Make it yourself? Yes you can!

Rosie Martin, founder of DIY Couture. Photo: Tim Sullivan

The two words don’t seem to quite fit into the reality of our times.  ‘Couture’, a rarefied concept of intricately detailed and personalised clothing and ‘DIY’, the words conjured to the forefront of our minds when Changing Rooms inspired us to paint our homes, not so much our clothing.  But this is exactly what Rosie Martin, a young international development graduate is revolutionising, and maybe it’s exactly what we need.

In a world where we can purchase shoes for the price of a sandwich and shop whilst lying in our beds, DIY Couture is thoroughly refreshing.  It aims to aid a generation of individuals to be able to make their own clothing and appreciate their “engagement in action.”  Rosie tells me this when I meet her in her Hackney home. The nonchalantly trendy young woman tells me she wants to give people confidence in their ideas, democratising fashion’s ideals and its constraints.

The lightbulb moment when she had the idea to create ‘how to make’ manuals for different garments came about because of the difficulties Rosie experienced when first attempting to make her own clothing. The books – which have been released in many titles, including ‘how to make a cloak’ – are unique and simple to understand. Rosie tells me: “There is nothing else on the market quite like DIY Couture” pointing out that it’s “a celebration of using your hands.” Looking through the books with the easy-to-read instructions, diagrams and room for creativity, it is clear she is right.

Speaking about how we can see the project growing, Rosie claims that she doesn’t “want to sell a piece of clothing”. Her aim is to provide an educational service through the books. Making and altering your clothing was the norm a few generations back. People cared for their clothes.

With a new generation of individuals who have a heightened awareness of the harms that are being caused by the culture of fast fashion, maybe the alternatives just need to be made available, and maybe DIY couture provides a viable option. Take inspiration from Bob the Builder and Barack Obama if you’re pondering whether DIY Couture really is an option for us all? Rosie tells me to “give it a go – anyone can make their own clothes”, just think: “yes you can!”

Related story: Now you can shoe it yourself