In conversation with .. 8!

Your work is super expressive and
adaptive in that it can translate across
a multitude of formats. Do you have
any plans to expand? The sofas looked
amazing. We need an Olli Hull sofa at
Kaltblut HQ.
Absolutely! I’d love to create more
furniture and household objects as well
as my clothing. I love the idea that art
doesn’t need to be on a white wall or in
a posh gallery. In fact, I think right now
with everything going on in the world,
that is one of the last places art needs
to be. We need to be wearing art, sitting
on it, eating off it! I believe art has so
much power to open up conversations
and influence positive change.
Your designs have featured heavily
in music videos, most recently the
wonderful James Indigo’s video ‘Van
Gogh’ wearing the Annulment Dress.
Who would be your all time dream
collab with any musician dead or alive
and why?
Dolly Parton! That woman is a saint
sent from queer heaven. I have so much
love and respect for pop artists who
manage to stay grounded, humble and
remain a positive force in the world
that goes beyond their music.
A Dolly stan we love to see it. Tell
me more about how you incorporate
the themes of consumerism and the
impacts of fast fashion and social
media within your work?
I like to use lots of pop culture
references and symbolic imagery such
as iPhones, masks, crowns, demonic
faces and exaggeratedly proportioned
bodies. I use these in an attempt to
form a visual language that represents
our societies decaying human nature,
that is masked by the spectacle of
consumerism, fashion, beauty, reality
TV, and social media. There’s a lot of
text in my work too, which I use as a
way to parody the ‘shadow self’; the
part of us that’s trapped inside an
egotistical bubble of materialism, greed
and entitlement.
up in landfill. There is so much fabric and
clothing that already exists that could be reused
or recycled. There really is no need to keep
producing new things other than to satisfy the
unhealthy need to consume. I want to try and
help to change that and normalise wearing upcycled,
vintage and second hand.
As a designer you are big on wearable art, how
do you find the balance between creativity and
commerciality as a brand?
I’m constantly re-balancing. As much as I like
to create work that is totally from the heart
and not influenced by the approval of other
people, it’s obviously really rewarding when
people want to buy my work, and ultimately,
it’s people buying and wearing my work that is
going to get my message out into the world. I’ve
found that listening to my audience has helped
to influence and push my work in ways I may
not have considered, and if anything, this has
contributed to my creative process. I have to
pull myself back every now and again and ask
myself ‘what message am I communicating and
is this in line with my values?’.
Finally, what can we expect to see from Olli
Hull in 2022 and beyond?
I feel as though ‘Act Normal’ was both the
end and the beginning of a stage in my career
and my life. It was my first collective body
of work, and when I stood in that room and
looked around I could see so much progress
and so many different avenues for me to
explore further. I’ve also got some exciting
collaborations coming up over the next few
months so I can’t wait to take everything I’ve
learned from my exhibition and apply it to
these new projects. I can’t wait to share it with
you all!
We can’t wait for you to share it with us and
we will be holding out for that Dolly Parton
collab.
ollihull.com
How are you working sustainably?
I really try to keep sustainability at the
core of my brand. Everything I sell is
up-cycled or reworked from second
hand pieces and scrap fabric. All my
wedding dresses came from eBay or
Depop, and I love raiding charity shops!
It’s estimated that 92 million tonnes of
textile waste are created every single
year globally, and 85% of that ends
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