Bright Fashion Lights to Watch: Conform

Bright Fashion Lights to Watch: Conform

It's always fun to try and chart the new "bright lights" of the fashion scene and we have found one: Julia Smith, and her small company "Conform". First noted here when she won the Global Mamas competition at Topshop, where her made in Ghana batik dresses flew off the hangers. Now she is designing on her own in England so that she can control all aspects of the production. Her fabrics are all organic or sustainable materials. She uses hemp/wool tweeds and soy/organic cotton jersey. The antique bronze dress (pictured right) is a rich,deep colour and is a combination of hemp and silk, with a long row of cream coloured buttons down the back. The suit (left) is a Scottish tweed with a brightly patterned lining of hand-printed batik cotton from Ghana. She calls her company "Conform" because she acknowledges that we have to conform but she gives it all a slightly non-conformist twist. Her tailoring is purposely masculine with a feminine side to it. She wants her clothes to make women feel confident and comfortable in a man's world. :: Conform