When Piper Revere was born, she weighed just four pounds, was profoundly deaf and had brain injuries – doctors said she would never be able to hold up her own head.
Now 17 years old, her artwork has caught the eye of designers at Vivienne Westwood – she designed their Christmas windows worldwide and is preparing for another huge collaboration with them.
She’s been spending her earnings on Playmobile and Harry Potter stationery.
Piper is part of the design team at Revere the Residence, a store in Stokey dedicated to offering employment to young people with learning disabilities. It’s run by Piper’s mum Kate.
Kate said: “It all began because of an article in the Hackney Citizen! I’d won an award from Holly Tucker and someone from Vivienne Westwood read the article and turned up at the store one morning. When he said he wanted Piper to design the Christmas windows for them, I thought I was being pranked.
“I said Piper wouldn’t have a clue who Vivienne Westwood is and even if you try to tell her, she’d see your window the same as mine! For Piper, it’s all about a level playing field.”
“He loved Piper’s work, he had family members who were neurodiverse and he wanted to lend Vivienne Westwood’s voice to our cause. Revere was going through a hard time – he is like my guardian angel.”
Kate, Piper and some of Revere’s other young people were invited to the company’s headquarters for a meeting in March – the room was decorated like Christmas and they had crackers, mince pies and the TV showed a fire crackling. It was, said Kate: “a showstopper.” The Revere team took along gifts of their designs and met with Andreas Kronthaler (Vivienne’s partner) and the wider team.
They later held a design workshop back at Revere and Piper sketched out the words More Will Be No More, in her signature writing. Other artists have also submitted their designs.
Kate explained: “Piper wrote it to her imaginary boyfriend but Vivienne Westwood have used it as a call for peace. The thing with Piper’s notes is that they connect with people in different ways. That phrase is in the windows of Vivienne Westwood’s stores in New York, California, Shanghai, Tokyo, London, Leeds, Cardiff and Glasgow. In some, it’s embroidered on muslin, on others it’s printed on vinyl.”
Kate and Piper were invited along for a photoshoot where they got to try on some of the fashion label’s designs.
Kate added: “It had a huge impact on our shop – after the window displays went up, sales were amazing, our Instagram followers grew hugely and we’ve made connections with other families and spread hope. There are people who want to franchise what we do and create Revere communities in other parts of the UK.
“Piper has become like a local celebrity, and it has definitely brought a lot of people to Stokey.”
The artists at Revere were each paid for their work and the collaboration with Vivienne Westwood is continuing (watch this space!).
Kate added: “Piper is an artist in her own right. When they handed me my baby with brain injuries, she was profoundly deaf – they said ‘she will never hold her head up’ – here she is now 17 and designing the Christmas window display for Vivienne Westwood – she is inherently cool. I am so proud of her!
“People stopped me in the street in the weeks after Christmas – they were so proud of this local girl; they said she was the spirit we all needed. They were proud to own a piece of her art. They got a dose of the magic of Piper!
“Now, I can invest in more people with learning disabilities and in having their art turned into products.”
www.notesbypiper.com www.reveretheresidence.com
