Catherine Hudson: The tension of displacement

“I realised that I still have to figure out what my identity as a creator is and thought that doing this degree would be the best way to explore that.”

Before applying for the MA at Westminster, Hudson graduated from a BA Womenswear degree at the Manchester School of Art in 2013 and spent five years working in the industry. Initially, Hudson decided to get a position at a men’s tailor based in London, while looking for a more creative job in the field. Feeling dissatisfied with her career prospects, Hudson decided to branch out on her own and set up her own business, where she received logistical and monetary support from The Prince’s Trust. In 2013, Hudson was one of the designers asked to showcase her collection in Hong Kong during the largest sustainable fashion design competition in the world, The Eco Chic Design Award (now known as the Redress Design Award). In 2018, she decided to continue her education and apply to Westminster University. “I realised that I still have to figure out what my identity as a creator is and thought that doing this degree would be the best way to explore that,” she says.

Throughout her work at the university, Hudson started to look for inspiration in her personal links with the Rastafari culture. “We had a project where we had to subvert a part of our process based on a subculture, so I chose to do Rastafarianism because we have roots of it on my mom’s side. And I found a way to use pattern drafting as a way of showing displacement, aiming to visualise the experience of the diaspora.”

Throughout her work at the university, Hudson started to look for inspiration in her personal links with the Rastafari culture. “We had a project where we had to subvert a part of our process based on a subculture, so I chose to do Rastafarianism because we have roots of it on my mom’s side. And I found a way to use pattern drafting as a way of showing displacement, aiming to visualise the experience of diaspora.”

“In my garments, I wanted to convey their experience and draping became a way for me to tackle the subject of microaggressions that they would have experienced after coming to Britain.”

For her graduate collection, Hudson married this concept with the exploration of draping techniques. She started to look at the work of Rocksteady bands, such as The Heptones and The Mighty Diamonds, who came from Jamaica to the UK to develop their musical careers. “In my garments, I wanted to convey their experience and draping became a way for me to tackle the subject of microaggressions that they would have experienced after coming to Britain. By using these techniques, I wanted to communicate the idea of tensions, two opposing forces working as one.” In order to express this message, the designer chose to work with dramatic materials such as velvet and tulle, and played with the idea of using light as a way to highlight the silhouettes.

While looking back at her time on the course, Catherine Hudson says that the best approach to take as a new student is to be ready to consider changes in your practice and come with an open mind. She says that it’s also important to know your worth: “If you’re given the place on the course, you deserve it a hundred percent. For a long time, I was really questioning myself and the merit of my work, and it took me a while to get my head in gear and say: ‘Look, this is a place that I deserve to be in.’  Meeting Mykaell Riley [Director and Principal Investigator at Wesminster’s Black Music Research Unit] was so crucial to my process – his expertise in the field helped me create the right context for my designs. One thing that frustrates me is that the universities are not taking on enough black creative students and are not hiring enough black people in positions of authority, and this has definitely affected my university experience and the outcome of my work.”

“I think that the culture of systemic racism in the industry is just completely wrong. And although we are seeing some positive changes thanks to the Black Lives Matter movement, it’s not enough.”

Hudson says that this frustration also applies to the fashion industry at large. “I think that the culture of systemic racism in the industry is just completely wrong. And although we are seeing some positive changes thanks to the Black Lives Matter movement, it’s not enough. We need to hear more black voices and see more people of colour in leadership positions. The companies have to not only be diverse and sustainable in their image, but also in their practices. They need to imply a more ethical mindset and put the human experience first.”