Crafts CouncilDirectoryAlicia WalkerThe Reward of LabourAboutA high-end fashion collection, taking aesthetic inspiration from the pottery industry, the silk and dye industry, and workwear in North Staffordshire. The collection explores different weights using ceramic, silks and workwear to tell the story of craftsmanship and working conditions. The interplay of materials highlights the complicated, intricate relationship between the region's industrial heritage and its craftsmanship. The collection champions natural dyeing and slow, place-based textiles.Alicia WalkerStoke-on-Trent, England'Toilsome Earning', Alicia Walker'Inside the Factory Walls', Alicia WalkerCutch dyed silk twill remnant. Screen printed with VAT paste. Based on rusty, sooty factory walls, a product of the industrial conditions. Cutch has been used as it is one of the oldest dyestuffs known. A reference to the natural dye industry in Leek and the age of natural dyeing as a heritage craft, emphasing the need to keep the craft alive. Silk twill has been used, inspired by cotton drill used in workwear. Silk has been used instead to reference the silk industry. The contrast between the rusty print and the drapey silk emphasises the juxtaposition between the decorative products and the tough factory working conditions.Fashion Visualisations, Alicia Walker'Toilsome Earning', Alicia WalkerHand-gathered ponge silk naturally dyed with cutch and madder, the bottom of the silk then dipped in iron. Layered with tea dyed cotton scrim. Based on the idea of a worker coming in everyday and doing the same hard labour until their clothes are thread-bare. At the top the silk is brightly coloured, and the scrim is not very distressed. As the scrim becomes more unravelled the silk gets darker in colour. Using silk and scrim the piece remains very light-weight and drapey. This has been done to show the delicateness of the silk and pottery made in the factories. The contrast in colour on the silk shows the juxtaposition between these delicate pieces and the grimey conditions they were made in.'Inside the Factory Walls', Alicia WalkerThe Reward of LabourAboutA high-end fashion collection, taking aesthetic inspiration from the pottery industry, the silk and dye industry, and workwear in North Staffordshire. The collection explores different weights using ceramic, silks and workwear to tell the story of craftsmanship and working conditions. The interplay of materials highlights the complicated, intricate relationship between the region's industrial heritage and its craftsmanship. The collection champions natural dyeing and slow, place-based textiles.Alicia WalkerStoke-on-Trent, England'Toilsome Earning', Alicia Walker'Toilsome Earning', Alicia WalkerHand-gathered ponge silk naturally dyed with cutch and madder, the bottom of the silk then dipped in iron. Layered with tea dyed cotton scrim. Based on the idea of a worker coming in everyday and doing the same hard labour until their clothes are thread-bare. At the top the silk is brightly coloured, and the scrim is not very distressed. As the scrim becomes more unravelled the silk gets darker in colour. Using silk and scrim the piece remains very light-weight and drapey. This has been done to show the delicateness of the silk and pottery made in the factories. The contrast in colour on the silk shows the juxtaposition between these delicate pieces and the grimey conditions they were made in.'Inside the Factory Walls', Alicia WalkerCutch dyed silk twill remnant. Screen printed with VAT paste. Based on rusty, sooty factory walls, a product of the industrial conditions. Cutch has been used as it is one of the oldest dyestuffs known. A reference to the natural dye industry in Leek and the age of natural dyeing as a heritage craft, emphasing the need to keep the craft alive. Silk twill has been used, inspired by cotton drill used in workwear. Silk has been used instead to reference the silk industry. The contrast between the rusty print and the drapey silk emphasises the juxtaposition between the decorative products and the tough factory working conditions.'Inside the Factory Walls', Alicia WalkerFashion Visualisations, Alicia WalkerMore from Alicia WalkerProjectThe Final FiringProjectThe Reward of LabourProjectThe Reward of Labour