We are excited to present our new collaboration project, Everything is Temporary, with artist Damien Poulain.
Conceived around the design of three new unique flags - questioning the idea of home and belonging - the bold colourful icons inspire a range of High Summer garments which breathe the same spirit as these optimistic flags of love.
In times of uncertainty, the meaning of Home can be so much more than a house, a city, or a nation. It can be a feeling, a place that holds our memories and offers safety; somewhere we feel inextricably connected to on a deeper level, despite where else we are in the world. It can extend far beyond the walls of the building or the land we live in, and it can exist in more than one form.
This has been a time of polarising social conditions and divisive world views, and of not always standing for the things a flag represents. In one sense, flags are simple textile objects, but in another sense they are loaded icons that can be powerful representations of history and politics. Sometimes we fly them with pride, but often times they indirectly denote difference and separation. Damien's flags for Folk are the antithesis of this; his are ones that speak of unity and universality on a purely human level.
Underlying our product design is a life affirming spirit that places optimism at the heart of all that we do. Folk's values and aesthetics chime perfectly with Damien's simple gestures of colour, shape & love.
Folk commissioned photographer Will Cooper Mitchell to take the three flags to three very different environments and fly, wave, hang, drape them as opportunities presented themselves. This photographic essay demonstrates the natural and the human, the constructed and the wild – Will’s real life scenes for Damien’s life affirming textile art pieces. Shot in Jamaica, Cumbria & London through February - April 22, selected images are compiled in a limited edition catalogue available exclusively from Folk stores on Lambs Conduit Street and Redchurch Street, London.
View the collection here
Flags by Damien Poulain
Photography Will Cooper Mitchell
Commissioned by Jethro Marshall