Remade, Reimagined Meet the menswear designers who are elevating up-cycling
Photography and styling by Alice & Js Roques (@jaimetoutcheztoi) / Words by Clare Press
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Photography and styling by Alice & Js Roques (@jaimetoutcheztoi) / Words by Clare Press
Remember when your mother tried to iron creases down your jeans? Maybe you’re one of the lucky ones that never happened to. Either way, denim is one thing that you don’t want to look box-fresh and crisp. Especially not in 2018.
Lived-in and loved is the aim here, and designers are adopting inspiring new methods to translate that idea into truly authentic product. Product that goes beyond denim into something with meaning. It can’t just be about the look. The current mood calls for storytelling cred and hyper-transparency. The thing is to be able to talk about the process of how your clothes were made, and in doing so forge your own connection with them. Add your story.
If only G.R.E.G.’s clothes could speak, the label adopts a “Mad max meets global nomad vibe”, giving new fashion life to hand-selected and re-worked vintage garments. Each unisex piece has distinctive elements of visible mending and distressing and is marked by an individual serial number to exemplify its uniqueness.
By Walid is another intriguing textile time-traveller. British-Iraqi designer Walid Damirji says he “dislikes the circus that is disposable fashion. My pieces are for people who have moved beyond that…every piece is unique.” His work takes up-cycling into the luxury realm, repurposing unusual antique fabrics like 19th century French damask furnishing fabric and embroidered silk kimonos. The results are treasures made to keep long-term, to pass down to the next generation even, but don’t think they are too delicate to wear. Damirji backs these fabrics onto workaday organic cotton, and there’s a pleasing utilitarian aspect to his clothes.
That’s echoed by Alljan Moehamad and Deyrinio Fraenk, the duo behind the Amsterdam-based Atelier Revervé. More obviously understood as one-of-kind art or perhaps street couture than mere up-cycling, again, each piece is crafted from scratch, individually, from vintage garments and fabrics. And again, the results are wearable and functional.
Japanese brand Children of the Discordance also has its roots in upcycling vintage pieces. They now offer a fair-trade collection made in collaboration with artisan communities, including the Zapatistas from Mexico and the Masai in Kenya. For Lane Crawford, they’ve created an exclusive upcycled collection made in one of their last remaining domestic textile factories.
The aesthetic, emotional appeal of these garments is obvious, but there’s a bigger picture here; one that taps into new thinking about sustainable fashion. You might have noticed rising interest in the circular economy? It’s a big dream. Transforming an entire industry into a closed loop, environmentally friendly, cleaner, greener version of itself is, of course, enormously complex and must involve multiple stakeholders, at all levels, working together. But there’s something elegant about the solution proposed by these designers. Using old things to create new ones. What could be simpler?
