Bethany Williams A/W19

In collaboration with Adelaide House, a women’s shelter in Liverpool, Bethany Williams presented her Autumn/Winter 2019 collection right before receiving the second ever Queen Elizabeth II Design Award from HRH Camilla Parker-Bowles. A great honour and recognition not only for the designer herself but any UK-based designers out there since having the royal family recognise the talent and work that goes into and is presented during LFW for the second year in a row is great for everyone. The shownotes focus on Adelaide House, a safe shelter for women leaving prison with various needs including domestic violence and homelessness. While the designer has said that she will be donating 20% of the proceeds made by this collection to Adelaide House, she also gave the opportunity to some of the women to take part in an early presentation of her collection in January of 2019.

            The collection, as her past ones as well, is produced from recycled and organic materials while Bethany has also worked alongside Liverpool-based The Echo Newspaper in order to utilise their waste product as well. She has also worked with a community dedicated to people with drug dependency called San Patrignano in Italy to produce fabrics made from book waste, waste from the community and pre-production waste from mills in Italy. Bethany’s collaboration with LCF’s ‘Making for Change’ programme that supports women in Downview Prison has also carried over in this collection since the women who take part in this programme will be making any orders made for the jersey pieces from the collection. The knitwear for this collection has also been created using biodegradable wool and has been partly hand-knitted by Williams’ mum. All around, the designer is well deserving of the award as she has managed to pair her talent and her social and environmental conscience quite well together.

            Focusing on the collection itself, it was supported by a range of familiar and outspoken faces including model and activist Adwoa Aboah and model and writer Sonny Hall, as well as models from TIH Models that support homeless youth in the UK. The collection included colourfully woven and oversized knitwear, boxy silhouettes that alluded to the needs of the homeless, patchwork made in the primary hues of blue on organic material, yellow and red and the final look worn by Aboah included handprinted sketches all over matched canvas jacket and trousers, alluding to a very modern and innovative use of a minimalist pair of monochrome trousers and a jacket. Other looks that stood out were the ones made from tent material once again alluding to the needs of the homeless, something that people in their day-to-day lives seem to ignore. Her use of the primary hues brings a playfulness to the rather serious tone of the background of this collection which is warmly welcomed and admired since it doesn’t take away from her accomplishments and current strides as an activist.

            The verdict? Bethany Williams has managed to create a sustainable, practical and wearable collection with modern design on the forefront, silhouettes that are flattering and do not seem in any way boring or outdated while also presenting a thought-provoking story through each look, highlighting today’s social and environmental issues. A grand way to draw the curtain on LFW.