Fashion Activism
Meet the forces behind a new kind of fashion activism.
Sustainable stylistas who are making their mark
Completing the circle
Maggie Hewitt, designer of eco-luxe label Maggie Marilyn, admits that she has moments where she doesn’t feel proud to say she is a fashion designer but hopes that will change in the not-too-distant future as the industry changes for the better.
She is also actively educating consumers and fashion buyers about conscious consumption and environmental impact, as well as hosting community beach clean-ups.
Through her new basics line, Somewhere, she aims to help bridge the gap in the market for affordable sustainable clothes.
“I had quite a few people email me saying, ‘we absolutely love what you are doing with Maggie Marilyn, it aligns with my own values but I just can’t afford to buy your clothes’. I realised we needed an accessible price pointed line. Sustainability shouldn’t be a luxury but something that everyone can buy into… and [be] empowered by their purchasing power,” says Hewitt.
In contrast to the luxury Maggie Marilyn label, which has colour, frills and stitching detail, Somewhere is a pared-back, sleek essentials line with classic silhouettes made from natural and recycled wear-tested fabrics designed to last many years. It also has a take-back scheme whereby garments can be recycled at the end of their life into new fabric and garments.
“I wanted to create a line with no waste, so everything is designed to either be composted and go back into the earth, or can be recycled,” Hewitt says.
And while a Somewhere singlet might be $65, she says, “it’s not about making something as cheap as it possibly can be and there being no inherent value into what you’re buying into. You don’t need to buy 20 things from H&M a year. You could just buy five things from our Somewhere line and it would cost the same.”
Hewitt recommends that if you can’t envisage wearing something in five to 10 years time, then don’t buy it.
Hewitt will continue to produce Maggie Marilyn because she believes fashion should still be inspiring and allow people to dream. “I don’t think there is anything wrong with wanting to buy a beautiful new dress or blazer that empowers you. Fashion still has a place to do that, and I believe it’s possible to empower everyone in our supply chain and to not have a negative impact on the environment,” says Hewitt. “We’re trying to show other brands that it’s possible to do ‘good’ business and have commercial benefit.”
Re-Store
Wellington fashion designer Bronwyn Eichbaum has a talent for great word play as well as design. Her label Herriot hit the headlines when New Zealand PM Jacinda Arden was pictured wearing her trousers in American Vogue, and she was part of the 2019 Sustainability Showcase at New Zealand Fashion Week where she made powerful statements with slogans such as ‘her riot’ and ‘use less’.
Eichbaum is staunch about sustainability and from inception Herriot has always been about being unique. Nothing is over-manufactured, just one colour per size produced.
Despite her label’s success, she has ceased producing seasonal collections and has made the decision to phase out Herriot.
Instead, she’s channelling her creativity into a new project, Re-Store, where she and renowned Kiwi fashion and film stylist Nicola Clegg are collaborating to restore clothes by taking existing ordinary garments and making them extraordinary: “Unique, one-off pieces with some good eco messages. We are going to have fun.”
Make-do and mend
London-based Brooke Dennis and Robecca Leyden are two Kiwi women on a mission to reintroduce the idea of repairing and reinventing clothes, rather than buying new, fast fashion.
The duo have been holding Meet Your Maker pop-up events in London showcasing fashion, sewing workshops and industry talks. Both have a background in fashion and clothing. Dennis studied fashion design in Christchurch and Leyden is a fashion writer and fashion PR with experience as a vintage merchant in Auckland.
“Vintage and second-hand clothing have always been a big part of my aesthetic. I spent my time at uni buying and selling vintage clothing as well as altering pieces I would find and selling them,” says Leyden.
The pop-ups are being held at Make Town in Hackney, a newly opened destination space.
“I was looking for a space where I could not only hold a pop-up with all local, sustainable designers but [would also] work as an interaction forum for people interested in learning more about where their clothes came from, and what they can do to shift their wardrobes – even just a little bit – in the right direction,” she says. “There is such a big conversation in fashion at the moment, when it comes to sustainability. It’s just so important to have dialogue around the way we consume and discard clothing.”
Miraculous Me
Karishma Kelsey has had a successful slow, “social restoration” fashion label, Karishma Design, for more than 15 years. In 2017 she stopped creating collections for sustainability reasons and promised herself she would only create again if she found a way to create a conscious collection that metamorphosised Karishma Design. Transcendence will be launched in 2020
– a range of individual pieces that transcend seasons, age, colour, gender and shapes, made from ethical and recycled fabrications using zero pattern-making techniques.
She is also passionate about transforming women into conscious fashion activists through a styling toolkit she has developed, Miraculous Me. She believes transforming the act of getting dressed from a mundane experience to that of daily creative expression will help curb consumption of fast fashion.
“The Miraculous Me vision is to create a paradigm shift away from the inadequacy narrative of ‘lack’, which leads to mindless consumption, towards your transformation as a conscious curator of your own creative expression using personal style as your voice, the body as your canvas and your clothing as your tools, with you as the artist,” she says.
Kelsey believes that by doing this we can create a deep emotional, psychological and sacred connection to our true selves, where we are always enough, whole and empowered just as we are.
“If you can create your own sense of style you will shop more wisely, shop better, shop smarter and less, because you will be in a state of enough,” she says. “Styling activism is based on the fact that when you are ‘present’ and in the creation of anything you feel abundant and magic just happens.”
Unity Collection
Thirty years ago Unity Collection was the go-to store in Wellington for New Zealand designer fashion. Owner Tania Rupapera was known for her knack of finding and supporting emerging labels. She was Wellington’s first stockist of Karen Walker and Jimmy D.
After a 10-year break from the fashion scene, Rupapera has made a circular move, opening Unity Collection in Matakana in December 2019 as an upmarket new and recycled designer boutique.
She now sources brands to fit to the new vision for Unity Collection in the pre-loved sector of the fashion industry. Quality pre-loved garments are merchandised alongside new garments sourced directly from designers' previous collections, upcycled brands such as Outliv and indigenous brands including Tawhiao.
And you will still find many leading New Zealand brands including Trelise Cooper, LaLa, DNA, Maaike, Caroline Church and Zambesi on the racks.
“Unity Collection is a small shop with a big purpose,” says Rupapera. “Conscious consumerism is at its essence and even the brand has been recycled!”
Painted Bird
Stephanie King, sustainable stylist and founder of vintage store Painted Bird, believes what we value when we shop, matters.
“I don’t think humanity will stop shopping. I believe it is ‘how’ we shop that I hope we can change in the near future,” says King. “I have seen it in so many of my customers and elsewhere in the world. The Swedes wouldn’t have opened an entire mall dedicated to vintage, second-hand and reuse/recycling if there weren’t a worldwide movement for this easy behavioural change. I firmly believe the shopping thought process should be turned on its head.”
At Painted Bird she stocks selected pieces from the 1930s to 1970s eras, which she believes have the most to offer from a style perspective.
She recommends following these steps when ‘shopping’.
1 Shop antique or vintage.
Nothing available?
2 Shop retro, second-hand or recycled.
Nothing available?
3 Shop new sustainably and/or ethically made from small-run local designers.
Out of your price range or nothing there to your taste?
4 Wait.
In that waiting time, the items you thought you needed will either present themselves or you will forget about it and the ‘do you really need that?’, kicks in.
In 2019 Painted Bird hosted a Sunday Style Series with a view to offering insights into how to shop more sustainably using a framework of colour, shape and fit, accessorising and wearing vintage.
“Incorporating vintage into your everyday wardrobe can be as easy as choosing to wear a dress rather than trousers. If wearing a dress doesn’t appeal, explore wearing a vintage blouse with your favourite pair of tailored trousers to work. Throw a vintage jacket or trench over your jeans and a T-shirt this winter and you will be channelling your inner Alexa Chung,” says King.
Be open to creating your own style. Before you shop, follow a framework of knowing the colours that primarily look great and look for the shapes of garments that accentuate the areas you are most proud of and equally assist in ‘that which you would rather not declare’.
Drink water when you are shopping. “It might sound bizarre but my reasoning is sound. If you need to take a break or make a pit stop sometimes it can stop you from buying something in a hurry and can give you a little quiet time to think in the confines of a cubicle, to reason with yourself – do I really need that?” says King.
And don’t wear make-up to shop. “If a piece of clothing does not look nice on you in your ‘au natural’ state then it probably isn’t for you. Make-up should enhance the way we already look and I believe it shouldn't be something you need to put on to wear a piece of clothing.”
For more of King’s sustainable style tips go to good.net.nz/fashion