Amy Powney steps down from Mother of Pearl to launch new brand
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London-based fashion designer Amy Powney, the longtime creative director behind British sustainable luxury label Mother of Pearl, has confirmed she has left the company to launch her own purpose-driven brand.
In a short statement, Powney said she stepped down from her creative director role at Mother of Pearl to launch her new label, Akyn, as she believes she will be able to use her “voice and expertise on a wider scale, creating deeper impact and striving for continued and meaningful change within the industry”.
The new contemporary womenswear venture is expected to launch its debut collection in May and is described as a purpose-driven brand grounded in elevated design and sustainability.
Sustainability campaigner Amy Powney launches new womenswear label Akyn
Powney joined Mother of Pearl in 2006, after graduating from Kingston University with a degree in fashion design and worked her way up to eventually take over the helm as creative director of the business, transforming the label into a sustainability-first brand.
In 2017, while at Mother of Pearl, she won the BFC / Vogue Designer Fashion Fund, enabling her to launch ‘No Frills’ in 2018, a core collection made from organic and natural materials, with a transparent supply chain, putting social responsibility, respect to animals and low-environmental impact first and foremost.
Her mission to create a sustainable collection from field to finished garment formed the subject of ‘Fashion Reimagined,’ an award-nominated independent documentary released in 2023. This was also the subject of her TED Talk ‘How To Fix Fashion And Protect The Planet, ‘delivered in Detroit at TED Countdown 2024, exploring the fashion industry's impact on the environment and human health, discussing what ethical, planet-friendly clothing can look like and inviting consumers to think beyond the label.
In 2022, Powney also became a brand ambassador at Tencel, the flagship brand from The Lenzing Group, the world's leading manufacturer of high-quality cellulose-based fibres produced from sustainably sourced wood by environmentally responsible processes.