It seems that nowadays, to be considered fashionable, a person must own at least one ‘statement’ item in their wardrobe. The statement pieces most commonly found are either sweaters or t-shirts and when they were first released, they were a subtle way for a person to express their strong beliefs.

But it seems the days of printing important issues onto casual sweaters and tees are behind us. Visual artist Sandy Van Helden says that ‘statement’ clothing has lost all meaning by becoming a generation’s idea of cool.

“They have become a marketing tool; the meaning is of no importance anymore. What is left are empty phrases which are being broadcasted exorbitantly loud into the world.”

For her latest project, Van Helden has created a series of sweaters in collaboration with The Sweater Shop, to highlight the meaningless text many people seem to be dressing themselves in.

Van Helden created illustrations that expressed the emptiness and inappropriateness of some statement pieces that you see on a daily basis. The illustrations definitely seemed to identify the more obscure statements however, Van Helden soon decided that merely drawing her ideas wasn’t enough; and so The ‘Statement’ Project was born.

You can purchase Sandy van Helden’s pieces from The ‘Statement’ Project through The Sweater Shop and show the world what it really means to make a statement.

www.sandyvanhelden.com/thesweatershop

Words / Lauren Payne