LFW SS27 - TOAST Renewed By Bethany Williams

After a long hiatus, Bethany Williams officially returns to this year’s fashion week in collaboration with TOAST Renewed, a collective that creatively repairs previously loved pieces into new garments. Bethany Williams is known for her work in sustainable fashion design and her intersectional social perspectives that explore chronic pain, recovery, and the significance of nature.

Centred on her heritage, each garment reflected Williams's image of her hometown on the Isle of Man. As you walk into the Navy Boardrooms in Somerset House, the audience is immediately greeted with the garments surrounded by foliage of purples, yellows, and greens. Wood logs lie beneath the mannequins that hold up reimagined coats and knitted dresses. Contrastingly, the vibrant yarns of each piece illustrated their own narrative of farmland and animals. According to Williams, she was particularly inspired by the scenery of her family farm, where the horses galloped freely, and the cows rested on top of the vibrant grass.

The material interest that TOAST has focused on was the particular highlight of several pieces — a simple black tweed coat, with red and yellow plaid cashmere scarves layered underneath — introduced both warmth and increased depth to what sustainability and creativity mean.

Each piece echoed a familiarity with different artisan practices: small crosshatched patterns on the neckline of the pieces demonstrate the embroidery that has mended an open wound.

A simple wooden bag, knitted using a similar colour palette with its vibrant reds and blues, exemplifies its handwrought care.

Other garments utilise screenprinting techniques to illustrate illustrious scenes on reworked aprons and dress shirts. The apron holds the washed colour of its previous users, and broken edges of its hems are preserved, with seams on top of its original. Each of these crafts tells a different story through its imperfections, where Williams introduces them as newly fashioned pieces without the erasure of their previous history.

Williams not only bridged the connection between environmental awareness and imagination, but she also shed light on the artistry that has helped repair, rework, and reintroduce these garments. In a world where mass production and linear frameworks thrive, we must not forget the simple weave of a button that brings our garments to light — to appreciate craft is to appreciate the emotional ties of clothing that we, as a modern audience, are lacking.

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Edited by Katie Sweeney