Karen's 'Windswept' collection evolved from her 2003 MA collection at the Royal College of Art, where she presented a range of sculptural millinery on a grand scale, featuring ‘windswept’ headscarves, caps, ‘hoodies’ and sou’westers.
above from left: ‘Curly Sou-wester’ in latex/nylon; ‘Sculpted Hoodie’ in faux suede; ‘Giant Peaked Cap’ in scorched phospher bronze; ‘Windswept Headscarf’ in latex/nylon; ‘Windswept Bonnet’ in leather
Exuberant forms rise from the models’ heads during her final catwalk presentation, above.
See below for more designs from the collection, a glimpse at the design process behind them, and examples of press attention at the time.
This pre-occupation with taking the traditional and utilitarian and transforming it into something sculptural and contemporary led to Karen’s re-examination of the iconic British flat cap.
Whilst still at the RCA, she began to experiment with asymmetric pattern-cutting to create her own ‘windswept’ flat cap. This was followed by a deeper-fitting version, which later was named simply ‘DC’.
The college also provided Karen with her first customers - both designs became sought-after accessories by some of her fellow graduates!
