“An alternative utopian universe”
From Indoi: Meet Our Craftspeople. Event: Wednesday, April 21st.
Every April, there is Fashion Revolution Week, created by non-profit campaign group Fashion Revolution to honour the 1,134 lives lost in the 2013 Rana Plaza Factory Collapse. And every April, there is Fashion Open Studio, Fashion Revolution’s programme of events and workshops celebrating the people and processes behind the making of our clothes. Fashion Open Studio has always felt rich and important; in this year, however, a potential turning point for Western societies facing up to their roles in ecological and climate breakdown, it feels imperative. We need new models of interacting with the planet because the old ones are killing us. And here they are.
In its physical, pre-Covid incarnation, members of the public were invited to step behind the often glossy image of brands to discover their workings and inspirations in studios around the world. The pandemic has put a - hopefully temporary - stop to that. But what is offered instead is a truly multinational virtual event. Between April 19 and 25, over 50 events are planned, featuring designers from 21 countries, each highlighting instances of sustainable innovation, indigenous craftsmanship and materials, local cultural heritage, regenerative and equitable business models and new technology in a unique programme, curated, as always, by writer and campaigner Tamsin Blanchard.
She is justifiably proud of this year’s selection, developed in association with volunteers from Fashion Revolution’s sprawling international network. “Many of the volunteers are designers themselves,” says Blanchard. “They are in the industry and they want it to change and they have really enjoyed having conversations with other designers.” Labels hark from London and Berlin to Zimbabwe, Nigeria and beyond. “Fashion is this huge global machine,” says Blanchard. “And there are so many designers, artists and makers doing incredible things that we just don't hear about. It’s great to be able to highlight those voices.”
The raft of names speak to ways of seeing clothing that are radically different from the those of fast fashion; ways that encompass ideas of culture and heritage, community and connection with the land. And the variety is a testament to the enduring human ingenuity and compassion that could, just about, get us out of our various messes. Upcycling brand ZOUZOUDAGO, for example, is the brainchild of Herizo Robin, a Madagascan social entrepreneur and designer exploring the intersections between fashion, nature and biodiversity. Gaia, an upcycled brand based in Uruguay, has “a collaborative approach, a really interesting network,” says Blanchard.
She’s continually inspired by Brit designer Phoebe English - “she's been on this endless journey of self education since she switched her processes and working systems. It's not something that people can do overnight, and she's very open and humble about that” - and by a Berlin-based brand called FADE OUT, whose founder Andrea Bonfini exited a major brand to create small collections of upcycled denim. “He's just so brilliantly self-sufficient,” says Blanchard. “He makes about 40 pieces a month and he's really happy with that and his customers are happy, because he has a relationship with them. I love that: that you can create a business and stay small.”
Then there is Ōshadi, a contemporary womenswear brand and textile supplier building a seed-to-sew supply chain in rural India with local farmers and artisans. “Founder Nishanth Chopra’s work around regenerative cotton is extraordinary,” says Blanchard. “The earth where they work is actually better than it was.” She also namechecks IGC Fashion, a Ugandan label based in Kampala creating from secondhand garments as well as natural and indigenous materials such as Nsimbi (cowrie shells) and Lubugo (barkcloth) and who have, thanks to Blanchard, created a short film with London based designer Cameron Williams, who also uses barkcloth in his work.
“Cameron and IGC have had amazing conversations around barkcloth and the significance of barkcloth in Ugandan culture,” says Blanchard. ““It’s something we’re trying to do with Fashion Open Studios, to create this network, so that there is peer-to-peer mentorship and the exchange of information about materials and processes that I feel are sometimes missing from the conversation.” It’s an extension of the concept of transparency that drives Fashion Revolution’s work, moving beyond the idea of supply chain transparency to one that encompasses all the gritty day-to-day realities of what it means to run a brand in harmony with the planet.
“Fashion Open Studio was created to encourage those conversations, to get the answers directly from the horse’s mouth,” she says. Criteria for inclusion is intuitive and ethical, highlighting designers actively working to find solutions to challenges facing both themselves and the wider world, from tackling studio waste to responsible production and sourcing; from an emphasis on innovation and aesthetics to transparency and regenerative systems; on the “active pursuit of business models that put the planet and people before profit.” “I've always championed emerging designers and designers working around sustainable solutions,” says Blanchard.
This year, the programme runs in alignment with the themes of Fashion Revolution 2021: rights, relationships and revolution and the vital and complex interconnection between human rights and nature. Blanchard is aware of the problems of new production on a planet already heaving under the weight of over 100 billion pieces of new clothing a year. “I know there’s the feeling that we can’t buy ourselves out of this crisis and these are ultimately fashion businesses,” she says. “But I feel that we just have to offer an alternative [to industrial fashion models]. These designers are doing things through practice. This is our alternative utopian fashion universe.”
