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14 Dec 2023
Also included are lessons in upcycling and next-gen materials from the Earth. Discover PlasticFree's top 10 fashion launches of the year.
Bettter is an upcycled tailoring brand from Vogue Ukraine’s international fashion director Julie Pelipas. The suiting label, which specialises in oversized jackets, boxy shapes and slouchy trousers, uses material sourced from second-hand markets or deadstock fabrics from factories to make its slow-to-produce collections. The brand works to repair and restore the fabrics to ensure high-quality pieces designed to last, but retains elements of the material’s previous life to convey its history. The brand’s latest collection, Out of Office, was launched this year.
While most fashion brands obsess over scaling up, Swedish startup Benim Denim’s ambition was to shut down. The ready-to-wear brand’s tenure only lasted as long as its 170-metre deadstock denim roll – once the material ran out, the project ceased to exist. The creative duo behind this closed-loop concept shot a playful lookbook enacting the brand’s funeral service. Benim Denim garments are partly made with Circulose, a recycled fibre from post-consumer textile waste.
High street retailer Gap teamed up with Sean Wotherspoon - the designer of Nike Air Max 97/1 - to create a spring/summer collection of 100% vintage garments. All hand-sourced by Wotherspoon himself, the collection of authentic Gap classics was found in vintage shops, flea markets, archive stores, and his personal collection. The range included items from the brand’s ‘80s, ‘90s, and ‘00s catalogues, and featured denim staples, logo-emblazoned hoodies, and striped and checked shirts. Sourced from around the world, prices started as high as USD 55 for a t-shirt, which calls into question the accessibility of this sustainable practice.
London-based fashion designer Christopher Raeburn collaborated with department store Selfridges to create repurposed retail uniforms for the brand’s Reselfridges team. The pre-loved range takes inspiration from traditional workwear garments such as aprons and lab jackets, pairing deadstock and deconstructed fabrics with functional design features such as multiple pockets and a relaxed fit. Selfridge’s Reselfridges ecosystem is dedicated to circular practices, offering resale, rental, repair, refill and recycling services. The brand is aiming for 45% of its transactions to come through this ecosystem by 2030.
Finnish material innovation startup Origin by Ocean collaborated with fashion house Marimekko on a pilot project, replacing the synthetic thickener in its print paste with an Algae-based alternative. Known as Caerulo, Origin by Ocean’s print paste thickener is made from invasive sargassum Seaweed from the Dominican Republic, and was used by Marimekko to print a set of textile products. The result of the project was a limited-edition capsule featuring a fabric, cushion cover, and tote bag printed in Marimekko’s signature Pieni Unikko design.
Independent Finnish fashion designer Sofia Ilmonen is a pioneer of the modular clothing movement. Ilmonen’s graduate collection - released in 2021 - features a range of garments all made from the same square modules. The modules feature button loop tapes that double up as channels for drawstrings. The buttons allow the modules to be attached together in any formation imaginable, while the drawstrings facilitate the horizontal and vertical gathering of modules to adjust the shape and size of the end garment. Winner of the Mercedes-Benz Sustainability Prize in 2021, Ilmonen launched items on rental platform The Ateljé this year, with an online store coming soon.
London-based startup Arda Biomaterials received a GBP 1.1 million (USD 1.38 million) investment to complete the final iteration of its 100% plastic-free alternative Leather made from the beer industry’s waste stream. Dubbed New Grain, the circular textile is made from spent grain, and is ideal for the fashion, home furnishings, and automotive industries. It uses a combination of plant proteins, fibres, and non-toxic chemicals, and is safe enough to be technically edible. New Grain’s natural shade is a rich black, but the company is working on a non-toxic process that offers clients a variety of shades, and is set to run biodegradability tests as part of the development phase.
Stella McCartney’s A/W 23 fashion show saw the debut of the brand’s first handbags made from Mirum. Created in partnership with Natural Fiber Welding, the brand’s Falabella and Frayme silhouettes are made from the nutrient-based, plastic-free, degradable leather alternative. The two companies worked together to create a unique pebble grain texture, and the bags are lined with a GOTS-certified Cotton fabric. NFW is a member of Stella McCartney’s Collab SOS Fund, a dedicated fund designed to provide “rapid, catalytic” capital to scale-up climate solutions.
The Bio-Invasive Textile Library project harnesses invasive plants to develop plant-based fibres and dyes for fashion. Led by bio-fashion and upcycling designer Xue Chen, in collaboration with knitwear designer Sivilia Acien, the project explores a number of techniques to produce alternative fur, felt, and Wool. A groundbreaking innovation resulting from the study is the use of an implanting machine, which integrates any type of fibre into any fabric and is inspired by hair transplant surgery.
Denim brand Triarchy released the 'world’s first and only' plastic-free stretch jeans. Using only organic cotton and natural Rubber, the jeans are fully breathable and naturally biodegrade in less than two years, "fertilising the soil as they biodegrade". Stretch denim is typically achieved by using oil-based plastic and sheds microplastics throughout its life cycle. The F/W 23 Plastic-Free Stretch collection is available through Triarchy’s website, retailing from USD 289 per pair.