Since September I have been volunteering in a local charity shop. They have an entire archive of amazing products which were unsellable due to imperfections. I have been collecting these pieces to use throughout my collection as a way to reduce waste and make light of these products. When the second lockdown hit, I realised it meant people couldn’t donate their unwanted materials. I collected my local community’s throw-away garments. The first product I received was a pair of printed curtains, these sparked the idea that all of my pieces would be heavily inspired by everyday interiors. My pieces have a relaxed feel as a reminder of the comforts that we have gotten so used to and put us at ease- deconstructed into sharp tailoring and slinky silhouettes. I think sustainability has a stigma which suggests it can’t be a luxury, sexy piece, my collection questions this and proves that waste products can be elevated. Furthermore it highlights the benefits of a balanced, slow pace of life, which I witnessed in placement year in Paris. The approach to ‘slowness’ can be adopted to my ethos of considered design, such as making a romantic cami top from an old, battered sofa. Similarly, I used old chairs which had a lot of wear and tear; however I found that actually the texture on the reverse side was really beautiful but hadn’t even been seen before.
It’s hidden pieces like this that can turn out the most successful. With second-hand fabrics come limitations of only having a certain amount of fabric, this required a lot of problem solving. I naturally had to add a lot of panelling and extra seams into my pieces, which influenced the curved seams across my garments- a nod to the curves on the furnishings in which the fabrics came off of.