The Fashion Museum is delighted to have acquired two stunning looks by London-based British fashion designer Phoebe English.
English is known for producing luxury garments that are an alternative to fast fashion.Graduating from Central Saint Martins in 2011 with an MA in fashion design, English founded her studio in the same year. Rooted in craftmanship and reducing environmental impact, the studio aims to rethink the design system so that it aligns with ‘the realities of our planetary limitations’. Consequently, the studio finds itself ‘in an ongoing transition towards sustainable circular design, within a slow fashion context.’
Focusing on small-scale, handcrafted production, English explores the use of more sustainable techniques including: zero-waste pattern cutting; using GOTS (Global Organic Textile Standard) certified organic cottons; and working with fast-growing circular process bamboo silk among many other materials. Collections produced in the last few years build on this ethos, with a shift to increasing locality of materials and using everything available in the studio. In speaking with English in December 2024, she explained how she has created a network of suppliers around the UK to reach out to for fabric that will otherwise go to waste. This is with the aim to reduce the studio’s ‘fibre miles’, sourcing as locally as possible and creating the final designs in London. She has also moved away from using synthetic fabrics, taking into consideration the end of life of a garment. The studio avoids chemical dyes and has begun to explore working with botanical dyes using foraged materials.
Autumn/Winter 2019, Phoebe English © Phoebe English by Asia Werbel
The first acquisition is an ensemble from the studio’s Autumn/Winter 2019 collection. It is an example of English’s exploration of using waste fabric and trialling zero-waste pattern cutting, using more sustainable fabric such as bamboo viscose or waste cotton. Simultaneously delicate and tough, the look is made up of three pieces: a white box sleeve slip made from bamboo viscose; a black dress made with reclaimed cotton from studio waste, knotted into strips and trapped within two layers of tulle; and a white cotton harness top with intricate folded triangles of GOTS organic certified cotton tulle.
Autumn/Winter 2019, Phoebe English © Phoebe English by Asia Werbel
Nothing New Part Two 2020, Phoebe English © Phoebe English by Asia Werbel
The second look is from the Nothing New Part Two collection, which represents English’s transition to questioning the current design systems and attempting to utilise materials that already exist or are considered ‘waste’ materials. Combining luxury and comfort, thematching ivory quilted puff jacket and skirt are made with reclaimed silk and wool, stuffed with waste shredded silk.
Nothing New Part Two 2020, Phoebe English © Phoebe English by Asia Werbel
Over time English has changed her approach to how fashion is created. Going against the traditional methods of designing fashion that she was taught at college, English prefers to start with the material that she has, and then designs accordingly – producing the number of pieces that the fabric will allow, in a design that works for that fabric. Collections are created in response to questions such as ‘is it possible to make an entire collection and its subsequent production from fabrics which are already here and are not being used’, ‘can we use collaboration, communication and exchange as a fabric sourcing asset?’ and importantly ‘how can we begin to evolve from sustainability-minded design to designing with regenerative outcomes?’. Taking a slow approach to creating collections further in recent years, the studio now only presents one collection per year, committing to do more with less, producing slowly and more intentionally.
Acquiring these looks aligns with the Fashion Museum’s ambition to continue profiling designers who are working towards a sustainable future for fashion. These looks demonstrate the constant development of ways of working that disrupt the existing design systems or find new ways of working within them.
English also speaks to museums as places of inspiration for her practice, and so it is fitting that the Fashion Museum now holds these beautiful pieces in its collection.
Autumn/Winter 2019, Phoebe English © Phoebe English by Asia Werbel
Nothing New Part Two 2020, Phoebe English © Phoebe English by Asia Werbel
