THE ALCHEMIST

When Lauren Bowker describes herself as an alchemist, she isn’t kidding. The RCA graduate has dedicated nearly ten years to creating dyes that change colour in different heat environments.

Bowker explains how the idea grew while she was studying for a textiles BA at Manchester Metropolitan University in 2004, where her peers included Agi & Sam and Aitor Throup: ‘I couldn’t sit there and make another material that was just for aesthetic use,’ she explains. So she began to put her chemistry A level to good use, experimenting with an ink that absorbs air pollution, changing from yellow to black.

The technology, which is known as thermochromatics, has piqued the interest of corporate giants including Airbus and Adidas, but Bowker isn’t in any hurry to flog her greatest invention: ‘A lot of people say “in the future X will be possible”, but are so into the gimmick of the technology that the pieces look hideous.’ Instead, the designer is pushing boundaries as she imbues feathers and fabric with her colour-changing inks and weaves the materials into exotic headdresses and sculptural leather jackets, echoing her own Morticia Addams style.

The result is pure science fiction, though Bowker dislikes the label: ‘I don’t think my work is futuristic. The first record of man-made ink was in 500 BC, so we’re talking old-school technology.’ She’s constantly plundering the past for inspiration: sifting through the archives of the Wellcome Collection and poring over Ruskin’s The Ethics of the Dust in her London Fields flat. ‘I do love Harry Potter, too.’

Bowker debuts at Fashion Week this month with a solo collection called The Unseen. Her pieces have already garnered praise from British Vogue and Dazed & Confused and been shot by Tim Walker on Kate Moss for Love magazine. Does that mean we can expect her to enjoy a starry front row? ‘Hopefully, with the odd philosopher and chemist thrown in there, too.’ (seetheunseen.co.uk)