3rd Place Winner

A fully hand embroidered trench coat in celebration of Bristol’s street art culture and commitment to sustainable solutions. Purifying Graffiti explores Chloe’s personal relationship with her urban life origins blended with a societal connection with an overarching environmental issue to create an artistic intervention. Her chosen colour palette reflects her own personal beliefs and values on this global issue and draws attention to purifying the fashion industry.

White is an important colour for almost all world religions. The pope, head of the Roman Catholic Church, wears the colour white as a symbol of purity and sacrifice. It is also considered the cleanest and purest colour in Islam. Spiritually the colour silver is believed to be a mirror to the soul, helping us to see ourselves as others see us. It is a colour of strength, clarity and focus.

This coat explores a blend of traditional techniques combined with unconventional and recycled materials sourced from Chloe’s experiences in Bristol. She has taken symbols of capitalism such as waste Coca-Cola cans to reprocess these into sequin embellishment for the heavy presence of tambour. Other materials include second-hand zips, chains and shoelaces, glass beads and springs from scrap electrical appliances and writing implements which she has coated in a CO2 absorbing paint.