DIY looks you don’t have to do yourself
Want the home-made look without having to do the work? Model Edie Campbell and illustrator Christabel Macgreevy tell Charlie Gowans-eglinton that the recent boom in crafting is behind their fashion line’s cult success…
The humble iron-on patch might conjure up images of teenage angst, but it’s time to get back on board with the easiest way to customise your clothes. Marc Jacobs showed patches and embroidery on jeans and denim jackets as part of his SS17 catwalk collection, and they appeared on brocade bags and velvet shoes at Gucci – rebel spirit tied up with a bow for the highfashion consumer, and with a price tag to match.
Now London-based brand Itchy Scratchy Patchy is bringing the concept back to its true sense of teen spirit selfexpression, with punchy DIY patches and predone customised clothes. Or DIY style you don’t have to do yourself, say its co-founders, model Edie Campbell and illustrator Christabel Macgreevy. “When we started this, we very much remembered that way of customising stuff as teenagers,” says Central Saint Martins graduate Macgreevy. “Obviously people grow up, they have jobs and they don’t have time. They’re not going to spend their Saturday chopping up clothes. And yet I think it’s really important to take control of your clothes, and rework stuff, rather than just chuck it.” Their solution is irreverent, but beautiful, patches that will clean (and jazz) up old clothes – but not too much. The latest collection is a mash-up of found images – here a Japanese vending-machine food wrapper of a smiling pea pod, there a corner of the Sistine Chapel ceiling. “It’s a mix of high and low art that was all just squished into one, flat, likeable screengrab,” says Macgreevy, of how Instagram inspired the imagery. “The way that we look at the world is very different now – what is high culture, or low culture, what is consumerism and what is art… Even the Mona Lisa becomes a meme,” says Campbell.
The use of Instagram as a starting point might seem strange, but Campbell knows its reach and power better than most. Having walked the catwalk at Chloé and Chanel and starred in campaigns for Burberry and Fendi, she’s one of a generation of models whose Instagram It Girl status has helped propel their careers, with luxury brands trying to tap into their young, fashionobsessed personal audiences (Campbell has more than 100,000 followers). “Already working in fashion helped a lot,” Campbell admits, explaining how they’ve built up the business since launching two years ago. “We’ve got a lot of friends who are fashion designers, so if we need to know where to source fabric or to manufacture something, people are really helpful.” Pulling out a laptop, the
pair talk me through the just-shot imagery of their new collection, speaking over each other in their eagerness to point out their favourite pieces. Everything from Dickies boilersuits to knitwear is covered in patches, embroidered or branded with the words “Itchy Scratchy” in flaming red letters, a little like a retro Harleydavidson sticker. Fittingly, they shot the collection at a motocross track, worn by their intern Edie Ashley (granddaughter of Laura), who happens to ride dirtbikes. Having launched to sell the patches alone, the introduction of precustomised clothing came from learning about their customers. “A lot of people really aren’t creative, and really can’t visualise how something will look once they’ve changed it,” says Macgreevy. “We give patches to friends and they leave them on their mantelpieces in the packaging – and we’ll see them three months later in the same place. Some people won’t make things for themselves.”
Their solution was a line of simple pieces, for the most part unisex, with a focus on reworked vintage denim Levi’s. “Whatever designs we’ve done, our starting point is always the patches, or a logo, or embroidery, and then that just gets put on whatever thing we might want to wear,” says Campbell.
And yet, as much as they might downplay it, there’s no denying that Itchy Scratchy Patchy is a solid business, despite the pair having financed it themselves. “We never really wanted this to be a thing where there were investors, and someone standing over us and telling us what to do,” explains Campbell. “And if suddenly it suffers a massive loss, well, it doesn’t matter, it’s not someone else’s money we’re losing.”
The range is already available at London’s Dover Street Market – traditionally seen as the store that champions up-and-coming brands – and there are plans for its own curated space there. Add in a celebrity fan club (see Cara Delevingne, Pixie Geldof and Adwoa Aboah in their embroidered berets), and it seems they needn’t worry. “The company’s been profitable from the start,” says Macgreevy proudly. Then she laughs. “Edie’s really good at spreadsheets!”