Designers Remix by Charlotte Eskildsen. Illustration by Faye West.
Designers Remix is a somewhat ridiculous name for the signature brand from Danish designer Charlotte Eskildsen. The press release states that she took as her point of reference the Palais Royal de Paris, visit this site seek where architecture by the minimalist Daniel Buren exists alongside traditional buildings and opulent decor. This point was exemplified in the presentation in the Portico Rooms as Somerset House, which featured minimalist clothing worn by models stood against a plain white ground, versus beehived models in curvaceous boned ruffles who posed against painted backgrounds that alluded to the traditional Palais.
Designers Remix by Charlotte Eskildsen. Illustration by Katherine Tromans.
Having only just read the press release it now all suddenly becomes clear. At the show it just came across as two very different collections. Of course, the one which the photographers loved most is not hard to guess. Two models cuddled up against an orange and grey photo-real scene was by far the best presentation idea I’ve seen in some time, and ensured some great images for press – photographers thrusting each other out of the way to get the best faux lesbian picture. Sadly the minimalist crew were not nearly as inspiring… and I felt sorry for the under loved models in their poker straight hair and clean black tailoring.
Designers Remix A/W 2011. Photography by Amelia Gregory.
Designers Remix by Charlotte Eskildsen. Illustration by Faye West.
Designers Remix is a somewhat ridiculous name for the signature brand from Danish designer Charlotte Eskildsen. The press release states that she took as her point of reference the Palais Royal de Paris, salve where architecture by the minimalist Daniel Buren exists alongside traditional buildings and opulent decor. This point was exemplified in the presentation in the Portico Rooms as Somerset House, buy which featured minimalist clothing worn by models stood against a plain white ground, viagra buy versus beehived models in curvaceous boned ruffles who posed against painted backgrounds that alluded to the traditional Palais.
Designers Remix by Charlotte Eskildsen. Illustration by Katherine Tromans.
Having only just read the press release it now all suddenly becomes clear. At the show it just came across as two very different collections. Of course, the one which the photographers loved most is not hard to guess. Two models cuddled up against an orange and grey photo-real scene was by far the best presentation idea I’ve seen in some time, and ensured some great images for press – photographers thrusting each other out of the way to get the best faux lesbian picture. Sadly the minimalist crew were not nearly as inspiring… and I felt sorry for the under loved models in their poker straight hair and clean black tailoring.
Designers Remix A/W 2011. Photography by Amelia Gregory.
You can see more work from Faye West and Katherine Troman in Amelia’s Compendium of Fashion Illustration.
Fashion in the Age of Austerity, order organised by the Papered Parlour, combined so many exciting elements that I don’t quite know where to begin. It was in the most wonderful building, amongst some rare, antique toys in glass cabinets. Fashion designer and V&A Trustee Betty Jackson was there looking radiant in red lipstick, there was a brilliant panel debate, live music, shopping and craft workshops.
Learning to upcycle jewellery with Tatty Devine
I was most excited by the panel debate with the Guardian’s Ethical Living columnist Lucy Siegle, Think Act Vote founder Amisha Ghadiali, Labour Behind the Labels Hannah Higginson and the managing director of the Ethical Fashion Forum Tamsin Lejeune; four women that I happen to find pretty inispiring. The debate did not disappoint; we raced around lots of interestting, controversial and pressing issues like slow fashion, how to navigate the moral maze and where/if craft comes into things.
One of the key messages I took from the event was that if you want to shop ethically you can’t be afraid of complexity. Lucy Siegle explained that it isn’t as simple as goodies and baddies in ethical fashion. If you scratch the surface of the ethical issues of clothing supply, you’d be forgiven for getting a little…muddled. There’s organic, local, hand made, made from natural fibres, made in the UK, Fairtrade, tree protecting, wildlife saving or fabrics that use only organic dyes. No garment can tick all of those boxes and no ‘ethical label’ is ever fully, 100% “ethical”. They simply don’t exist. What you choose all depends on your values and the way that you choose to navigate around it all. And as Tamsin Lejeune said, you can’t do everything.
Ultimately, I believe you can avoid most ethical conundrums by simply buying fewer clothes. But this isn’t always realistic. I was reminded however that we can, be a bit more thoughtful about where things come from and what they’re made of.
The Panel. Illustration by Sam Parr
Someone asked about changes at a government level, but the panel agreed that there simply isn’t any political appetite for tax breaks or measures that might encourage more ethical practices, which I found pretty depressing. They went on to say that the only way the industry was ever going to change was via direct citizen action, via things like writing letters to company head offices (action pack here). The panel said it’s pointless asking shop assistants about ethical practices because they generally won’t know. Although I think there is a place for this I secretly breathed a sigh of relief; I once stuttered through a rehearsed speech to a cashier in New Look only to be boo’d by the queue behind me and met with blank, skeptical faces from the staff….hmm.
A workshop in action: students learning to make a wallet out of a Tetra Pak with the Otesha Project
There was a wearisome discussion about semantics and the need for a new word for ‘ethical’ and ‘sustainable’ which to be honest I found rather frustrating. I don’t think the name matters, I’d much rather peoples energies were spent on putting pressure on the suppliers and informing people. After some all round praise for sewing and making clothes as a way to recycle, appreciate garment making and challenge the way we think about fashion, the talk was done and I was back upstairs.
Hannah Peel illustration by Elizabeth Goodspeed
My friend and I wondered around the market stalls, wine glass in hand, whilst being entertained by some brilliant bands, including The Piney Gir Country Roadshow and Hannah Peel & Laura Groves. I particularly liked the folky, mellow sound of Hannah Peel, who wore a bright green maxi dress, and who had some attendees standing in silence as they listened to her.
Tatty Devine illustration by Sanna Dyker
There were 20 specially selected ethical fashion stalls to browse, which I regretted not bringing any cash for. Here’s a quick run through of my favourites.
I loved the intricate illustrations on the goods at the Zosienka and Rosie stall.
This is the Create Place’s stall. The craft workshops they offer enable them to prove heavily subsidised courses for their local community via an inspiring initiative from St Margaret’s House.
Fine Cell were there too, a brilliant volunteer led organization that teaches prison inmates how to embroider and supplies them with the materials they need. The inmates are paid for their work, which is sold all over the UK.
I was glad to be introduced to the Offset Warehouse, a social enterprise and the first UK online retailer to sell a wide range of ethical fabrics, a haberdashery, garments and resources for crafts people. Their prices are also extremely reasonable. So if, like me, you like making clothes or interiors products, this is a good resource for ethical fabric.
This is the jewelry of A Alicia. She is part of the handmade wedding collective who are hosting an event this week between the 15th-20th March at the Craft Central Showcase Space in East London.
I also went along to Think Act Vote Founder Amisha Ghadiali’s talk, which was good but it felt a little disorganised: loud music began to play half way through. (Note to Papered Parlour: Great event but I think the Make Believe area was too close to the stage!) Fellow contributor Katie Antoniou was also there presenting Amelia’s Compendium of Fashion Illustration and answering questions.
The combination of the panel discussion with the music, wine, stalls and workshops was a winner. And what really set it apart from the run-of-the-mill craft fairs was the focus on ethics and sustainability. There wasn’t one daggy, hippy-ish stand, just good design that happens to be ethical, with inspiring debate and discission. I was a happy bunny. There is another event coming up which, on the basis of the last one, I strongly recommend that you come along too. It’s called It’s Your Write! and it’s on Thursday 7th April 2011. Expect to find a celebration of the self published.
Categories ,A Alicia, ,Affordable Fashion, ,Amisha Ghadiali, ,Betty Jackson, ,Elizabeth Goodspeed, ,Ethical Fashion, ,Ethical Fashion Forum, ,fairtrade, ,Fine Cell, ,Hannah Bullivant, ,Hannah Higginson, ,Hannah Peel, ,Labour behind the Label, ,Lucy Siegle, ,organic, ,Sam Parr, ,Sanna Dyker, ,Tamsin Lejeune, ,Tatty Devine, ,The Create Place, ,The Offset Warehouse, ,The Otesha Project, ,The Papered Parlour, ,The Piney Gir Country Roadshow, ,The V&A Museum of Childhood, ,Think Act Vote, ,Zosienka and Rosie
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