British Fashion Council founded Estethica six years ago to provide opportunities for growing fashion designers to create pieces made from sustainable materials. This year 15 cutting edge designers have helped prove why Estethica has become the centre of eco sustainability of the fashion industry.
This year we spoke to ‘Makepiece’ who have designed for the ‘Ready to wear’ Estethica collection, creating sustainable fashion from sheep!
Designed by Nicola Sherlock Windle, each design is technical and the designs come from structured knits and subconsciously reflect natural landscapes and forms. The wool used is from a flock of hand sheared low impact Shetland sheep.
We spoke to Beate Kubitz, Business manager at Makepiece.
Beate said: “We originally wanted to start with wholesaling so we applied for London Fashion Week but initially got rejected. We didn’t have much photography or anything so we went on a course called ‘passport to export’ where we heard about Estethica, and decided to apply.”
“The other Estethica designers are very diverse, my favorite is probably Junky styling, they are have a great take on ethical fashion and upcycling and are always true to their ideals.”
The Makepiece shop is based in Hebden Bridge, sadly, it was struck by flooding earlier this year which meant some of the Estethica collection was lost. Keith Newland from paintbox textiles stepped forward to sponsor the collection and Calderdale Metropolitan Borough Council made grants available for local businesses recovery.
Given the time allotted to create the collection and the length of time it takes to create one of the pieces, the stand this year is smaller than previous years, but the attention from the press is stronger than ever.
“We have had a lot of press interest from magazines today. We were approached by Vogue, Woman and home, The Telegraph not to mention bloggers and buyers asking questions” says Beate.
“Our exhibition space may have gotten smaller but it’s more focused and there is much more of a buzz. The blogger and quick click are much more significant.
“Every season there are labels appearing and disappearing but we stand strong and it remains hard work every year!”
Your Coffee Break also spoke to Atelier undergraduate, Emily Shuttleworth, from the University of Rochester, at her first time at London Fashion Week, who is working Makepiece stand at London Fashion Week today.
Emily said: “This is the twelfth season Makepiece have created a collection for Estethica and shown at London Fashion Week.”
“This is an incredible opportunity for me to work with designers who care about sustainability in the fashion world.”
“The collections I create for my university projects are based around using wool and knitwear, Makepiece has been an inspiring line to work for.”
The Makepiece website states ‘Beautiful clothes with ethics. Natural yarns from sustainable farming. Undyed and natural dyed options. Low impact manufacture. Fair employment. Working to be carbon neutral.”
A beautiful take on green fashion.
