The Rebel Tartan Project 2016

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Image: Nottingham Trent Winning Team

UNIVERSITY OF BRIGHTON - WINNING TEAM

Team members: Catherine Brown, Elle Baron, Samara Kendall, and Holly Gillan

Theme: Focusing on palm oil and diamonds as major human trafficking trades as well as barcodes as a symbol of the loss of identity, this team developed a cohesive set of textiles that brought new life to the Blueheart tartan in a youthful way.

UNIVERSITY OF BRIGHTON

WINNING TEAM KNIT - CATHERINE BROWN

The key theme and message running through this project is the idea of barcodes and how humans are being treated as commodities. To convey this within my work I started by experimenting with different techniques to create linear structures within my knitted samples.

UNIVERSITY OF BRIGHTON

WINNING TEAM PRINT - HOLLY GILLAN

These print designs looked at the palm oil industry as one of the biggest in human trafficking. The bold, graphic prints were quirky but commercial and complemented the Blueheart tartan well.

Holly says I really enjoyed creating textiles that incorporate a strong message... I also learnt so much about the issue and how far-reaching it is. Collaborating with other textiles students in other specialisms inspired my work so much and I benefitted from working in a group and sharing ideas.

UNIVERSITY OF BRIGHTON

WINNING TEAM PRINT No. 2 - ELLE BARON

This project has taught me that human trafficking is a serious, worldwide issue and I think it is a brilliant idea to shed light upon this through textiles.

I hope that my designs will bring further awareness of such issues, and shed light onto industries many people would rarely associate with human trafficking, such as the diamond industry that I have chosen to base my designs on.

UNIVERSITY OF BRIGHTON

WINNING TEAM WEAVE - SAMARA KENDALL

I decided to focus on the commoditisation of trafficking victims through branding and barcodes as I feel for weave the structure and pattern translates very well..

I wanted to create not only a tartan but something that was interactive, with hidden depths and layers of meaning.

If there had been more time I would have designed this fabric digitally on the jacquard to create a working QR code rather than just a concept.

UNIVERSITY OF BRIGHTON

WINNING TEAM - BRANDING

We used the Not a Commodity logo to create swing tags that could be used on our samples or the clothing they could eventually become; these feature the logo as well as a new QR code that could contain information about our project, the Blueheart tartan, and the campaign to increase awareness about human trafficking and what consumers can do to break the cycle.

NOTTINGHAM TRENT UNIVERSITY

WINNING TEAM

Team members: Olivia Littell, Heather Frances Ward, Eloisa Roan, Eleanor Somner

Theme: As a group we would like to look at trafficking through the eyes of the victim; Specifically focusing on transportation and the idea of hope. We will represent hope through detail and texture by adding flashes of light and colour into a primarily monochromatic colour pallet.

NOTTINGHAM TRENT UNIVERSITY

WINNING TEAM

While developing design ideas for silhouettes we would like to maintain gender fluidity to represent that trafficking can affect all demographics. We will be focusing on outer wear for the reason that it provides protection and comfort to the wearer, the volume outerwear can also lends itself to conceal details and secrets within the garment.

UNIVERSITY OF BRIGHTON

HIGHLY COMMENDED (WEAVE) - BETH PLUMPTRE

Using her teams theme of transport in human trafficking, Beth took the block colours and basic shapes of cargo ships, trains, buses, and lorries to design her weave. All her samples were double-sided, representing the hidden side of trafficking and she experimented with the traditional formation of a tartan, using the blocks and dashed lines to create a structural grid. She also wove all of her pieces with sustainable merino wool.

UNIVERSITY OF BRIGHTON

HIGHLY COMMENDED (PRINT) - SHANNON MADDAMS

Shannons print designs were inspired by graphs and maps to visually symbolise the movement of trafficked individuals around the world. Each design was also hand-painted with SOS in Morse code to convey the vast distance between victims and bystanders, the inherent secrecy of trafficking networks and the difficulties victims face in being heard.

UNIVERSITY OF BRIGHTON

HIGHLY COMMENDED (KNIT) - RACHEL WELLS

When researching, we found that a lot of the victims are moved around at night or locked in dark rooms so they cant figure out where they are. So we began by taking photographs at night and these became our inspiration. Rachel used foils and reflective yarns in her knit samples to create a sense of movement and a state of perpetual uncertainty.