GFW 2021 Webnair Event

‘Fashion with a Social Cause’ talk by Jo Cope for the Graduate Fashion Week Foundation

Thursday 25th February 2021 at 3pm GMT 

To sign up follow the link @GFW

"We can't wait for our upcoming GFF webinar with Jo Cope @jocopeconceptualfashion! The webinar will explore the topic Fashion with a Social Cause"

Jo joins GFF to discuss her own fashion practice as an artist using multiple fashion related mediums, as well as the development of the Shelter Charity @sheltercharity @shelterkingscross collaboration 'Shoes Have Names’ project for @londoncraftweek and other socially facing projects she has been involved with.

The webnair is free and open to all students whos universities are linked to GFW…..sign up now !

Floor Shoes

Floor Shoes - Jo Cope 2020

Floor Shoes were a response to going from working in a larger studio space to working in a home attic room with limited materials and facilities during early lockdown 2020. I started to think about how I could conceptually represent the feeling of standing still in the home environment, especially after multiple sheduled exhibitions had been cancelled or postponed.

Floor Shoes are made from Wool Felt material and are hand formed ‘slipper like’ shells/openings for the feet. The hand cut floor tiles that surround them create an extended reality, in which the shoes become almost ‘part of the floor’ or as the more common saying goes - ‘becoming part of the furniture’

There is of course HOPE- the word associated with later 2020 UK and wider world lockdowns that we are experiencing right now. The piece is designed to be able to be reconfigured to suggest that we might not be as static or restricted as we initially believed. In fact in my own practice whole new online worlds have opened up and many new projects and conversations initiated, which I am very excited about.

We are slowly learning that no obstacle is immovable and that there is always a way of moving forward with a little lateral thinking and creativity.

*See the full series of images under Shoe Artworks

The Lates - Talk

The Power of Ethical Design - Jo Cope - Ravensborne University talk

"Ethical design is making responsible choices that benefit individuals, society, and the world. It is about the design process, our work practices, how we collaborate with others and the significance of the end products” (The Lates)

This week I spoke to students and departments across design and fashion disaplines at Ravensbourne University about how I incorporate impactful ethical practices into my work. In particular my journey to curating the Shoes Have Names project in colaboration with Shelter charity in September 2020 at Boutique by Shelter in Coal Drops Yard for London Craft Week.

Thank you to the host Liz Ciokajlo, senior lecturer BA Fashion Accessory and textile futures, also one of the 10 designers for Shoes Have Names and all of the other faculties and departments and students who signed up! It was a great event.

Jo Cope x Shelter

Shoes Have Names - The first leg of the touring exhibition at Shelter Boutique as part of London Craft Week 2020 is a wrap!

We would like to thank everyone who came and emotionally engaged in the individual shoes and the homeless stories crafted into them.

For more information about the Shoes Have Names project visit ->

www.shoeshavenames.com

‘Shoes Have Names’ Exhibition

You are invited! 30th Sept -7th Oct 2020

I invited 10 designers/artists from the UK and Worldwide to create bespoke shoe artworks in response to 10 stories of individuals helped by the Shelter Charity who had faced homelessness. The resulting shoes will be on display as part of the postponed London Craft Week 2020 at Shelters flagship boutique at Coal Drops Yard, Kings Cross, London.

The exhibition will go ahead with all social distancing guidelines in place.

We hope to see you there!- to celebrate the positive power of fashion in society.