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The entirely unexpected globe-shifting events of the past 18 months brought with them a small glimmer of a silver lining, slowing fashion down a fraction and forcing the industry to briefly reckon with its faults – shortly before the breakneck speed we’ve been accustomed to snapped us back to the dreaded ‘new normal’.

Before falling into total despair, fashion is inching towards a more sustainable future, tentative as steps may be. Burberry, Gucci, and Balenciaga are among luxury fashion houses pledging to reduce their impacts on emissions, no longer use fur, and using sustainable and upcycled materials, with outlined targets meant to hold them to account.

It’s overwhelming and at times maddening, when you consider that simultaneously while these changes are being rolled out and we’re all busy pointing fingers on an individual level about recycling responsibilities and the use of plastic straws, world leaders from countries including Russia, Brazil, and China fail to make an appearance at this year’s vital climate conference: COP26. Meanwhile, scientists and environmental experts alike are pleading for us to listen and act, warning us of the imminent danger on the horizon if major improvements aren’t immediately made. 

Yet, despite little to no help from those in charge, young people are more emboldened than ever in tackling the almost impossible task of reversing climate change, their voices in chorus with the experts, seemingly being led into battle by Greta Thunberg. At just 18, she has immobilised more than 10 million protestors globally via her Fridays for Future movement with the mantra: “You are never too small to make a change.” – she’s an exemplary example of an entire generation that truly cares. 

Similarly, on the front line of fashion, it’s a new wave of young designers who are leading the way, leaving the hesitant established brands behind and in grave need of catching up, quickly. As varied in their aesthetics are their processes: including zero waste collections, hand-dyeing using natural ingredients, experimenting with bioplastics, and breathing new life with upcycling and the use of secondhand garments. They infuse ‘eco’ fashion (almost an expletive nowadays) with a dynamism and flair that it has been in dire need of to shake off its stale reputation. In short, it’s not sustainable clothing, instead it’s clothing that is sustainable. 

Hailing from Sweden to Australia and London to Paris, this handful of names – Freyja Newsome, Miles George Daniel, Mikaela Mårtensson, Jules Bramley, Alice Potts, Hodakova, Steven Chevallier, and Olivia Rubens – are united in their disinterest in buzzwords, jargon, and claims of alleged aid in the struggle. Angry, they want results, instead of blame-shifting and the blind eye that is being turned to issues that impact us all – equipped with the statistics to back up their desire for a future. “The new generation of upcoming designers is one for forward thinkers; we are breaking many rules of what’s expected and how to expect it. It’s a very dynamic place to be right now,” says Daniel. 

They’re equally reflective of their own contribution, the innate impact of prescribing to the wasteful and damaging fashion industry of today. But, just as there is no perfect designer, there is no perfect way to be sustainable. “There are many ways fashion could be made more responsible, but I see the most innovation in terms of sustainability coming from fashion students,” asserts Mårtensson. “It should be everyone’s responsibility to some degree, but it’s the big companies and politicians that have the power to actually make a big impact and change.” 

While leading by example is undoubtedly important, the young creatives share a plea for fashion to slow down and for major houses to reduce the number of collections presented annually. Instead, they suggest imitating their approach to move away from trend-driven ideals and towards intentionally small collections. “Avoiding overproduction and waste and using deadstock materials is instinctual for me and should be for all brands big or small,” expresses Bramley. “It shouldn’t be about trying to tick a certain box.” 

“If designers worked on one really amazing collection a year (or less, only releasing work when they feel like, as many artists do), they would have more time to focus on making something more exciting and less wasteful, as well as allowing them more time to research and use more sustainable processes,” echoes Newsome. It’s a persuasive argument, leaving you to ponder why, to some, pounds and profit outweigh the planet. 

“The fashion system can be very conservative and hard to change, so radical change doesn’t often happen,” Mårtensson concludes as we teeter at a crucial tipping point; the crossroads we stand out stretching out to two very different potential futures. 

For now, we can only hope the powers that be choose the right path, listening to the urgent voices of both the experts and an entire generation of concerned youth. It’s indisputably a challenge, one this fearless cohort are ready to tackle, with the intent, education, and action to make a change before it’s too late. We are unstoppable, a better world is possible!

           Freyja Newsome
Freyja Newsome’s dark and moody aesthetic harkens back to simpler times, a humble medieval peasant-like glamour. Unsurprisingly, her creative processes are aligned, designed with a make-do attitude. “It derived from the need to use what I have around me already because I couldn’t afford to buy more, so I just used fabrics and yarns that I’d had for years, along with other bits and pieces I’d collection,” the Central Saint Martins graduate explains. “I also love using natural dyes and fucking around with fruit and kitchen spices to see what colour stuff will come out. It makes me feel like I’m making potions.” 
Newsome’s experimental nature is more than apparent in the final creations, utilising a number of different sustainable practices from recycling leather and felt, upcycling motorcycle helmets that make wearers look like bygone astronauts, hand knitting and sewing, to a wealth of materials including feathers, foam, and wooden carved tokens. “Sustainability is about how everything is made and the attitudes you have towards your work and the processes, not just the materials used,” she asserts. “It’s not just macramé’d bits of old fabric and bashed plastic bottles turned into some hideous upcycled clothes.” 
The designer’s simple wish for fashion is for it to slow down, for both the big players and consumers alike. “The biggest issue is the massive overproduction and waste of clothing manufactured every year,” she says. “If people actually took some time to consider what they were doing, they might have time to make something more precious and bespoke and less likely to be thrown away. Clothing is a privilege, they were made by humans who sacrificed their time to physically craft something and should be cherished as such.”  @mvudslyde
 FREYJA NEWSOME - Photography Tom Stewart
FREYJA NEWSOME - Photography Tom Stewart
FREYJA NEWSOME - Photography Tom Stewart
FREYJA NEWSOME - Photography Tom Stewart
 MILES GEORGE DANIEL 
“The new generation of upcoming designers is one for forward thinkers; we are breaking many rules of what’s expected and how to expect it – it’s a very dynamic place to be right now,” reflects  London-based designer Miles George Daniel. Among the new wave of names implementing sustainable practices through his eponymous label, he pushed it to the limit for his graduate collection at Middlesex University – challenging himself to a ‘zero spend’ budget. “I don’t think anyone quite believed me or thought I could pull off something like that, but it just fuelled me to push even harder and create something spectacular out of nothing,” he shares. 
The result is a maelstrom of materials – found, repurposed, or donated – infused with plenty of punk and a DIY spirit. Scraps of slashed knits, cardboard cut and coloured with scrawls of graffiti, and sprouting wires all work harmoniously – shrouding his models who look as if they’ve wandered a desolate post-apocalyptic wasteland. The resourcefulness doesn’t stop there, after documenting the collection, the designer unwrapped the pieces to be used again for future looks. 
Unsatisfied with resting on his laurels, Daniel is continuing to evolve his sustainable practices at his label and reflect on his impact on the planet as a designer. “It’s been hard to implement, but I haven’t run into any problems,” he concludes. “As my business continues to grow and develop, I look forward to steady development of my design practices, questioning every aspect of my own creativity and individuality as I go. The whole industry should be paying more attention to the current scenes impacting us all right now, especially with sustainability; this is development for the future.”
@milesgeorgedaniel
 MILES GEORGE DANIEL 
 MILES GEORGE DANIEL 
 MILES GEORGE DANIEL 

 

       MIKAELA MÅRTENSSON 
Swedish designer Mikaela Mårtensson draws inspiration from the limitless potential of knitwear and crochet – crafting each unique piece herself. “I’m interested in making high quality garments and good work with my own hands,” she explains. “It’s important to really value the material, which led me to the concept of slow fashion and zero waste. I want to make clothes with greater value that will last a long time.” 
Her oeuvre emerged at the Swedish School of Textiles, a collection comprising wispy dresses distressed ends trailing the floor in sea foam green or bright and bulbous traffic cone orange dresses overstitched to the nth degree – a homespun aesthetic made elegant with Mårtensson’s take on chainmail, painstakingly stitching individual washers into the thread. “I work carefully with my hands and produce a very small number of pieces, all my garments are unique and have an inherent value that comes from the handicraft and design,” she shares. 
Echoing the sentiment shared by her sustainably minded peers, the designer urges that now is the time to act before it’s too late. “Sustainability has always been important, but we’re becoming more and more aware of the fact that time is running out and things need to change now and not later,” she concludes. “It should be everyone’s responsibility to some degree, but it’s the big companies and politicians that have the power to actually make a big impact and make a change. A couple of small independent fashion brands wont save the world.”
@mega_mikaela
  MIKAELA MÅRTENSSON - By Photography Jonatan Nilsson

          OLIVIA RUBENS 
“The word sustainability is overused and has been diluted to create confusion around its meaning and purpose,” declares London-based Canadian knitwear designer Olivia Rubens. “I’m thrilled that sustainability has become the norm – especially with students and emerging designers internationally – but we need to reinvent the system from the inside out and constantly challenge the status quo to find new solutions.” 
Working with the mantra of, “once you know, you can’t unknow”, Rubens ensures every stage of her design process is traceable, as well as working with local hand dyers and yarn spinners. Leaning into the obstacles she faced growing up, her designs are quietly dishevelled, with eerie face-obscuring knitted masks. “I grew up mostly thrifting because I found it gave me more flexibility in expressing myself on a low budget,” Rubens explains on her initial interest in slow fashion. “Between that and growing up taking advantage of nature and the seasons in Canada, supporting the planet and thoughts around circularity have been an underpinning of my career before I even realised it.” 
Despite this longtime commitment, the designer is quick to dismiss the fallacy that any design can be 100% sustainable. “Considering where we are at right now – our markets and advancements – it’s impossible,” she asserts. “We can all strive to be circular and totally sustainable, but we aren’t there yet. Sustainability means always envisioning our impacts and future consequences, not just the now. There is progress, but the perspective and hesitation needs to change, before it’s too late.” 
@oliv.iarubens
OLIVIA RUBENS
           JULES BRAMLEY 
The starting point for Australian designer Jules Bramley’s debut collection was the overwhelming feeling of the planet’s imminent destruction – caused by capitalism and greed of corporations. “I kept seeing this big tub of wool offcuts, sitting at the back of my local remnant fabric shop and they sat there for months, nobody was buying them,” they explain on the starting point for the collection. “I bought all the scraps to create something that would bring purpose back to this neglected waste.” 
Manipulating the material through a number of different processes, the one-of-a-kind genderless garments are almost unrecognisable – frozen in the process of decay, through boiling, disintegrating, and hand-dyeing. “Most of my processes are completely spontaneous and experimental, I’ve explored bio plastics, eco fabrics, natural dyeing methods, upcycling, all with the mission of bringing life back to and transforming old garments.” Almost using design as a form of protest, Bramley’s plan for their fledgling label is to maintain sustainable practices, rather than being seduced by the industry’s illusion that growth equals success. “Sustainability has become less of a genuine intention and more of a commodity/marketing term for a company or product,” they conclude. “I never want to overproduce or use cheap materials, I will only release limited capsules. There almost becomes a point in creating a brand when you choose profit over passion and for me having sustainability and genuine care for our planet at the forefront of my practise is of utmost importance, and I know the majority of my generation feel the same.” 
@julesbramley
JULES BRAMLEY - Photography by Sammy-Jo Lang-White
JULES BRAMLEY - Photography by Sammy-Jo Lang-White
JULES BRAMLEY - Photography by Sammy-Jo Lang-White

 

           ALICE POTTS 
Since she graduated from the Royal College of Art, Alice Potts has continued honing her skills as a designer and material researcher. Her entirely unique perspective examines the connection between biology and materiality, transforming mundane sweat into breathtaking crystals sprouting from clothing and accessories. Other revolutionary techniques include bioplastic adornments, ‘sequins’ crafted from food waste and natural materials such as seaweed and flower petals. 
“I never thought of being sustainable and maybe that’s why my materials are so different from other individuals,” she explains. “I’m obsessed with the world and everything in it, the way our bodies work is fascinating. Sweat for me shows how amazing our bodies are but also defines the uniqueness in every individual. Through this I hope to get people inspired by the beauty of the real world and then through that become more sustainable.” For Potts, education around sustainability is tantamount to implementing green practices. “There is a huge taboo around sustainability which is mostly why I got into material innovation in the first place,” she reflects. “Transparency is so important in educating not just other designers but consumers too. To be able to introduce sustainability into our fashion system will take years, but it is so important to try and bring it to every area of our lives to make change – doing small things makes a big difference.” 
@alicenapotts
ALICE POTTS

        

     HODAKOVA
For Ellen Hodova Larsson – the mastermind behind burgeoning label Hodakova – her interest in bringing new life to the objects around her started at home as a child. “I was brought up in a home where we didn’t have that much money, but still had a wonderful home,” she shares. “You just start with taking what is around you. It’s the core element for curious people to try and create an entire new universe.” 
The Swedish designer’s recent Paris debut, a modern reimagining of an 18th-century dinner party, transformed trinkets into treasure: gloves that clasped around the body as a bustier and skirt combo, second-hand belts latticed into intricate bags and tops, and dainty couture-like dresses bedazzled with thousands of tiny buttons. “My process is all about diving into handicraft and traditions, highlighting the construction with new expressions,” Larsson explains. “I believe that using old traditions to make new objects is a way for people to adapt to change.” 
In the future, Larsson hopes that a refreshed approach to bringing new life to secondhand objects will permeate all creative avenues, as well as fashion. “I believe my generation wants to bring back the purpose of making, instead of life revolving around money,” she muses. “The new rich will be having fewer curated items, something all industries should adapt to.” 
@hoda_kova
 HODAKOVA
 HODAKOVA
 HODAKOVA

 


      STEVEN CHEVALLIER 
French designer Steven Chevallier is a recent alum, graduating from Central Saint Martins’ Knitwear course. For him, the implementation of sustainable practices is something he urges more designers to explore while they’re still in education. “I just graduated and my collection implemented sustainable practices and processes throughout,” he says. “It’s important to teach and develop this vision and these techniques in school so that you can apply it in the future when you’re working in the industry.” 
Pushing both boundaries and expectations of what knitwear could look like, Chevallier’s creations look like globules of melting confectionery or a frenetic explosion of swirling shapes. Recycling is the main influence, bringing new life to plastic bottles and old knitwear. “The pandemic and isolation period really influenced me and pushed me to create in a different way,” he says. “I believe we have enough clothing in society, so it’s important for me to create new life for them.” 
Much like his peers, Chevallier urges those who aren’t well-versed in sustainable matters to educate themselves and take action, instead of relying on meaningless platitudes. “The young generation woke up and realised the future of our planet is in urgent need of saving, but a lot of brands use this movement as a trendy marketing strategy – it’s important we actually protect the planet.” 
@stwzd
STEVEN CHEVALLIER 
STEVEN CHEVALLIER 
STEVEN CHEVALLIER 

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