Clothing Community Stories from textiles to tailoring and maintenance Walthamstow
THE STORY This publication has evolved through a collaborative project of four London College of Fashion MA students in association with the Centre for Sustainable Fashion and Waltham Forest Council for London Borough of Culture 2019. Aniela, Megha, Rebecca and Sara have joined forces to explore alternative clothing practices in Walthamstow and celebrate the people behind them. The project has been an opportunity to uncover the creative life cycle of clothing from choosing the fabric, to garment construction and tailoring, and onto garment alteration and repair, all within Walthamstow. We discovered a network of independent craftspeople and small-scale businesses that form an integral part of the local community. Diligent and passionate about their work, they help create and maintain clothing pieces tailored to the individual’s need. Through their trade and the way they support one another and give back where they can, those businesses are vital in creating a community resilience that shapes the cultural identity of Walthamstow the way we know it today. We would like to thank all the participants of this project for providing us with an insight into their day-to-day lives and so generously sharing their concerns, challenges and hopes with us. Further we would like to thank our supervisor Dr. Francesco Mazzarella for his dedicated support throughout our journey. We hope you feel as inspired as we do to engage with your local clothing community!
“When the customers come in, they look for where to find a good tailor. And then the tailor recommends me for fabric. It’s better to help each other”
HUSEYIN YAVUZ ISTANBUL FABRIC 175 High Street, E17 7BX, tel: 07868507732
“When you are friendly and they’re happy with the quality, they don’t go to a different shop. They come to you”
Huseyin Yavuz is a cloth seller on the High Street in Walthamstow. His family has a background in artisanal textiles with meticulously crafted rugs made by his wife adorning the shop walls. All the fabrics on offer are sourced from Turkey and Huseyin takes great pride in the quality and fair prices he supplies. The way he leads his business is greatly influenced by his community attitude that is about helping one another; he sends his customers to the best tailors, upholsterers and seamstresses and they in turn send their clients to him. Huseyin’s knowledge, friendly manner and generosity make his shop a popular spot in the area and attract people from various cultural communities that he specifically caters his textiles to.
“I let everybody come to me. English, Pakistani, Turkish, Afghan. Everybody finds something here. Everybody is happy. ”
“The only way your work can stay alive beyond you, is if you have taught other people”
AJAZ HUSAIN ALVI KASHISH TAILOR 46B Queens Road, E17 8PX, tel: 02035094917
Ajaz Husain Alvi is the owner of Kashish, a women’s tailoring business located on Queens Road in Walthamstow. His years of reliable work in the area have earned Ajaz a large and multi-cultural customer base. Although he offers repair and alteration services, Ajaz’s focus lies on his tailoring skills providing bespoke garments at a fair price. He takes a creative approach to the work he produces and would rather compete over quality than a race towards the bottom price. Alongside his making practice he has taught numerous students the craft of pattern making and garment construction, of which many went on to open their own tailoring businesses. In a proud yet humble manner he describes the legacy he is leaving through the teaching of his pupils.
“I don’t believe in advertising; I believe your work speaks for you”
“Do competition with the quality of work. If you do competition with price then that’s bad”
“A lot of people don’t realise what you can repair... we can replace it like totally new. You don’t want to stop wearing it when you’ve spent all that money”
JAMEELA MEHMOOD AR TAILORS / APOLLO DRY CLEANERS 62 Wood Street, E17 3HT, tel: 020 8520 7006 4 St James Street, E17 7PF, tel: 020 8520 6071
Jameela Mehmood owns two alteration and repair shops with a dry-cleaning service on Wood Street and St James’s Street. Continuing her father’s legacy, Jameela has taken on the family business to offer a friendly and great service working with her dedicated team of skilled craftspeople and assistants. Possibilities in alterations are endless and the team shows a great sense of creativity when dealing with garments bearing tears, holes and stains.
“Fashion changes so much, and so fast, that’s why people get things altered. Like now, a lot of people want their cuffs to show outside the suit jacket. It’s just the style at the moment. So, we do that”
Jameela has a strong sense of community that goes beyond managing all the trade work they take on from other dry cleaners: clothing that is left behind gets donated to charity shops and forgotten blankets go to the local homeless shelter. Jameela believes that alteration and repair can make people feel confident and good in the clothes they already own.
“I do get surprised about what people have left. Nice things. So I looked around and found someone who’s helping the homeless to drop all the clothes off”
09 MAY 2019
Clothing Community Stories
Aniela Fidler Megha Chauhan Rebecca MacKay Sara Liz Marty
https://urlzs.com/LySV
