MIMI Hammill creates fresh, contemporary scarves recognisable by their playful and colourful nature.
Hammill is an Aberdeen-based pattern designer whose career in fashion has been anything but conventional.
Prior to founding the label that bears her name, the Scottish designer earned a couple of science-based degrees from Glasgow University and worked in healthcare and health publishing.
But as an editor, Hammill had the nagging feeling the freelance designers she worked with were having much more colourful fun. She wanted to have a go.
Mastering the software required, Hammill entered a competition to create a pattern for a silk scarf which she won. In 2013 she saw her designs come to life as her scarves went on sale in the Oxford Circus branch of Topshop.
While the auspicious start to her new creative career path was exactly what she dreamed of, an ambitious Hammill wanted to look into manufacturing her own products as well as designing them.
Artpop scarf, Lustre collection, £80
Coincidentally, at around the same time she made this decision, Glasgow School of Art graduate Fi Scott launched Make Works, a directory of skilled manufacturers, tools and materials. Thanks to Make Works, Hammill was able to access the experts she needed to manufacture her own collection in Scotland and her label was born.
The label’s first projects were all charity based. These included scarves for several MacMillan Cancer Support auctions and a project in collaboration with Printed and Co to raise money for the DEC Nepal Earthquake appeal.
Hammill describes her pieces as playful, graphic and often geometric. She takes inspirations from the shapes which surround us every day.
Fresh and bright, colour is a key element of her work and she often looks to real people for colour stimuli.
The current collection of Scottish style bloggers, known for their embrace of colour, are a rich seam of inspiration; Amanda from Honeypop Kisses, Cynthia from Skittlis Fashion and the girls from Wardrobe Conventions are muses. Hammill’s current collection, Lustre, celebrates the joy of fresh colour and geometric form. Of her Lustre scarves, Hammill says: “They’re such a simple way to inject joy and colour into any outfit. It’s impossible not to feel uplifted!
“I know that many customers value that these garments have been made by artisans here in the UK. Shopping locally and supporting independent creative businesses is at the heart of what I do, and it’s hugely important to a growing number of ethical consumers too.”
Mimi Hammill scarves are available from her online shop, the Dovecot Gallery Shop in Edinburgh and Curated Stories in Aberdeen.
www.mimihammill.com
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