Coronavirus dramatically changed different aspects of our lives, including the way we shop. The global pandemic reshifted indeed the attention onto health, mental and physical wellbeing; smartworking and lockdown also disrupted the daily rhythms of life, pushing us to realise that maybe we don't need as many clothes and accessories as we thought. Besides, as climate change may increase the risk of new pandemics, even people who weren't into recycling and upcycling clothes have suddenly started displaying an interest.
In a way our habits are changing also thanks to prominent figures, fashion houses and brands showing concerns about consumption and waste.
US First Lady Jill Biden opted for example for a navy silk wool dress with matching mask by Uruguayan-American designer Gabriela Hearst for President Joe Biden's First Speech to the joint session of Congress in the House Chamber at the U.S. Capitol in Washington at the end of April.
The dress featured delicate floral embroideries and seemed very similar to the ivory ensemble hand-embroidered with America's 50 state flowers that Hearst made for the First Lady for her husband Joe Biden's swearing-in ceremony.
Hearst revealed on her Instagram page that the navy version was actually the original one (both versions were made entirely of readily available fabrics that were sewn and embroidered in New York City's garment district) used to fit the inauguration dress.
"The First Lady requested to salvage it for another occasion," Hearst explained in an Instagram post. "Double repurposed. New is not always better."
The principle "new is not always better" is also the key behind Pringle of Scotland's "Repurposed" collection in collaboration with London-based concept store LN-CC.
The capsule collection includes one-of-a-kind sweaters crafted from upcycled materials such as cashmere yarns. Among the most convincing designs there are collaged Fair Isle sweaters crafted from mixed panels characterised with intarsia patterns, while people who prefer more minimalist styles with a twist can opt for bi-coloured sweaters. The pieces are also made using hand-powered machinery in Scotland to reduce their carbon footprint.
There are quite a few brands and young designers working along these lines: Sophie Andes-Gascon and Claire McKinney's SC103's A/W 21 collection features for example a selection of pieces made by hand by the two designers.
Shirts and trousers in this collection incorporate circles of fabrics salvaged from other garments; hats, scarves, gladiator sandals, tops and dresses are made with leather link pieces from their popular Link bags, while a tunic looks as if it were made with crocheted cushion covers.
But it's not just young brands that are focusing on recycled and upcycled clothes: even more prominent and famous fashion labels are developing sustainable projects.
Miuccia Prada announced the Upcycled by Miu Miu collection at the end of 2020 and some of its designs, made in collaboration with Levi's, have just been unveiled.
Miu Miu's signature leather patches with intarsia motifs and crystal embellishments are integrated or appliqued on Levi's classic denim pieces including men's 501s and trucker jackets from the 1980s and 1990s (from the Levi's archives). At times the classic denim sleeves were removed in favour of puffed sleeves, while frilly white lace collars were also added. Levi's backpatch went through a makeover: for this collaboration it is light pink and incorporates Miu Miu's logo.
Collections or limited edition pieces made with upcycled clothes guarantee consumers that no two pieces are the same and this is definitely an added value, especially for all those savvy consumers tired of buying into a trend and more interested in customised, personalised and collectable pieces (watch out for prices of some of these collaborations, though: Miu Miu and Levi's designs that will be available from May at London Selfridges, Shanghai IAPM, Dover Street Market LA, at selected Miu Miu boutiques and on the brand's e-commerce, start for example at $980).
Last but not least, there are ventures focused on helping designers and creative minds to find the materials they need while reducing waste.
LVMH's new B2B platform selling deadstock, Nona Source, has for example just launched. This new venture was created by Romain Brabo, formerly a materials buyer at LVMH-owned Givenchy, who developed it in collaboration with Marie Falguera, a textile engineer working on material development at Kenzo, and Anne Prieur du Perray, digital transformation manager at LVMH.
While working in their respective roles, they often encountered deadstocks piling in warehouses of luxury companie and realised it would have been brilliant to be able to put in contact young designers working on their collections with companies who had materials they weren't using. The project was originally presented as part of LVMH's intrapreneurship program DARE, that allows ambitiously innovative ideas to become real and the founders were then invited to pilot it full-time.
The name of the project, Nona, comes from one of the three Parcae goddesses of Roman mythology (the Greek Moirai): according to the legend Nona spins the thread of life, Decima weaves it and Morta cuts it.
The three Parcae are metaphors for the cycle of human existence, and the Nona platform hopes to be a solution to help reducing pollution and improving life: the site is open to all sorts of registered companies, including LVMH houses, its competitors and independent designers.
At the moment the platform offers different fabrics and materials (all accompanied by pictures and information about origins, widths, weight, and composition; the company's warehouse is near Tours, in France, and shipping to clients is limited to Europe and the UK) - from cotton and jersey to leather. The materials come from one house in the LVMH group, but we are not told which one (the abundance of made in Italy leather samples points at Fendi, but they could also come from other brands).
The site does not offer fabrics with logos as it wouldn't be possible to sell such materials for copyright reasons (materials with logos are usually broken down and recycled separately). Besides, at the moment the company doesn't sell small parts such as zips and buttons (hopefully they will expand in future), but it is possible to buy relatively small quantities or larger ones at competitive prices (lower than the gross price originally paid) which is a big advantage, especially for young designers who may not have a lot of money.
Nona is the first company linked to a major fashion group offering this service and it is the only one stocking high quality fabrics and couture materials at these prices. Yet it is not the first platform of this kind: there are indeed other companies selling fabrics, scraps and even small parts, such as Queen of Raw, that uses sellers based all over the world, with warehouses in Turkey but also in the United States, as their main suppliers. In this case you don't need to be a company to have access to the site, you can just be a crafter or a student and access to Queen of Raw's entire stock.
Hopefully, in future we will have more companies like these ones: while they contribute to reduce waste, by offering stocks of specific materials they may push designers to create according to what they find and what they can afford, following their instincts and inspirations without having to stick to a particular trend dictating which colours, fabrics or patterns are currently fashionable.
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