Sydney-Davies: Rest, Submersion and Rebirth
I first witnessed Sydney-Davies designs in 2016 on singer and DJ NAO at a concert taking place in Motion, Bristol. NAO was dressed in dark hued slacks that managed to be both structured and loose, there was an ankara print placed on either side of the leg, and from the structure alone I knew I had to find out who the designer was. Five years later I attended her Black history month special fashion show before (virtually) sitting down with the brand's energetic designer, Euphemia, whose warmth and fervour glowed through the screen. We discuss her latest collection SUIBOTSU alongside her decision to step away from fashion completely in 2019 before returning exclusively to menswear.
Euphemia was an artistic child and the daughter of a talented seamstress. However, she attributes her late Father who studied fine art as the figure who nurtured her artistic curiosity, “I remember maybe even as young as three or four that my dad, who was a pastor, would bring church supplies for me, like paper, pens and colouring books. He really encouraged my artistic side.” When she became a designer years later, she would name her brand after her now late Father,“I'm an only child, and it's just a way for my dad's legacy to live on. Something I've planted on this planet that carries his name. So yeah, the name means a lot to me.”
Euphemia calls her creations ‘fashion with a soul’ because every collection is a story, “It’s like writing a book. Each collection has a meaning, each collection has a soundtrack. I keep check of all the songs I listen to while I’m either creating or sketching.”
Moving to the UK in the early 2000s, Euphemia who studied fine art decided to explore fashion, “I started noticing fashion more, I think it was just being in an environment where you've got more opportunities to express yourself. I started to notice my own appearance and pull my own style, and experience the things that we take for granted like going clothes shopping. It was the first time I got to do things like that.” After graduating in 2012, she then did a placement under Alexander McQueen before starting Sydney-Davies in 2015.
Euphemia calls her creations ‘fashion with a soul’ because every collection is a story, “It’s like writing a book. Each collection has a meaning, each collection has a soundtrack. I keep check of all the songs I listen to while I’m either creating or sketching. Everything has significance and has been followed through with research, meaning and purpose.” Now exclusively designing her first love, menswear, Euphemia is eager to strip down the restrictive rules and walls of mens fashion, “menswear is missing that middle bit that's not too outlandish. Something stylish and creative that's wearable and makes a statement at the same time. And I feel like Sydney-Davies really bridges that gap.”
Euphemia named this collection SUIBOTSU which means to submerge in Japanese, this is a word that reflects her journey towards menswear and one that can also be seen throughout the designs. Although West African influence and culture runs through the Sydney-Davies brand, the latest collection is solely inspired by Japanese culture. It was anime that first caught the attention of a young Euphemia, before researching Japanese fashion and even trying to teach herself the language. “I love the way they dress, the layering is so regal. It’s like understated royalty. It's not loud in your face but you feel the presence. It’s charismatic and it’s very intentional.”
In western fashion, ‘smart’ menswear often means to be suited and booted with a restricted amount of movement in their clothing. However, Euphemia has taken inspiration from Japanese structure and print placement to encourage more motion and intentionality in mens clothing. One of the key prints for her latest collection is a butterfly, this choice was born after researching Japanese wildlife before landing upon The Great Purple Emperor, also known as The Sasakia charonda or Oh-Murasaki - Japan’s national butterfly. Alongside this regal insect another key element of her designs included text printing, which is commonly featured in Japanese fashion. The quote printed across the collection is by Greek philosopher Heraclitus who once said “No man ever steps in the same river twice, for it's not the same river and he's not the same man,” fitting perfectly with the theme of submersion, “When I found the quote, I could have cried in that moment. We haven't worked with any other quote, it’s almost like the mantra for the collection. The way the words fall into place is beautiful.”
But what was the journey towards SUIBOTSU? It appeared that by stepping away from the thing she loved, fashion, she eventually returned to it in a deeper and more intentional way. Back in 2019, despite performing well, with her stock at Wolf and Badger selling out in 3 months, Euphemia was stressed and overworked, “I started to suffer with anxiety and depression. There'd be mornings where I would wake up in bed and just start crying immediately, literally the minute my eyes opened. So I took the decision to shut down the brand, I put up a few notices and I stepped away to rest mentally and physically. And I said to myself, God , if it's your will, I will come back to it.”
“You sit in a bath, filled to the top, you just allow your body to sink underneath and it's just you. All the noise, all the lights, all the sounds, all the glitz, everything that demands so much of you is just quiet. 2019 was like stepping away from the world and coconing myself under the bath and being left in absolute peace.”
Despite knowing that by stepping away it could possibly mean never returning to fashion, on December 28th 2019 she closed up shop, avoided fashion magazines, covered her sewing machine and detached herself from a world she loved so much to reflect on how they could serve one another better. Reflecting on mistakes made and pressures built, Euphemia decided to make things easier and more effective for herself, “Instead of trying to do everything and keep up, I thought if I can make socks best, okay, that’s what I’m going to stick to and I’m going to do those socks bloody well.” With the help of her father-in-law who mentored her in business and aided her in restructuring the brand, she began to refocus on Sydney-Davies. This process wasn’t about the end product, but rather about seeking inspiration and re-building her business structure. In time, the collection eventually became a documentation of her experiences and emotions throughout this period.
2019 was the conception of SUIBOTSU, with Euphemia comparing the year to submerging under a bath. “You sit in a bath, filled to the top, you just allow your body to sink underneath and it's just you. All the noise, all the lights, all the sounds, all the glitz, everything that demands so much of you is just quiet. 2019 was like stepping away from the world and coconing myself under the bath and being left in absolute peace. And so that just naturally informed what I was going to do next. I felt like 2019 was my year of submersion and underneath all of that I did my best growing. I transformed, I evolved, I evaluated and I came back up without all the pressure of being told what I'm supposed to do. Then, butterflies just came to me organically. They cocoon themselves in their larvae, removing themselves from the world. And in that kind of almost unattractive phase, the most magical thing happens. They evolve, they grow into this beautiful butterfly.”
It’s clear to see why Euphemia calls her creations ‘fashion with soul’, because it is her own that is the force and fire behind it. There is no rush from Euphemia to move onto a new collection, instead she wants to continue developing it like an ongoing ever-evolving art project. A refreshing stance considering that fashion trends change what often feels like fortnightly. Rather Sydney-Davies plans to continue nurturing their current project, “I see this particular collection continuing for a couple of years, you’ll see SUIBOTSU 3.0. There’s so many elements we’ve not experimented with, so going forward, yes, there is going to be new work, but I think we're building on this particular collection.” Aside from the move to menswear, Sydney-Davies as a whole is a commemoration of Blackness and of Euphemia. “I want to be a platform that celebrates Blackness and puts Black achievement at the forefront. We want to work with people from the Black community to provide more opportunity for Black creatives, down to our manufacturing… I’m going back to Sierra Leone next year to restart my production there!”
Euphemia’s story is one of letting go, even when it’s the scariest thing to do. She reminds us all to take a deep breath and submerge ourselves in what brings us peace. Choosing rest is to challenge the pressures and structures expected of us and keeping us boxed in, and found within the swirling colours dancing on the walls of our closed eyelids is art and innovation.
Follow the Sydney-Davies journey via their platforms
For storytelling: https://www.sydney-davies.co.uk
For regular updates: https://www.instagram.com/sydney.davies.man_/
For behind the scenes : https://www.instagram.com/sydney.davies.studio/