ERIN LEWIS

...bringing together the history and future of fashion

Erin Lewis is a British designer currently working in Mexico City. Her previous collection was a fusion of the history and future of fashion, with an apocalyptic edge questioning the outlook of production and longevity in fashion. Striving to maintain tradition in textiles, she sourced all wool from the UK and produced each piece in the UK, including Aran knitwear made in Wales and hi-tech tweed woven in Scotland with Dashing Tweeds. The current collection has taken her to Mexico to work at Taller Flora, the studio run by Carla Fernandez, which works with the traditional textile communities in Mexico to sustain historical processes. Not only is this a marriage of tradition and the future, but also a global fusion of cultures.

Nothing inspires me like...
Questions. Any Question, could be an essay, a collection, a film. When you take things as they are, a stagnancy builds up. I love that I can use two question marks on everything in Mexico!

I hope...
That consumers will learn that to buy piles and piles of cheap disposable fashion really damages our future. Bad clothes end up on rubbish heaps. I really wish people would consume less and buy better.

Cultural influences...
Affect not only your vision, but also your drive as a creative person. There were definitely no tailored suits on the council estate I grew up in, but that’s what drove me to seek out experience and do what I wanted to do. I feel so lucky that I have a job that enables me to experience other cultures.

I got where I am...
By taking chances, being honest, working really, really hard and with some of the most amazing people. When you are learning you need a base like university to keep you in check, but in reality life experience is essential; I worked in studios throughout my studies.

Fashion can sometimes...
Mean that you need to drink Red Bull for breakfast.

I dance like...
Mia Wallace.

I have never...
Been scared of hard work.

Faith in...
Your assistants is essential for them to get the best out their experience and for you to get the maximum from your working environment.

Cake makes me...
Apparently very competitive, Boudicca had a cake off last year. I tried to be clever and make a black lemon cake, but the food colouring settled funny and it ended up looking like a slab of mould. Clearly, I didn’t win, but nevertheless it was the only cake that was entirely eaten because it tasted soooo good.

NYC/Paris/London/Milan is...
The establishment, but it's not the future of fashion.

My first crush...
Was Callan Mulvey, the guy who played Drazic in Heartbreak High.

I love getting older...
I’m getting an awesome grey streak in my fringe.

There's a new...
Film being made by Leos Carax, filmed in Japan and again starring Denis Lavant. Well, this is what I read somewhere, or maybe I dreamt it..? I really hope it is true because the combination of directing and acting from these two men is so incredible.

My vice is...
Youtube.

Money makes...
The world go round, apparently.

ERIN LEWIS ON NJAL