Project Summary

Whitney Mcveigh

1000 Coats is a performance and collaboration with London College of Fashion and a chosen charity that will involve a hundred women sewing ten coats each. The sewing of the coats will take place over several days in London. The simple patterns for the coats will be designed ahead of time and fabric cut and ready. The project will be set up as an installation and performance and will include women of all backgrounds and communities.

This is an idea that came to light after listening to Camilla Batmanghelidjh on the radio in 2013 saying “all we need is a thousand coats”. I wondered why a fashion house hadn’t come on board and other charities to produce a range of coats for children. A thousand coats will be made and at the end each coat will be embroidered with the words ‘human fabric’. The coats will then be given away and it would be both an act of service and a comment on the role of art and women’s lives. The work makes references to Lewis Hyde’s The Gift stating traditionally that art was gifted and not stagnant in a museum or institution.