Ever wondered where you came from?
Well, if you stop by the Winter Gardens this month you can find out in a very unique, and beautiful, way. Primitive Streak is a 'science-art-fashion-collaboration' by sisters Kate and Helen Storey and it's found a temporary home in Sheffield's plant infested hotspot until March 10th.
The collection of 27 dresses chart the first 1000 hours of human life, from fertilisation and the uncomfortably named 'Sperm Coat' to the formation of the heart in a spectacular scarlet number. Not all the dresses are on show this month but the few that have been chosen are certainly some of the most fascinating. Fashion designer Helen, who has worked for both Valentino and Lancetti and won several prestigious awards for her work over the years joined forces with her scientist sister, Professor Kate Storey in 1997. She had already been drawn to the fusion of science and art in previous projects but Primitive Streak was something different. The pair infused Helen's creativity and skill with Kate's professional scientific research and came up with the textile based collaboration. Since 1997 the collection has toured the world and enthralled audiences.
I spoke to Helen this week when she was in Sheffield setting up the exhibition. She said that she hopes 'the fusion of art, fashion and science will bring in new audiences of every age, sex and culture'. She also described how the basic element of 'fashion' makes the potentially complex theory behind the work more accessible because, 'noones afraid of a frock'. When asked about the location she admitted that she had a bit of a soft spot for The Steel City, saying that she felt her way of thinking was very welcome here and that her long history with the city was founded in the warmth of the people to new ideas. Walking around the dresses with Helen made the collection seem even more groundbreaking, I realised I'd never seen cell division made so explicit and so striking. Set upon an ivory shift dress, the process of anaphase is no longer a confusing, slimy scientific process but a corsage or brooch you wouldnt mind wearing on your tailored jacket. Similarly, fertilisation isn't an internal messy, sticky consequence of sex but a long delicately woven gown I'd quite happily don for a summer wedding. And suspended above the whole collection is a hat that, while embodying the formation of the heart, wouldn't look out of place at Ascot...or dare I say it, on the head of her Madge.
I'm completely taken by the exhibition and despite some of the dresses needing a bit of touching up in places, they are still as fascinating as the day they were made.
Find out more about Helen and Kate here:
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