Winning the Queen Elizabeth Design Award last year, Bethany Williams presented her latest collection ‘The Butterfly Café’ for SS 2020 in the beautiful surroundings of the Garden Museum. Her new collection has been inspired by her work with ‘Spires’, a South London based charity that helps hundreds of homeless and disadvantaged people all year round. The collection focuses on the female only ‘safe space’ where Spires’ female staff and volunteers offer a consistent and long-term approach to each woman who comes to the Spires centre for help. Open to vulnerable, socially isolated women and women engaged with sex work; Spires completes a holistic assessment of need and a care plan for each client. 20% of the profits from the sales of The Butterfly Café collection will go to the charity.
Bethany’s work brings into sharp focus some of the country’s most difficult problems, from homelessness to domestic abuse, but her work is much more than social commentary. Her ethos is one of collaboration – where social and environmental concerns go hand in hand; she embeds herself within communities from charities to prisons, to provide meaningful employment and create engaging and empowering opportunities to create positive change.
Styling the hair and using Schwarzkopf Professional to ‘get the look’ was Federico Ghezzi from Saint Luke Artists. Born in Tuscania, Italy, Federico undertook hairdresser training in Florence before opening a successful salon in Milan. Whilst at the top of his game in the salon industry, Federico decided to pursue his passion of session styling and joined the show team of renowned stylist Eugene Souleiman, with whom he worked with for ten years before focussing on his freelance career.
Federico’s elegant and timeless work has featured in editorial titles such as Italian Vogue, Gentlewoman, Love & Pop, and commercial clients include Adidas, Givenchy, & Other Stories, Margaret Howell and Stella McCartney.