An award-winning Gray’s School of Art graduate specialising in creating ‘wearable art’ has launched a Kickstarter campaign to allow him to create his second collection.
Iain MacDonald (29), who in 2014 was named Scottish Online Fashion Graduate of the Year by The Herald and winner of the Made From Scotland Graduate Design competition, started his Dead Sleekit label in 2015.
His limited edition debut collection focused on using new and luxurious techniques to digitally print hand drawn illustrations onto fabric and he is now ready to continue the journey and create his second collection.
The Kickstarter campaign aims to raise £4000 by February 28 to allow Dead Sleekit to print its new designs onto fabric, with backers already pledging almost half the total.
In return, people can receive a host of rewards, from printed tote bags and original hand painted illustrations to bespoke skirts and dresses.
Iain said: “The past year has been great and it has seen us grow and connect with a very inspiring team who work with us to produce the best quality products for our business.
“We create all our own textiles so having the fabric for our collections printed is a huge hurdle for us. Being a new clothing label and making everything in Scotland, we are dependent on digital printing manufacturing and this is why we are asking for help via this campaign.
“If it is successful, we are going to have our own designs digitally printed by the metre, allowing us to make dresses, t-shirts, skirts, playsuits and anything we can dream of to grow our business.
“Being an independent business and sustaining the growth of our label is a challenge, however, we know with a little help we can push the business further and reach more boutiques and customers in turn allowing us to create more collections.”
He added: “We are so grateful for the help that we’ve had so far and are really excited about the opportunities that this campaign could open up to us.”
To support the campaign, visit www.kickstarter.com/projects/deadsleekit/dead-sleekit-wearable-art-and-hand-painted-textile