friends 2007

Everyone has an item of clothing that they can’t bear to get rid of. Even when it’s worn out and unwearable, it’s hard to part with. How do you create textiles which mean something to someone?
I asked some of my friends about their experiences with their special ‘friends’, and the stories behind them. I proposed that, if they were willing to give them up to me, they will get it back in a kind of reincarnated form. They will get a new life; not a replica, but the soul will still be there. 

inca – pink dress ➤

“I bought it second hand about six or seven years ago. Each summer this dress used to be the first one to come out of my wardrobe. It was my summer companion for seven years, and travelled around the world with me.
Unfortunately last year it was badly eaten by moths. I tried to fix the worst bits, but it was just not possible. I still kept it, even though it was unwearable. It was too painful to throw it away, as it reminded me of so many great holidays and summers.”

Sayo – jeans with memories ➤

“I have always been a huge fan of Yoshitomo Nara — I love his work. At the beginning of 2006, I was working for a gallery and got the chance to help build one of his exhibitions. I wore these old jeans so I did not have to worry about being covered in paint and dust. The jeans became even more messy but I wanted to keep them as a memory of that time.”

Stephanie – green liberty jumper ➤

“It was bought with Liberty vouchers which were a gift from a former employer. You could say it was worth five years of hard work. It was ridiculously expensive, but it had quality that would last forever. After four months it found its way into a hot machine wash. It was ten sizes too small. Of course, James hadn’t meant to do it, but I was horrified, and it was dramatically thrown away, never to be mentioned again. Not until this project did I discover that James had secretly retrieved it from the bin, hoping there was some way of resuscitating it.”

Verity – first grown-up bag ➤

“I bought the bag in a sale at Harvey Nichols in Leeds, it just made me happy as I had always wanted a Marc Jacobs bag but could never afford one. I have had it a long time now and have used it every single day (apart from when I have been forced to wash it). But if I’m honest, the main reason I didn’t want to give it up is that I can’t afford another Marc Jacobs bag and have no idea when I will be able to. And that makes me sad, because owning it made me feel more grown-up. It was my first adult bag.”

Sam – tennis shoes ➤

“I loved those shoes. I was looking for something that were like Converse, but weren’t. They were Sergio Tacchini that had been sort of ‘remixed’ by Burro. They put a circle of fluffy yellow tennis ball material on the side of these tennis shoes. I like that kind of humour. I wore them out. Through the heel, through the toe. The sides split, and the inner rubbed through to the outer. It was the last thing I bought from Burro. They’re gone now. Like the shoes.”

Emma – beloved boots ➤

“I still love you, even when my boyfriend refuses to be seen out with you. I still love you when my feet are soaking and I fall on my arse on a wet pavement. But I guess sometimes you have to move on.”

Jemma – lucky golden shoes ➤

“I bought these shoes on my 22nd birthday. I sacrificed about 3 weeks of the most painful blisters to wear them in. They became ‘lucky’ after wearing them for 2 successful interviews and I seriously wore them all the time for nearly three years — even when the flowers had fallen off, the elastic had gone, they had holes and I had had them re-heeled and re-soled four times. Thinking about giving them to this project took me nearly two months to consider.”

Ben – a t-shirt with history ➤

“I like clothes older than me. In my first car my Dad kept an old t-shirt as a rag to wipe the windscreen, which I used for years until I looked at it properly and got it washed. He said it was from a sound company in the early seventies that he had worked with on a rock & roll tour. I’ve worn it more than he ever did. I wore it to a gig and weirded out a friend of his who had forgotten about them. I’ve worn it on first dates and birthdays. I wear it in bed. It is the thinnest t-shirt in the world, and I will miss it.”

story photography by Hannah Stanton