Meet the Team | Holly Hames
Who am I
I'm a vintage-loving, thoroughly modern woman with a vintage clothes shop who loves bright, beautiful, unusual things & clothes. I can’t abide waste. I’m a mother hoping to ensure there’s a world to hand my children. I’m a sewist. I’m a former lawyer who has spent the last 9 years running @vinrougevintage in its various guises and who wants to use her unique combination of skills to help make SFW 2021 a success.
As an introvert, I love that my clothes can do some of the talking for me and I appreciate the Marc Jacobs quote "To me, clothing is a form of self-expression - there are hints about who you are in what you wear." An outfit really can say ten things about you before you even open your mouth!
What I believe in
System change with social justice at the forefront. This will require accountability from the big players in the fashion world and probably legislation – it’s not ALL on us as consumers to change, as much as the big corporations would like us to think it is! Alongside this, I believe that we need to learn how to love our clothes again and not to view them as disposable or single season.
Why SFW
Because together we will achieve much more. SFW aims to bring together those who are passionate about sustainability in fashion with those who are starting on their journey.
Continuing this conversation is important but looking to the next steps is also key – action is needed.
I once struggled with my love of clothes and textiles, viewing it as being frivolous, but the reality is that if we really love clothes then we will look after them properly, make them last, mend them & buy quality over quantity. Fashion & textiles genuinely have the potential to change the world. Imagine what would happen if the industry could be overhauled so that it stopped being (arguably) the second most polluting industry in the world and became a place that paid fair wages to the women who work in it, raised up people of colour and radically reduced its environmental impact…
What I do for SFW
I’m planning the marketplace at the Hub Event as well as putting together a programme of workshops.
3 favourite items in my wardrobe
· My linen jumpsuits. I made them as part of another business I used to run, and they get worn every summer. Linen is the perfect summer fabric – cool and airy as well as one of the most sustainable fibres you can use.
· My Doc Marten boots. They are practical, comfortable, stylish and they last for years – which massively increases the ethical rating of an item in my books.
· My handmade reversible duster jacket. I pieced it together to my own pattern from a deconstructed second hand skirt that was too small for me and a thrifted Indian block printed tablecloth. It was a satisfying challenge to make and it is multifunctional – I wear it as a dressing gown as well as as a warm layer in winter and a light summer jacket.