High Five Hand Work
High Five Handwork (HFHW) invites you to ask more of your clothing and the role it plays within your life. Experiments into the utility and expression of wearables, HFHW clothing is only really activated by an individual.
HFHW believes that people should have a personal relationship with the clothing that they inhabit for much of their lives. HFHW is crafted for the independently-minded individual who enjoys spending time crafting their life and cultivating the objects that they surround themselves with. The garment is not only meant to make an impact on a person, but a person is meant to make an impact on a garment.
HighFiveHandWork pieces are made with an element of play the wearer is invited to participate in. HFHW wants the wearer to take part in the same experimentation that was used to design a garment - giving agency to the wearer to manipulate elements, take part in the creation, and find new and original uses of their own.
High Five Hand Work began as a project to blend high concept design with the functional everyday fashion accessory. Each line was handmade to order and started with a constraint of five pieces per collection. Having a set number let the clothing work independently as a collection without having to think about consumer demand or creating any excess clothing per season. HFHW holds the belief that if the clothing industry were to pull away from season-based demand, each individual would have the ability to harness their own creativity to drive what they wear rather than looking to the market to dictate.
Katie Coble, Founder of HFHW
Katie Coble has always been interested in the power of clothing. In high school she would bring a change of clothing to school everyday and change as soon as she arrived. Katie loved the freedom of expression of wearing her own creations and the element of experimentation involved. She is deeply interested in the bonds people form with their objects. That feeling of empowerment when something feels your own and you feel right in it. That agency is something Katie would like to share with people through her work.
Katie has spent many years honing her craft in the design and production of wearables. After university, she spent 6 years collaborating with modern dancers in performance, 3 years as a garment design professor at MICA, and then as a technical patternmaker at a research and development company that develops space suits and aeronautic wearables.
One common theme in Katie’s positions has been passion for solving problems. She loves having an objective to work through in the work - whether it be how to get a garment to change and interact with a moving body, how to set the tone and mood through costuming a stage performance, or how to pattern a garment where a couple of millimeters could make all the difference. These elements of movement, technical pattern making, and interest in how people interact with and perceive a piece are all present in HFHW.
Credits:
Jeremy Jams- Design of the Acrylic Shelves
Matt Fox- Photography - See Only What You Want Clear Grid Bags
Hanna Grankvist- Photography - Scrap Tops
Model- Kayleigh DAnne - Scrap Tops