Feeding Us During Fashion Month
An interesting talk at RMIT today by Professor Kate Fletcher from Manchester Metropolitan University titled Fashion Sustainability and Other Animals.
PLEASE KEEP READING š
Kate spoke about her research and writing in this space from traditional methods to more conceptual, where she engages with and speaks to nature about her (and our) relationship with clothes and fashion.
The discussion of sustainability in many ways has felt like a broken record but after years of shouting from the wings, it feels like there are some tiny rays of hope in which we can imagine a world made of much better decisions.
Ok, I said TINY RAYS of hopeā¦
Itās a good time talk about this, smack bang in the middle of Fashion Month which has been named the ābiggest fashion month in historyā due to all of the changes in Creative Director roles at the big fashion houses.
I am definitely excited about the prospect of some of these new collections.
I LOVE engaging with new ideas, new concepts and new design.
I am also very interested in the conversation about taking the foot off the pedal in terms of volume as well as the issue of using responsible resources.
How about the idea of expecting less from our fashion designers? How much do we realistically expect them to create each season?
How many new ideas do we expect them to have and can we possibly consume them all?
How many new garments can we realistically wear?
If SimonĆ© BellottiĀ @jilsanderĀ or Glenn MartensĀ @MaisonMargielaĀ presented 15 looks on the catwalk, I would be very happy.
I definitely canāt buy (and donāt need) 15 new looks per season but I would be satisfied with seeing new thoughts and ideas presented on the runway in a more reduced way.
I can still get excited about that.
I teach fashion and fashion design and this has been an idea that I have been encouraging more and more in students and mentees in recent years, to encourage the idea that less can be enough.
You donāt need to design a huge collection of mix and match pieces available in endless different prints and colourways.
If you like, you can design a small collection of clothes that could be all made from deadstock fabric and that fabric may happen to be all black silk faille, referring to the John Galliano Fall 94/95.
You could design a collection based on upcycled theatre costumes, referring to the Martin Margiela Spring 1993.
I confess to being an avid consumer but these days I mostly buy second-hand. I get a thrill about finding something rare or weird and wearing it in way that is new to me.
So while, I may be sharing collection images from my favourite designers again during this Fashion Month, Iām saying that these ideas look cool, they look interesting.
They are food for thought.
Thanks Kate Fletcher for giving us more food for thought today.
You can find out more about Kate Fletcher here.
Thea Basiliou
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