Help Jasmine Design & Create Sustainable Dresses
Donation protected
My name is Jasmine Coe and I am an Artist and Designer living in the UK. I studied Fine Art at Bath Spa University, graduating in 2014. At the end of 2016, I went to Australia for the first time to meet my father and connect to my Aboriginal (Wiradjuri) heritage. Having decided to make this journey of connection, I began to understand self-identity. I want to continue this journey by sharing the values that I have learnt through connecting to my Aboriginal heritage, of protecting and caring for our natural world.
I am raising funds to continue developing my creative brand of art and designs and to expand into creating slip dresses. Having previously designed silk scarves, slip dresses feel like the natural next step. I want to create dresses that celebrate the natural world and uphold the values and lessons learnt from connecting to my Aboriginal heritage of caring for our planet and by doing so, using low-impact natural materials like silk, linen or eco-friendly Tencel. Tencel is a vegan friendly fabric which is also biodegradable and made in a closed loop process which means that the chemicals used to create this fabric do not escape into the waterways causing pollution. They are instead reused and repurposed. I want to encourage the development of slow-conscious fashion and discourage the use of synthetic fibres and polyesters that continue to pollute and harm our planet.
£5,000 will contribute towards:
- Fabric and digital printing fees for dresses
(eg: 60 meters of printed Tencel Satin is £2,220 or 100 meters is £3,200)
* Quantity and fabric still undecided with on going research *
- Fair wage of a seamstress for pattern cutting and sampling
- Costs of manufacturing of dresses and grading for sizes
- Eco friendly packaging
- Marketing of dresses to reach target audience to ensure continuation of project
- Financial support to keep designing and creating throughout the year
- Ongoing research of sustainable fabrics and how to be as low impact as possible
- Ongoing costs for starting up a business and building a brand
- Ongoing website fees
- Studio rent
- Mentor fees
Due to Covid, I lost my job in Sydney, March 2020 in the arts sector. In response to this, I have been spending 2020 building my creative brand in the UK. The funding raised will be used to kickstart this project and support my creativity. It will allow me to have my designs printed onto fabric here in the UK using local resources and supporting UK jobs especially in a time of crisis, instead of importing from abroad. This is important to the values of my project being based in both London and Sydney. Following the direction of my journey I have found a UK-based printer that has a sister company in Sydney which when the time is right will allow me to expand and grow this project.
These dresses will be for women who appreciate the beauty of life and want to celebrate all it has to offer. For women that appreciate the value of their clothing and the story it has to tell. Dresses that reject the fast fashion mentality and stand for good care and versatility in wear. These are dresses for women who care about what materials their clothes are made from and care about upholding values of living peacefully and in harmony with the land. For women who want to take part in the adventure of life, taking a risk and trusting in their own journeys, dressing to reach their full potential by celebrating our natural world.
By having your support on this project will help me make this dream turn into a reality. As I work alone, the workload can sometimes feel overwhelming. I would be so grateful to you for supporting me as it would eliminate a lot of financial stress, allowing me to focus on the creativity and the chance to bring these dresses to life.
I am raising funds to continue developing my creative brand of art and designs and to expand into creating slip dresses. Having previously designed silk scarves, slip dresses feel like the natural next step. I want to create dresses that celebrate the natural world and uphold the values and lessons learnt from connecting to my Aboriginal heritage of caring for our planet and by doing so, using low-impact natural materials like silk, linen or eco-friendly Tencel. Tencel is a vegan friendly fabric which is also biodegradable and made in a closed loop process which means that the chemicals used to create this fabric do not escape into the waterways causing pollution. They are instead reused and repurposed. I want to encourage the development of slow-conscious fashion and discourage the use of synthetic fibres and polyesters that continue to pollute and harm our planet.
£5,000 will contribute towards:
- Fabric and digital printing fees for dresses
(eg: 60 meters of printed Tencel Satin is £2,220 or 100 meters is £3,200)
* Quantity and fabric still undecided with on going research *
- Fair wage of a seamstress for pattern cutting and sampling
- Costs of manufacturing of dresses and grading for sizes
- Eco friendly packaging
- Marketing of dresses to reach target audience to ensure continuation of project
- Financial support to keep designing and creating throughout the year
- Ongoing research of sustainable fabrics and how to be as low impact as possible
- Ongoing costs for starting up a business and building a brand
- Ongoing website fees
- Studio rent
- Mentor fees
Due to Covid, I lost my job in Sydney, March 2020 in the arts sector. In response to this, I have been spending 2020 building my creative brand in the UK. The funding raised will be used to kickstart this project and support my creativity. It will allow me to have my designs printed onto fabric here in the UK using local resources and supporting UK jobs especially in a time of crisis, instead of importing from abroad. This is important to the values of my project being based in both London and Sydney. Following the direction of my journey I have found a UK-based printer that has a sister company in Sydney which when the time is right will allow me to expand and grow this project.
These dresses will be for women who appreciate the beauty of life and want to celebrate all it has to offer. For women that appreciate the value of their clothing and the story it has to tell. Dresses that reject the fast fashion mentality and stand for good care and versatility in wear. These are dresses for women who care about what materials their clothes are made from and care about upholding values of living peacefully and in harmony with the land. For women who want to take part in the adventure of life, taking a risk and trusting in their own journeys, dressing to reach their full potential by celebrating our natural world.
By having your support on this project will help me make this dream turn into a reality. As I work alone, the workload can sometimes feel overwhelming. I would be so grateful to you for supporting me as it would eliminate a lot of financial stress, allowing me to focus on the creativity and the chance to bring these dresses to life.
(Birdsong London x Jasmine Coe - Silk Scarf Design 2020)
(Golden Leaves, Winter Collection 2020)
(Ripples in the River Silk Scarf, 2020)
(Earth with Honeybees Silk Scarf, 2020)
(Honeybee Hive Silk Scarf, 2020)
The background of my story:
My art is now a continuous exploration and a connection to my Wiradjuri (Aboriginal) heritage, by celebrating the natural world. A place where I can discover true self-identity. I’ve spoken about the complexities of having dual heritage and being mixed race from two cultures that share a traumatic history of Colonisation. A way that I am able to deal with these issues is by creating art that connects to the natural world, a place that ties us all together as humans and is a place where equality and peace can hopefully be found. It is a personal healing process and attempts to bring together both sides of my heritage to a place where I can feel complete. The continuation of creativity allows me to keep alive the lessons that I have learnt from connecting to my Wiradjuri heritage, the most important being, ‘to care for country’. The process allows me to try and make something beautiful and meaningful from a place of pain, which is essentially healing.
In the last year my art and painting has taken a turn into fashion where I’ve designed silk scarves that celebrate the natural world. Honeybees feature a lot in my work as they act as a reminder of the importance of balance in our natural world. They also act as a symbol of community strength, that we are part of a wider collective in our efforts to protect land and seas. These are some of the values I have learnt through this enlightening of life and how we must be reminded that we are a part of our landscape and not just simply living separately on its surface.
To put into action the messages behind my work, I created giftboxes for my silk scarves that included a free ‘Seedball’ (www.seedball.co.uk) which when scattered helps support the bees declining numbers and encourages pollination. The idea of this was to create a full connective circle - wearing a honeybee themed silk scarf, made from natural material that encourages you to sow a seedball - benefitting the bees and bringing you back to nature. Aiming to encourage awareness of our surrounding.
As well as the Seedballs, I partnered with a not-for-profit charity in Australia called ReForest Now that plants trees. For every silk scarf that was sold in Australia, a tree would be planted for the customer in a small attempt to help contribute to reverting some of the damage that was caused by the 2020 bushfires. I want to continue this structure of giving back to the natural world when selling my slip dresses.
In 2020 I collaborated with Birdsong London to design a silk scarf that was available in two different sizes for their Winter collection. The Silk was called ‘Honeybees and Green Leaves’ and represented growth and fertility. In 2020 I also became a member of the Young British Designers who now stock and sell my silk scarves online and had a successful number of Christmas sales. I also launched my new Christmas collection of silk scarves which resulted in selling out of the large silks within 24 hours. These are encouraging sales and a great starting point but I need supportive funding to be able to grow my brand and reach new targets.
This project, to expand my designs into dresses, feels like a natural progression and with your help I can make happen, any contribution is greatly appreciated.
Thank you for taking the time to read through my project proposal and for supporting me in my dreams to create wearable art and dresses that have a purpose.
Keep up to date with my story by following my Instagram https://www.instagram.com/jasminecoeartist/
or to read an interview I did and view more of my silks scarves and art please visit my website
www.jasminecoe.com
Thank you
x
(Dad and me, Sydney, March 2020)
(Golden Leaves, Winter Collection 2020)(Ripples in the River Silk Scarf, 2020)(Earth with Honeybees Silk Scarf, 2020)(Honeybee Hive Silk Scarf, 2020)The background of my story:
My art is now a continuous exploration and a connection to my Wiradjuri (Aboriginal) heritage, by celebrating the natural world. A place where I can discover true self-identity. I’ve spoken about the complexities of having dual heritage and being mixed race from two cultures that share a traumatic history of Colonisation. A way that I am able to deal with these issues is by creating art that connects to the natural world, a place that ties us all together as humans and is a place where equality and peace can hopefully be found. It is a personal healing process and attempts to bring together both sides of my heritage to a place where I can feel complete. The continuation of creativity allows me to keep alive the lessons that I have learnt from connecting to my Wiradjuri heritage, the most important being, ‘to care for country’. The process allows me to try and make something beautiful and meaningful from a place of pain, which is essentially healing.
In the last year my art and painting has taken a turn into fashion where I’ve designed silk scarves that celebrate the natural world. Honeybees feature a lot in my work as they act as a reminder of the importance of balance in our natural world. They also act as a symbol of community strength, that we are part of a wider collective in our efforts to protect land and seas. These are some of the values I have learnt through this enlightening of life and how we must be reminded that we are a part of our landscape and not just simply living separately on its surface.
To put into action the messages behind my work, I created giftboxes for my silk scarves that included a free ‘Seedball’ (www.seedball.co.uk) which when scattered helps support the bees declining numbers and encourages pollination. The idea of this was to create a full connective circle - wearing a honeybee themed silk scarf, made from natural material that encourages you to sow a seedball - benefitting the bees and bringing you back to nature. Aiming to encourage awareness of our surrounding.
As well as the Seedballs, I partnered with a not-for-profit charity in Australia called ReForest Now that plants trees. For every silk scarf that was sold in Australia, a tree would be planted for the customer in a small attempt to help contribute to reverting some of the damage that was caused by the 2020 bushfires. I want to continue this structure of giving back to the natural world when selling my slip dresses.
In 2020 I collaborated with Birdsong London to design a silk scarf that was available in two different sizes for their Winter collection. The Silk was called ‘Honeybees and Green Leaves’ and represented growth and fertility. In 2020 I also became a member of the Young British Designers who now stock and sell my silk scarves online and had a successful number of Christmas sales. I also launched my new Christmas collection of silk scarves which resulted in selling out of the large silks within 24 hours. These are encouraging sales and a great starting point but I need supportive funding to be able to grow my brand and reach new targets.
This project, to expand my designs into dresses, feels like a natural progression and with your help I can make happen, any contribution is greatly appreciated.
Thank you for taking the time to read through my project proposal and for supporting me in my dreams to create wearable art and dresses that have a purpose.
Keep up to date with my story by following my Instagram https://www.instagram.com/jasminecoeartist/
or to read an interview I did and view more of my silks scarves and art please visit my website
www.jasminecoe.com
Thank you
x
(Dad and me, Sydney, March 2020)Organizer
Jasmine Coe
Organizer