Amy Weston- BA (Hons) Fashion
Vitals
Inspired by combat medics & the rituals of UK underground nightlife, my collection explores the tension between healing and self-destruction within the smoking area. Positioned as a space of contradiction, the smoking area functions as both a site of damage and a place of care, where clubbers step outside to smoke, recover and connect, healing them through interaction while simultaneously enabling harmful habits. Smoking imagery acts as a visual thread throughout the collection, with graphics drawn directly from the environments that define UK nightlife. Cigarettes, discarded packaging and debris are recontextualised into surface design that captures the grit and grime of these places, referencing the scene in a manner not intended to glamourise smoking but to examine its contradictory role within club culture.
By merging club aesthetics with combat medic uniforms, the collection reimagines the clubber as both survivor and caretaker. Utility becomes social armour, and garments function as tools for adaptation. Drawing from concealment techniques, distressed denim ghillie textures create an urban camouflage that merges with the visual clutter of smoking areas rather than natural landscapes. The designs also respond to the physical demands of nightlife environments, including overcrowding and heat. Adaptability is central, with garments engineered to transform throughout the night, such as tops with detachable sleeves, allowing wearers to regulate temperature and movement. The organisation and functionality of utility details are reinterpreted to fit my concept, with pockets designed specifically to hold cigarette packets & lighters and other items commonly carried in smoking areas.
I intended for the collection to become tools for navigating the night, balancing utility, survival and self-expression.
