YOUNG AUSTRALIAN DESIGNER’S VISION OF UNITY WINS HEADWRAP CONTEST

A young Australian designer who travelled to London on an internship to pursue her passion for fashion and textiles has won our competition for a new headwrap design – creating a powerful pattern of interlocking hands.

Crizanne Bracken, who studied Applied Fashion Design and Textiles in Australia, won an internship at the luxury fashion house Karl Donoghue in May 2014. She was soon offered a permanent position at the firm and has been in the UK ever since – pursuing her creative life through fashion and music.

“My time in London has been brief but I have touched with so many people from so many different cultures,” she explains. “Living in South London from Camberwell to New Cross on to Greenwich I have become accustomed to seeing headwraps and the beauty in which they are adorned and styled.

“The colours have always been the first thing to catch my attention. Then the elegance and the pride in how the scarves are tied has always stolen my curiosity as I stand at the next set of lights or purchase my local fruits at Deptford Market.

“Community and the colours of unity were at the root of my choice in how I see London as a whole.”

The competition – I’M STILL HERE – was a competition was run jointly by Bridging Arts with Azawala – part of African art collective Gida in Brixton, London. It was free and open to everyone all over the UK. The idea was to give people the chance to express their views through design – particularly in urban areas where luxury developments were sweeping out traditional communities.

“I particularly loved the idea of this strong vision to create a design,” says Crizanne. “I’m thankful for the opportunity and excited to share something I had a lot of fun doing. I plan to stay London long-term as I love the diversity and constant thrive of creativity that runs through the city.”

Gida is a brand new art collective in Brixton, just a short walk from Brixton Jamm.  From the Hausa language in Africa, Gida means ‘home’. The artisans involved have created a space where you can hang out and spend time whilst enjoying new art, design and fashion. To find out more, call 0203 5836387 or email gidacollective@gmail.com.