EDUN together with Dazed & Confused have created a special series of women’s t-shirts and t-shirt dresses to benefit War Child. The limited edition items will be available for one month only via a co-branded Pop Up Shop launching exclusively in the UK on October 19th at Selfridges, Oxford Street on the new 3rd Central floor.

Working closely with Dazed’s fashion team, EDUN and the acclaimed artist Jo Ratcliffe created the series of four hand drawn animal graphics appearing on this unique collection of tees and dresses. 15 percent of the sales from this product will be donated specifically to War Child’s current projects in the Democratic Republic of Congo. To kick things off, Selfridges will host a VIP launch event in their Ultralounge together with Dazed & Confused hosted by Ali Hewson and EDUN on October 22nd where Kitty, Daisy & Lewis will be playing live. Dazed Digital spoke to Jo Ratcliffe on the collaboration...

Dazed Digital: How would you describe your aesthetic?
Jo Ratcliffe: When I work commercially I try to vary my approach, so that interests are kept perked. However, I always seem to think the onlooker knows better so maybe you should answer this question... I have a fine art background so I suppose that interferes with my process and shows in projects where there is room for manoeuvre. I like to keep things simple as I think work ages badly and quickly when your style is gimmicky. Or I try to create subtly humorous work where I can, if anything because it pleases me. And as I get older what seems most evident is that my aesthetic is maturing with me whatever it is.

DD: Can you tell me about your four different designs and explain the thought behind them?
Jo Ratcliffe: The idea which Karen presented to me was to create images a little like the large 80s animal print tees but to make it as modern as we could without making anything too gimmicky.

DD: How did you and Karen work together, and what were your different involvements?
Jo Ratcliffe: We met up several times at the beginning of the project and she researched the various animals we were thinking of using. We wanted to use an elephant or a rhinoceros but because we were trying to focus on the mouth those specific mammals didn't really work out. The inside of the mouths of both of those mammals don't really look too scary. They have more tongue than teeth. Then we worked closely together as I collaged placements and possible 'roars' to see what looked vicious enough.

DD: Why did you want to be involved in this project?
Jo Ratcliffe: Because it had been a while since I had worked with Dazed or Karen and of course because it's a charitable project.

The pop-up shop launches October 19th in Selfridges, 3rd Central, as does the online store at www.edunonline.com. In the US, product will be available exclusively at www.saksfifthavenue.com starting October 29th. To find out more about War Child’s work go to warchild.org.uk

Photography Amy Troost
Styling Karen Langley

Hair Bok-Hee at Streeters
Make-up Lisa Houghton at Jed Root
Model Sheila Marquez at Supreme
Photographic assistant Darren Hall
Retouching Norkin Digital Art

All clothes by Edun, shoes by Alexander Wang

The Behind the Scenes video from Amy Troost and Karen Langley's shoot for the November issue of Dazed:

Directed by Peter Szollosi
Music "What Did He Say" by Nite Jewel

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