Katharine Hamnett teams up with YMC, set to relaunch own brand

By

Cajsa Lykke Carlson

Published
Feb 26, 2016

Katharine Hamnett, the iconic fashion designer best known for her tees with political prints, has been campaigning for social and environmental issues since the early 1980s. Now she's back with a new collection for British brand YMC, You Must Create.

Her collection for YMC draws on her ethical business philosophy and is built around three unisex slogan t-shirts. Hamnett has a long history of slogan t-shirts. In 2003, she sent models down the runway wearing tees that said "Stop War Blair Out", and in the 80's she met Margaret Thatcher wearing a T-shirt that read ""58% Don't Want Pershing".

Of her new collection, she said: ‘Slogan t-shirts are still powerful, you can’t not read them – they stay in your head.’ Her designs for YMC read: ‘Save the Future’, ‘Stop and Think’ and ‘You Must Create’. Fittingly, they're made from sustainable, organic cotton and printed with environmentally friendly ink.

Hamnett has also reworked some of her classic archive pieces for the collaboration, including oversized shirting and utility pants. Hamnett says: ‘I’m really happy to be doing a collaboration with YMC, a great British brand, using bio-dynamic silk and organic cotton, made ethically and as environmentally as possible.’

In a recent interview with WWD, Hamnett revealed that the YMC collaboration, as well as Kanye West's interest in her archive, has made her decide to re-launch her own brand, which she hopes to start selling online by November. In keeping with her ethos, the relaunched collection will be made in a sustainable way.

YMC x Katharine Hamnett is available now and retails from £50 to £300.