The Amy Winehouse Foundation Collection by Central Saint Martins

Fred Perry invited 150 students from Central Saint Martins (University of the Arts London) Foundation Course (Fashion & Textiles pathway) to participate in a subculture themed research project over two weeks last year. The students had the opportunity to design both the Fred Perry Shirt and Bowling Shirt for the Amy Winehouse Foundation Collection to sit alongside a capsule collection of pieces designed in-house to complement them. Four winners were selected by our MD John Flynn, Product Director Charlie Middleton and Head of Design Charlie Mellor, for capturing the ethos and personality of both Amy Winehouse and the brand.

Winner Esme Famewo looked at the Rude Boy subculture introduced to London by the Jamaican diaspora in the 1960’s, particularly affecting the mod and skinhead subcultures. Her designs reference the rich diversity of dress styles West Indian immigrants brought with them to Britain, which have inspired British street style and high fashion since. Esme created bold Afrocentric linocuts and experimented with recycled materials and woven yarns which have then been blown out of proportion, processed and repeat printed to create all-over print designs. Both the bowling shirt and the woven shirt use pan-African red, gold and green. Red and black twin tipping completes the bowling shirt and the sleeves feature juxtaposed red and black with green and black twin tipping.

Ella Marsh from Leeds looked closer to home for inspiration, focusing on Dressers, a small subculture to come out of the Leeds Football Club casuals. Unlike other subcultures, there was no musical code to Dressers, they were working class lads who liked to dress just so for football matches, the pub and nights out dancing. Inspired by a continental colour palettes and Casual materials Ella’s otherwise playful designs are toughened up with block panels of print and graphic elements. Handwritten lettering ‘Wish you were here’ is printed on the reverse of the bowling shirt in a haze.

Punk has been explored with a fresh perspective by Ha Na Jung from South Korea who discovered British subculture for the first time while researching Amy Winehouse. She was inspired by the bold styling on London streets and developed a series of patchworks utilizing both denim and tartan- firm favourites of the punk scene. These were turned into stripes on ecru shirt styles and printed onto shirting fabrics before being embroidered into to create an applique effect.

Soul Boys have been interpreted intricately and imaginatively by Hinako Nakazawa from Japan. Hinako drew, embroidered and painted tiny Northern Soul dancer motifs before photographing them with a moving camera to capture the essence of movement the dancers enjoyed. The captivating result has been turned into a repeat print inserted into a panel on the front of the bowling shirt, Northern Soul dancer embroidery has been added to the rear and a full printed shirt has been created to match.

The collection will be available in all Fred Perry Authentic shops and online at www.fredperry.com