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HELEN BALL
- Female
- Swansea
- United Kingdom
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HELEN BALL's Page
Profile Information
- Profession / role:
- Sustainable Textiles Lecturer and Designer/Maker
- Company / organisation:
- My Ella
- Website (if you have one):
- www.my-ella.co.uk
- My primary role in relation to fashion is:
- Consumer, Designer, Retailer, Manufacturer
- I am looking to discover or buy
- An Ethical Fashion Industry!
- About me / About business or organisation:
- I have worked in the dynamic fashion industry for over 6 years from high street to corporate to alternative fashions for companies such as TRAIDremade and Si:Su Designs and more recently created an upcycled label for RSPCA Llys Nini called Ennini. Equipped with my strong sustainability ethics, I believe my future as a fashion lecturer and designer lies in the ever-increasing area of ethical and eco fashion.
I utilise my strong sustainability ethics and experience to promote eco/ethical fashion by organising fashion shows, events and holding sustainable/recycled textiles workshops to educate people of the importance of textiles reuse. During the workshops, attendees learn the basic principles of upcycling, garment sourcing and using eco-fabrics. The informative workshops show how we can all get involved (in a fun and creative way!) to save clothes and textiles from landfill. I have worked at many schools, colleges, youth groups, environment centres and music festivals across the country.
Within design I only source fabrics that are either reclaimed or if new, come from respected and ethical companies who farm organically and maintain workers rights. The fabrics are dyed using azo-free dyes and garments are designed to last to counteract the fast fashion culture we now live in. I also like to use unusual items such as CD's and vinyl records within my work as I love the idea of fusing fashion and music, especially since so much waste is generated from these two industries.
All pieces are designed, constructed and crafted by myself and are all made in Swansea, South Wales.
I hope to play a key role of changing the face of the fashion industry of the future.
- Career history / Company history:
- MY ELLA - WORKSHOP LECTURER - Planning and delivery of sustainable textile workshops across the UK.
MY ELLA - DESIGNER/MAKER - Design and manufacture of sustainable fashion accessories.
ENNINI - CREATOR/DESIGNER/MAKER - Upcycled clothing label for RSPCA Llys Nini Charity Shops
Si:Su Designs - FREELANCE PATTERN CUTTER - Clothing made from reclaimed/vintage fabrics
TRAIDremade - DESIGN LEADER/DESIGNER/MAKER - Recycled clothing for TRAID Charity Shops
RAPTURE LTD -PATTERN CUTTER/DESIGNER - High St supplier
FIRST CORPORATE CLOTHING LTD -PATTERN CUTTER/DESIGNER - Corporate clothing supplier
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WIN A £50 GIFT VOUCHER!!!
Dear Helen!
I would very much appreciate your help. I am studying for an MA in Marketing at Kingston Business School under the supervision of Professor Robert East. We are conducting research about Fairtrade goods and ethical fashion clothes, and ask you to complete the enclosed short questionnaire.
I am also offering a £50 shopping gift voucher to the lucky prize draw winner!!!!
Could you please complete this questionnaire, following the link
http://kingston.qualtrics.com/SE/?SID=SV_cJaBu5g0xuuEvhG
Thank you very much for your help.
Yours sincerely,
Alma Erzhanova
Thanks for getting in touch.
The way I'm trying to make it work is to find textile recycling organisations who will sponsor the catwalk to cover some costs and I don't expect the designers to have the money to do this. Each sponsor will put forward a designer that they are supporting. If they don't have a designer they work with we will suggest someone.
At the moment I have four textile recyclers signed up: Chris Carey Collections, BCR Global, IG Cohen and The Salvation Army.
I'd set myself a target of a minimum of five so I only need one more.
Each textile recycler pays £2,000 as a sponsor if they are already exhibiting or £3,000 if they aren't.
So you have two options: either you can wait until we have our five sponsors and if one of them needs a designer we can suggest you, or you can talk to a textile recycler you are working with and suggest to them that they might like to get involved with you as the designer they are supporting.
There are a lot of sponsor benefits. RWM is the biggest event of the year for the recycling and waste management community, it presents the perfect opportunity for people from across the sector to meet, network, do business, and learn about the latest technologies and developments.
Already among the exhibitor community there are a number of textile recycling organisations, an RWM catwalk offers the opportunity to raise the profile of both textile recycling organisations and the work they do – and that of the young designers using their materials – to the largest event of the year for recycling and waste management professionals.
RWM’s visitors include owners of real estate that can accommodate clothing banks as well as retailers and other people who create textile waste or manage textiles when they enter the waste stream, there will be practical business outcomes from a fun, and exciting new addition to the RWM event.
Drop me an email for more info, I've run out of room here! gerry.sherwood@emap.com
Gerry.