“What does ‘Fashion’ mean to you?”
“What does it look like?”
“How is it linked to our identity?”
These are some of the handful of questions that the Playmakers – volunteer Crawley residents – and Artists posed while developing the Fashion Show project.
How is a Creative Crawley project formed?
Creative Crawley projects are shaped in multiple ways, with two of those being through themes and the Theory of Change. We listen to residents throughout the year via various events we run and activities we take part in. Every few years, we develop themes based on what we have heard local people are interested in, steering which projects we might explore creatively. For 2023-2026, Fashion & Sewing was one of these themes.
Projects are also heavily influenced by the Theory of Change, which was the result of an 8 week process with local residents to ‘get under the skin’ of the change Crawley residents want to see, feel, hear, know and experience creatively in their day-to-day lives.
Since August 2024, we have explored the questions above, as well as the Fashion & Sewing theme, through monthly meetings that involved discussion, creative activities and voting processes. In the beginning, we thought the project might be a series of events taking place across 2 weeks in Crawley, responding to the theme of Fashion & Sewing. As the process and ideas developed, it became apparent that instead of multiple events it would be one main event: a Fashion Show for Crawley, with wraparound workshops. Throughout the project, it was established that we should always link back to a shared understanding of quality, aim to open up the idea that Fashion is Art and most importantly, celebrate the vibrance and community in Crawley.
Draping with Beth & Sophie
When it comes to Fashion, there are lots of different techniques and approaches. Crawley born-and-raised Fashion Designers Beth Williams and Sophie Merriner came together to collaborate and curate the Fashion Show for Crawley. Both have different styles and found common ground in many ways. They developed an accessible way into fashion for the Playmakers, considering the fact that many of them were new to the artform, and decided to lead a practical workshop on Draping.
Draping is a technique where fabric is manipulated and pinned directly onto a mannequin or dress form to create a three-dimensional garment structure.
Draping created by the Playmakers, November 2024.
Beth and Sophie’s Draping Workshop took place in November 2024, giving the Playmakers an opportunity to style materials on mannequins and visualise fashion in a new way.
“My very favourite moment was learning how to drape the models, that was astonishing. I had no clue about how fashion gets created and why such wacky fashions get created and now I know and I was delighted to learn that, it was fun.” – Playmaker
The Playmakers enjoyed this so much and wanted to continue working with Beth and Sophie. It gave them space to understand the expansiveness of Fashion and how this might guide them when choosing designers to feature in the show.
Vision Boards & Garment Making with Cee & Mah-e-Nau
A big part of what we do is meeting people where they are. It was important to the Playmakers that the project had two parts: a Fashion Show and accompanying Workshops in different neighbourhoods across the town, ideally with people who wouldn’t usually get involved with the arts.
Workshop participants with Cee Boulaqui & Mah-e-Nau Rafiq, April 2024. Image credit: Leyla Güler.
The Playmakers & Creative Crawley team interviewed artists, and through this they met artist Cee Boulaqui and fashion designer Mah-e-Nau Rafiq. Bringing both their practices together, they designed and delivered bespoke workshops where participants created their own garments.
In March and April 2025, local residents who are part of the Chagossian and Afghan communities took part in the workshops. It didn’t matter if they’d never held a paintbrush before or if they were a skilled seamstress, Cee and Mah-e-Nau facilitated a space that meant that all skill levels could take part and feel included.
“I loved bringing people of different ages, cultures from Crawley, who I feel all love Crawley, to participate in something that is going to enhance the quality of life, which is really good.” – Playmaker
Cee shared her process of making garments, which always starts by creating a vision board; this is a physical board made of cardboard or paper that includes images, colours, ideas and words that you want reflected in what you’re making. In this case, both groups’ starting points were their cultural identities. The vision board then helped to guide and inform them when they began creating their garments.
“It went fantastically well. The group were so happy to do this project, they feel proud of themselves.” – Allen Vincatassin, Participant and President of the Diego Garcia and Chagos Islands Council
Vision boards created by groups.
With the guidance, care and skill of Cee and Mah-e-Nau, participants were able to create garments using various techniques such as sewing, embroidery, painting and draping. Cee had been working in Mauritius prior to the workshops and brought back vibrant fabrics for the participants to use. These resonated with the Chagossian community as the patterns and designs were commonplace in Chagossian and Mauritian clothing.
“One of the most touching parts? Creative Crawley included Creole translations in the exhibition. It might seem small, but to me, it said: your language and culture holds value.” – Cee Boulaqui, Lead Artist
The workshops took place at various locations across Broadfield, Maidenbower and the town centre, ensuring we were facilitating in spaces the participants could access and where they would feel comfortable to take part. We had an incredible time working with the Artists, Playmakers and residents on this project.
“I’m very pleased that all the team have taken into consideration the Afghan culture and opened the doors to the public that Afghan people live here in Crawley.” – Participant
Want to see for yourself?
The garments created are now featured in an exhibition at Creative Crawley’s pop-up creative space Unit 79/80 at County Mall Shopping Centre. The exhibition is free to visit from Thursday 12th June until 22nd June 2025, open Thursday-Sunday.
The Fashion Show for Crawley featured garments created by professional Fashion Designers across Sussex & Surrey. Local people were part of the show as Models and Dressers. The show happened on Saturday 12 April 2025, and you can watch a short film about it here.
