There’s a dark energy to Jawara Alleyne’s approach to upcycling. Perhaps it’s because everything comes shredded, sliced, and suctured together with safety pins, leaving the flesh exposed through slashes of fabric and gaping, pentagram portholes. “Sustainable garments somehow has lost their sex appeal but the clothes I make are anything but frigid,” the Fashion East designer says, reflecting on his design philosophy, which he has honed through deconstructing and reconstructing old t-shirts.
Back in October, Alleyne held a workshop at Dazed Live, where attendees were invited to cut, splice, pin, and drape Dazed merch to create their own iterations of the designer’s Drapework Series. It was well-attended but left Alleyne with a hankering to do more – “to extend this further to develop a new way of thinking about DIY (Deconstruct It Yourself) – so, today, Dazed and Jawara Alleyne are launching a “hack” consisting of cut-and-paste Drapework t-shirts with a “raw yet sensual edge”.
By entering the sign-up box below, 25 Dazed readers will be in with a chance of winning one of Alleyne’s creations. “The t-shirts would make a great gift for anyone with an attitude who likes to be comfortable in what they wear but also doesn't want to fit in with the crowd,” the designer says. “The tops are all one-of-a-kind, too, so you can rest assured that you’ll be the only one wearing something like this”. To coincide with the Dazed drop, Alleyne will be inaugurating his debut webstore, stocked with yet more of his trademark tops alongside Jo Fetto-lensed posters from a former performance piece.
The competition for this is now closed but head here to check out Alleyne’s just-launched website.