The Youth4Climate event kicked off in Milan at the end of September, as the fashion shows in the Italian capital of style came to an end and the runways moved to Paris. Yet there was a show today in Paris that may have won the approval of climate activists – Chloé's runway.
Showcased on the bank of the Seine with Notre Dame Cathedral covered in scaffolding as the backdrop, the show marked the third collection Gabriela Hearst designed as Creative Director of the house and it also proved that she is continuing to transfer the modus operandi she applies to her namesake label to the French maison.
Hearst's eponymous fashion house, a favourite of Jill Biden, the First Lady of the United States, usually features in its collections crafted pieces made by artisans following sustainable procedures and the designer is trying to extend that vision to Chloé as well, coming up with designs made with leftover fabrics and materials.
Luxury is supposed to be handmade but nowadays most collections are produced in factories, using machines. Hearst wants instead to bring back the artisanal manufacturing processes in the making of luxury pieces and, to do so, she collaborated with a wide range of NGOs.
Chloé's S/S 22 collection still featured Hearst's staples, including caftans, ponchos and relaxed pantsuits, but the emphasis was on sustainable processes and upcycled and recycled materials.
One of the first dresses on the runway was made from a patchwork of vegetable-dyed leather; an ivory dress was decorated with upcycled pieces from a jewelry workshop; there were very desirable dresses hand-crocheted and covered in multi-coloured scallop-like motifs, or made with knotted and twisted strips of leftover fabrics forming dynamic effects or trellis or grid-like structures.
Also the necklaces were made by weaving and knotting seashells with strips of leftover fabrics from previous collections. All these techniques were created by Akanjo, a social enterprise organization in Madagascar. Strands of deadstock fabrics and leather were also used for bags.
These pieces featured a special logo - "Chloé Craft" - to highlight the highly artisanal process behind them, while the seashell and macramé necklaces, the basket-shaped bags as well, included a label with the name of the artisan who made them.
Cotton (in the clothes and the lining for the bags) was also replaced with linen, a material that emits fewer greenhouse gases and requires less water, and there were actually further sustainable details to note when it came to the shoes.
The multi-coloured soles of the flatform sandals were indeed made from upcycled flip-flops and were the result of a partnership with Kenyan nonprofit social enterprise Ocean Sole that employs people from low-income areas to reshape and cut flip-flops washed up on beaches and makes with them sculptures and accessories. The new Nama sneaker is made instead with 80 percent less water and emits 35 percent fewer greenhouses gases than the previous Sonnie model by Chloé.
Last but not least, the benches for the guests at the runway show were made with raw earth bricks by Les Bâtisseuses, a network working to integrate female refugees into French society by training them in eco-construction.
Now, realistically we all know that just one label working in this way is like the proverbial drop in the ocean, but, by making these designs, Hearst shows that it can be done and also hopes to influence fast fashion retailers.
Hearst reduced, for example, the numbers of items on the runway, cutting it back and editing the collection (from around 50 to 31 designs), something that other luxury houses, but also fast fashion retailers could start doing. Besides, while not many of us may be able to reproduce her multi-coloured fabric strip dresses as we would need not just the skills to make them but also a lot of materials, the most creative among us may try and do smaller piece or accessories recycling fabrics or repurposing a garment that we do not wear anymore.
Greta Thunberg complained at the Youth4Climate conference that global leaders just keep on promising to address the climate emergency, and she dismissed their debates as "blah, blah, blah", in a nutshell vapid talk but no action. Hearst has been doing the opposite with her collections, researching the supply chain, sourcing materials that can be recycled and showing environmental and social responsibility. Let's hope that others in the fashion industry (and beyond) will starting opting for action rather than vain talk.
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