to create an impactful aesthetic. I am fascinated by the spectacle of fashion and the production of theatrical fashion shows. This allowed me to reimagine the functionality of the catwalk and to explore a different method of presenting my work to the world while also abiding by lockdown limitations.

How difficult was it organising a fashion show online? Would you do it again?

In the planning of my cancelled show with @Creat_Hive, I had also been working with Make-up/Face artist Megan Cooper (@yes_i_am_angry) who produced work for my “Mood of the Nation” Zine to produce looks for my show with @Creat_Hive. I decided to do the show to present the fantastic work that Megan had also been planning for, using digital superimposed drawings created by Megan on the face of my Digital Model. Matilda Davy (@matildadavyfilm), and I had arranged to meet just weeks before the show was due to take place to decide on styling of the final looks. This meant I had photography already in place to edit and work in order to produce the virtual Catwalk show.  

Producing the show was very simple. I first selected the best images which I took of Matilda previously in all the planned looks for the show and digitally enhanced them to create a slick professional profile. Adding artworks from my sketchbooks in the background, while including my Logo and Collection title was then inserted in the corners of the images. Once I created these images, I decided on a piece of music for each look which I thought best created the mood or atmosphere I wanted to establish. Finally, I created a new typography artwork and text using artworks from both “Mood of The Nation” and “Modern Hallows” which was used in the promotion of the show and the descriptions used within the show itself. I ended the show with a feedback and questions box which provided me with some fantastic responses to see what the public thought of the show. 

Apart from the cancelled fashion show, has Covid-19 affected your textile design?

I would say since my graduate award with The Weavers Factory, I have changed my focus from textile design towards the planning of a new creative project which works with the community to explore concepts and narratives. During the Pandemic, I have been working hard to plan my Mayor of London Funded Project with Brent London Borough of Culture 2020 - Fashioning our History and this has required a lot of admin work which I have used lockdown for to complete. I am excited that I have been commissioned by Metroland to produce a Virtual Workshop via Zoom which I have called “Fashion Futures” which is designed to explore views and opinions of participants to challenge their understanding of the fashion industry at present and to explore what the future holds for the fashion industry due to COVID and other environmental, social & political factors. While I do plan on responding to the pandemic within my practice, it's something that I am still generating research on and understanding as events unfold. I am also working on artworks at present to respond to the BLM movement and protests, to raise money for charities related to that cause. Although I am yet to explore COVID_19 within my practice at present, it is definitely within my intentions and I have already generated ideas of how I could respond to this pandemic. One thing is for sure, I know that I am both an artist and a designer which uses fashion and textiles as a form of activism and I know that I will continue to explore complex narratives and social, environmental and political issues within my practice. 

Tell us about your two looks; Mood of the Nation and Modern Hallows. How do they differ?  

While I presented my “Mood of the Nation” Graduate Collection in its entirety, I also wanted to present the garments I developed as concept pieces for my Exhibition with The Weavers Factory earlier this year as a small capsule collection at the end of the virtual catwalk show. Using artworks developed from my Graduate Award-winning Print design, “Modern Hallows” (Repeat Print now Copyright to The Weavers Factory 2020) I repurposed and up-cycled found garments which I found in local charity shops to where I lived in Brent, including Oxfam on Willesden High Road and St Luke’s Hospice on Harlesden High-street. I used discarded upholstery fabric which I collected during my Internship with Christopher Farr Cloth and Discarded Calico from my final collection toiles to create the fabric patches in the form of my Modern Hallows Tarot Card designs. 

With very limited resources now that I have graduated from University, I found a way to print on small sheets of fabric on my home inkjet printer. I was able to customise these vibrant garments using a sustainable material approach, which meant I only used scrap fabric to achieve the aesthetic I needed, finished with a colourful Satin stitch. I have also been painting on found Leather/Pleather Garments, using my motifs from Modern Hallows. This has come from my Inspiration by Artist and Designers like Patrick Church NY. 

I guess what makes these two new looks essentially very different is the fact that the work was inspired by The Joan Charnley Archive Held by The Weavers Factory and I was inspired by an unusual colour pallet which I may not usually be drawn to. I think the two pieces also show a shift in my research sources which I began during research for “Mood of The Nation” into Medieval Art, Fashion and Culture. The artworks produced for “Modern Hallows” looks were also inspired by the 2019 folk horror film “Midsommar”. I did a vast amount of research into the conceptual narrative which the producers explored in the film, and found it fascinating exploring folk art and paganism. The artworks that are seen in that film slowly present the horror which would unfold later in the film, and I found this linked with my concept of Tarot card reading almost directly and was a huge influence on the creation of my Tarot Card Designs for “Modern Hallows”. 

Does your ‘Mood of the Nation’ collection still reflect our nation’s current mood?

While experiencing this current social, political, environmental and economic instability which has been strengthened by the horrific spread of COVID-19, my Graduate Collection “Mood of The Nation” is still relevant now. Despite the fact Brexit has officially been accounted but not yet completed, we still have no idea what the future may hold as a result of our decision as a nation to leave the European Union. We as the British nation are looking to the future with unease, worry and anxiety and I believe that our national identity is still being questioned and is ever-changing. Over the last few weeks, the death of George Floyd and the following BLM Protests has also ignited a fight against institutionalised racism and white supremacy, not only in the states but also within the United Kingdom. This is another ripple effect which has been generated by the epicentre of horror which was established during colonial rule, something that the UK has undeniable and disturbingly strong ties with even today. "Mood of the Nation" was created to question the concept of Britishness, in the present day and our future. With the unrest that we are experiencing right now, I believe it’s time for change. “Mood of The Nation” is still relevant even a year after its creation in regards to us as British people, questioning our identity as a nation. How we can move forward to create a more positive, equal and less violent world? As Artists and Designers, it is our responsibility to use our creativity to explore this and that's exactly why '“Mood of The Nation” was created. 

Georgia McConnell - June 21, 2020