LFW Diary AW12: Reclaim To Wear

A new collaboration was born this season for Estethica: Orsola de Castro, creative director of eco-pioneer label From Somewhere and Reclaim To Wear, an organisation that labels upcycled capsule collections, showcased the sustainable collections of Central Saint Martins students.

Ten teams of eight students from Central Saint Martins’ fashion courses were challenged to make an upcycled capsule collection by adopting Reclaim To Wear’s method of producing clothes using the fashion industry's surplus including stock, remnants and off-cuts. Each team was briefed to create a catwalk piece and two ‘commercial’ pieces, in addition to a look-book and a short film for their autumn project.

 

Happy 5th Birthday Estethica

Image courtesy of the BFC, depicting Livia Firth wearing From Somewhere and Laura Bailey wearing Henrietta Ludgate.

An initiative very close to my heart is the BFC's Estethica, which on Tuesday night celebrated its fifth birthday. Whilst I couldn’t attend the event in the end I’d still like to show my appreciation of this great platform.

Estethica was founded in 2006 showcasing 13 brands, and has since gone on to support a total of 108 international designers. All Estethica designers have been selected as they adhere to at least one of the three Estethica principles of fair-trade, ethical practices, organic and recycled materials and are selected for both their ethical credentials and design excellence.

Among those celebrating the landmark were chair of the BFC Harold Tillman, Livia Firth, Laura Bailey and Lucy Siegle.

Harold Tillman CBE commented:“This anniversary of Estethica marks an important milestone for the initiative and also for the fashion industry. Each season we see Estethica grow to support designers in new and exciting ways, thereby placing sustainable values at the forefront of fashion design. This is a chance to celebrate Estethica’s achievements and look forward to future ventures in promoting sustainable fashion”.

Livia Firth said: “Estethica is where it all began for me – it taught me to look at the politics and the production of fashion in a different way. With such talented designers I can only see Estethica getting bigger and better”.

Garment Of The Week: From Somewhere

Imagery throughout courtesy of From Somewhere

Each season at LFW I make a point of spending several hours doing the rounds at the Estethica exhibition looking to find the newest and most innovative designers working with sustainable practices at the forefront of their brand identity. One such brand who never fail to catch my eye are From Somewhere, whose recent collaboration with the world’s leading swimwear brand, Speedo has produced an array of surprisingly chic 50’s style garments.

Created using unsold swimwear and surplus stocks of the revolutionary Speedo LZR Racer suit (interestingly launched in 2008 by myself and the PR company I used to work for), the mainline collection can be found at yoox.com. In addition to the wider range, two styles will be available exclusively at Selfridges and two styles will be exclusive to yoox.com, with all proceeds from the iconic Barbie dress being donated to Green Cross International, YOOXYGEN’s partner.

Orsola de Castro, co-owner of From Somewhere, says of the collaboration:
“After unveiling the first of our Speedo LZR Racer collaborations at London Fashion Week in September 2010, we have had an enormous amount of fun in designing and producing these latest pieces, and we feel that we’ve learned a lot about how far we can go, building our confidence, introducing lots of colour and creating designs we’re extremely proud of. The range comprises a wide variety of products, taking in eveningwear made from over 60 swimsuits, to the super wearable Swimdress – a new concept in swimwear as daywear.”