Conscious DESIGN

Amy Powney has long been in the vanguard of challenging industry norms and setting new standards for sustainability. Now the designer shares the story behind her latest collaboration

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Few designers have reshaped the way we think about fashion as much as Amy Powney, founder of the womenswear label Akyn. Her uncompromising approach to sustainable fashion reached a global audience through Fashion Reimagined, the award-nominated 2023 documentary that followed her mission to create a collection from field to finished garment, and her Ted talk, How to Fix Fashion and Protect the Planet.

After studying fashion design at Kingston University, Amy joined Mother of Pearl in 2006, becoming its creative director in 2015 and taking the helm at the brand until 2024.

Launching this month, Amy extends her progressive design vision to the coastal clothing brand Finisterre with a limited-edition capsule collection, marking a more fashion-forward chapter for the brand.

In celebration of the launch, £5,000 will be donated to Thames21, a charity dedicated to protecting and restoring the River Thames.

How did your upbringing on an off-grid farm in Lancashire shape your connection to the natural world?

“It has shaped me, in part it was the rural landscape but mostly it has been from a lack of materialism and resources.

“Growing up, we didn’t have things readily available, from electricity to water, or the funds to afford expensive things, and that, alongside working on local farms with my family, gave me the respect I have for people and planet by having firsthand experience in knowing where natural resources are from, to the hard work people put in at the bottom of supply chains.

“I have an inherent desire, when I create something, that it should have as little impact on the planet as possible.”