Thermal imaging

Think of Damart and inevitably you think of sensible, cosy thermals, helping to keep the more mature British woman comfortably warm during our long winter months.

But time to think again, because Damart is shaking up its image to offer some surprisingly contemporary new looks, thanks to a daring collaboration with students at the London College of Fashion.

Established in France in 1953, Damart’s UK headquarters are in Bingley, West Yorkshire where the design, marketing and distribution are done and sorted (the clothes are now manufactured throughout the world). Damart clothes are also very popular in France, Belgium and Switzerland – and it’s fair to say that its main customer base tends towards women of a certain age.

“Damart has always been very strong with the traditional lady, aged over 65,” said marketing director John Bottomley. “But it’s a changing world and ladies in their 60s don’t want to dress like their mothers. And we wanted to attract younger ladies, aged 50-plus. By chance, the London College of Fashion was looking for a project.”

The LCF challenge for students was to show the existing Damart product in a new light, by selecting underwear and daywear and styling items in different ways for a series of new photographs, with the winners of the project awarded the task of styling a new look book for the online store. And so the students took Damart vests and skirts and tops and leggings and customised them, adding sequins and ruffs, their own pieces, even creating a wedding dress with some of the thermals, to show the versatility of Damart’s range.

The two winning students who designed the AW11 Damart Look Book were Justyna Mysior and Krishna Mukhi, all photographed by Ola Grochowska.

And, as the pictures here show, cosy and gorgeous as they are, there’s a whole lot more to Damart than just thermals.