Rot and decay may not seem like an inspiration for cutting edge clothes.
But the look of mould, rust, flaking paint and peeling wall paper have all been incorporated into these beautiful silk garments, all created in a nod to the tired interior of the Co-operative Building on New Street in Huddersfield town centre.
Batley Art School fine art student and Lepton villager Hazel Dyson is behind the delicate designs which provide a clever link between the building’s current state and its past as a renowned department store.
The dresses and scarves make up the final year piece for talented 28-year-old Hazel, who is fascinated by the stories that can be revealed by taking a close look at surfaces many people may found repulsive.
Hazel said: “I got interested in decaying buildings and surfaces through working as a ceramics maker and different textures were important to me.
“I’m fascinated by decaying surfaces because I feel like they expose a place’s history through their different layers which suggest what may have happened there over time.
“The Co-operative building is such an icon in Huddersfield and with it being an old department store I decided to create some clothing that would bring its old history full circle.
“I thought that creating scarves and dresses, which would have been on sale in the store, would draw people’s attention to the differences between its past and present.
“I was granted access to the building by Kirklees Council and took lots of photos which I then pieced together and manipulated to create the final designs.
“I printed them onto silk then my friend made them into clothes.”
Hazel will exhibit her forward thinking designs at a degree show at Batley College of Art, Wheelwright Centre in June before taking them down to another showcase in London at Free Range at the old truman brewery on Brick lane.
Hazel said: “I hope this will be my first such venture into abandoned buildings because you uncover so much history through exploring them.
“Hopefully it will prove to people that surfaces that may appear old and decaying are not hideous but thought provoking.”
