Ring-pull dress catches eye of London fashion scene
A DRESS made locally from thousands of ring pulls has caught the attention of London’s fashion scene as it goes on sale at the Les Bourgs Hospice charity shop.
Initially a project to enter in the Guernsey Eisteddfod, designer Nathan Gamblin spent 500 hours on the piece, using some 7,000 ring pulls.
‘Each one is cut and joined with a 4mm piece of shrink wrap so it’s a very long-winded process, but it stops them from falling apart,’ said Mr Gamblin.
‘I started with a 200-piece diamond shape and it flowed nicely on the hands, so the dress idea expanded from there.’
Mr Gamblin was awarded the Jurat Arthur Dorey Cup for Excellence at the Eisteddfod this year for the dress, which had a central position at the exhibition. He started off with 6,000 ring pulls from eBay and collected the rest. The hardest part in sourcing materials was the mannequin, which he found in Les Bourgs Hospice charity shop and painted black to add contrast to the dress.
He had never worked with ring pulls before this project, and his previous entries have been table-top pieces.
‘I wanted to do something using recycled materials and a bit bigger and more brazen using different mediums,’ he said.
‘I wanted to inspire children who look at it at the Eisteddfod and think that they could do something like that and get creative.’
After displaying it in his house, Mr Gamblin decided to give it to Les Bourgs charity shop to see if anyone would be interested in buying it, with the money going to the charity.
It has since picked up traction on UK costume networking sites.
‘We’ve been contacted about whether it was for sale, and the cost,’ said Les Bourgs Hospice enterprise manager, Catherine Boughay.
‘The enquiries have been from London, so we think it will be for fashion shows and displays but we’ve seen it posted quite a few times in Facebook costume groups as well.’
The dress is the first sight when entering Les Bourgs, and acts as a talking point to attract more footfall to the shop. The base value for a local buyer is £250 for a good donation to the hospice.
If it is wanted for a specific display in London or elsewhere, it will take more consideration for Mr Gamblin to transfer it or make it safe to wear for a fashion show.
