Atelier E.B

Atelier E.B (Edinburgh Bruxelles) is the company name under which the designer Beca Lipscombe and the artist Lucy McKenzie sign their collaborative projects. The group was formed in 2007, and since 2011 the pair have operated as a fashion label which uses local production methods and alternatives forms of distribution and display. Lipscombe and McKenzie place art and design on an equal footing, applying methodologies from both spheres (for instance, embedding critique into clothing and utilising the notion of ‘styling’ as an artistic strategy). Their designs are produced, sold and promoted ethically, yet are too stylistically hacked to be marketed as an ‘eco brand’. They are also too inconsistent in price and material to be niche luxury; they defy categorisation.

Collaboration is at the core of Atelier E.B’s practice, which is characterised by a passion for working with artisan materials and quality-led production methods. For this exhibition, Lipscombe and McKenzie invited a number of contemporary artists to produce a mannequin or display device on which to present garments from Atelier E.B’s previous fashion collections. These artists recognise the cultural significance of clothing within their own practice and are customers and collaborators of the label.