Who’s New? SS20
By Jo Phillips
The wave of the new generation of upcoming fashion designers do one thing well: sustainability. These designers will take fashion into a new era by making environmentally friendly long-lasting fashion, not a trend but an absolute that is embedded into their businesses. It has already started, sustainable fashion has emerged even if only with green shoots popping their heads up from the dirt, check out these up-and-coming brands who are already making waves as well as a difference.
Transitioning out of the brand’s use of dead stock, (inventory that doesn’t sell and can remain on warehouse shelves forgotten and useless). Collina Strada creator Hillary Taymour wants the company to focus more on organic fibres like rose silk because dead stock is even too synthetic for the fully sustainable brand. Collina Strada is a “platform for social issues and change” made through clothing and fashion. The brand’s SS20 collection features tie-dye and psychedelic mixed prints in loud pastel colours with hippie era inspiration and lots of skin showing.
Former Louis Vuitton designer, Kevin Germanier, has created his own brand with sustainability in mind all the way through. He is known for his cool, beautiful and sparkling high-end going-out pieces. Currently, Germanier worked with Matchesfashion to create a range of sustainable bridal wear with up-cycled fabric. The gowns feature asymmetrical hemlines and long beaded tassels and ruffles to the classic tea length wedding dress.
His antique designs are made using recycled fabrics such as antique bed sheets or grain sacks that are then hand-painted and dyed to create Skelton’s signature 1900s looks. The collections he creates are all made with sustainable and recycled material which adds to the antique look of the collections. His runway shows often feature models in masks to give off the intimidating look of the 20th century.
Founder Jaclyn Hodes created this fashion brand in 2012 using ethically sourced fabrics, plant-based dyes and environmentally conscious production values. The brand features a whimsical and natural aesthetic derived from Hodes’s love for vintage clothes and long loose slip dresses.
Antonin Tron, who founded Atlein in 2016, created the French-based brand with sustainability in mind. His designs are largely based on up-cycled material from France and Italy, short-circuit manufacturing and recycled natural material. His inspiration for the entire brand is the Atlantic Ocean and his womenswear designs tend to drape over the body in an elegant figure-hugging rush of fabric.
Sustainability doesn’t just have to mean the environment which Bethany Williams proves this point with her socially sustainable line. Williams works with women’s shelters, homeless shelters, drug rehab centres, prisons and struggling youth centres to offer them work or a position to model her clothes. In addition to being green and kind with people, Williams’ brand works only with organic, recycled and up-cycled material to create the designs.
This innovative brand goes a step further to create biodegradable clothes. In an effort to be as sustainable as humanly possible, founder Holm, ensures that each piece is either biodegradable or can be easily recycled at the end of its life cycle. On her website, when purchasing an item, she also ensures to list exactly how this article of clothing was made and how it impacts the environment to educate the shopper.
The mission of this brand is to help save the planet through their recycled cotton T-shirts, environmentally friendly dye, recycled water system, seaweed fibre T-shirt and natural wildflower down jacket they are doing just that. This brand has a very minimalistic and primary colour style that promotes everything sustainable.
This menswear line was created by a female designer, Bode, and was the first female to show at the menswear show in New York Fashion Week. She creates clothes out of antique garments that recycle old fabric. Her designs have classic men’s structure with subtle female detailing, making this collection special and sustainable.
Recent University of Westminster graduate, Priya Ahluwalia, designs with vintage clothing and material in mind. Her designs are based on second-hand clothing and vintage looks that give the sustainability effect to her clothes and bring her Indian-Nigerian heritage into play as well.
Former Adidas designer, Kirkum now makes her own made-to-order shoes out of recycled sneaker material. Her focus is on the story the shoes tell through her unique designs and the human element of creating shoes for people. The shoes range in looking ragged and recycled with classic designs or minimalistic, classic and sophisticated with minimal pastel colours.
Soon-to-be graduate student from Central St Martins, Needham has created a name for himself in fashion and sustainability. His line uses up-cycled material and dead-stock fabrics to create beautiful pieces. To further advocate for the environment, Needham often dresses actresses like Emma Watson who focuses on fighting for the planet.
The Central St. Martins graduate student created the brand in 2016 with an environmental focus. The brand uses natural and organic cotton, hemp and bamboo cotton to create the womenswear. Some of the threads not used in the clothes go to a factory in Slovenia who recycle the threads into mattress filler and insulation which promotes the zero-waste and environmentally friendly initiative of the company.
The designer has four lines under the brand Marine Serre, one of which is specifically environmentally friendly, called Green and uses only end-of-cycle products. Each product under the green line also lists what it’s made up of. The brand uses typically up-cycled cotton for its slim fitted t-shirts.
Focused on the education of sustainability, this brand wants to teach people how to be more green through the graphics on T-shirts and using sustainable materials and sourcing. The clothing is often made in Portugal, which is the leader of sustainable practices according to Phipps website. The brand also focuses on ethical processes, alternative energy and re-using treatable water.
The knitwear expert, Jones has been featured in many news pieces for her innovative sustainable knitwear. After creating her brand hand-in-hand with sustainability initiatives in mind she now travels around the world presenting workshops on how to create your own sustainable knitwear.
Known for his deconstructed denim and outerwear coats made of dead-stock, this designer has sustainability in mind in everything he creates. The womenswear designer cultivates his designs keeping carbon emissions, child labor and water impact all in mind when creating each piece of classic clothing with cool asymmetrical-twist.
