Be still my fashion beating heart
Estethica at London Fashion Week
Ada Zanditon
At London Fashion Week ethical fashion was given as much prominence as mainstream fashion.
Now in its twelfth season, Estethica showcased some of the brightest stars of the ethical world and promoted a different way to make clothing.
The designers all adhere to at least one of the key Estethica principles of fair trade and ethical practice in the production process; the inclusion of organic fibres and the use of up-cycled and recycled fabrics and materials.
My LFW experience started with a screening of a short film that revealed Ada Zanditon’s new collection. The film was a disturbing dream of light and dark with shades of Alice in Wonderland.
The collection had Ada’s trademark prints and structured tailoring, with a recurring red and black colour scheme. The ongoing collaboration with Luca Romanyi also saw a strong jewellery line contrasting wood and metal.
Pioneer of ethical fashion and founder of Estethica, Orsola de Castro teamed up with the students of Central Saint Martins to create Reclaim to Wear. Using her knowledge and philosophy of “reclaim, re-use, re-adore” Orsola collaborated with the students to create a capsule collection. The results were stunning.
Considering they are celebrating 20 glorious years of Fair Trade fashion, it would be easy for milliners Pachacuti to rest on their laurels. Fortunately for us this was not the case.
The company reinvented the cloche hat, perfect for the Art Deco trend and enriched their range with colours inspired by the English countryside and the Ecuadorian mountains.
Made from recycled silver Joanna Cave’s jewellery collection was delicate and organic. Inspired by the everyday lives of Indian women Joanna used colour in a way that added not only to the aesthetic but also to the wearability of each piece.
The A/W collection from Junky Styling was my favourite. Their combinations of fabric, texture and tailoring were very chic. Junky also provided a ‘Wardrobe Surgery’ which allowed customers to have their unloved or under used items transformed into new pieces.
Lingerie is an often-neglected area in ethical fashion but Charini, who debuted at Estethica last season, transformed unwanted fabric turns into delicate and demurely sexy lingerie. They have plans to source recycled underwire to make bras with larger cup sizes.
With a collection inspired by hurricanes, Henrietta Ludgate used the sculptural line of the pieces to bring calm to the eye of the storm. The structural elegance was accentuated by collaboration with jewellery designer Euan McWhirter.
The duo created bejewelled ropes that framed and highlighted the body resulting in a simply stunning collection.
Makepiece conveyed their real dedication to ethically producing clothing. Co-designer and sheep farmer Beate Kubitz cares for her sheep to ensure they have the best quality life while they produce wool that is then used in the Makepiece clothing line.
Alongside their bridal range the A/W collection was filled with elegant, easy to wear garments and their first dual coloured pieces.
Fabulous knitwear company The North Circular were also in attendance and brought along one of their knitters for us to meet. I have never seen fingers move so fast!
It really made me appreciate how skilful knitting can be. Their collection was inspired by American aviation pioneer and author Amelia Earhart, which was evident in the aviator style hats and soft wraps.
British brand Victim Fashion Street was a new addition to Estethica and included pieces that were created from garments that found their way into the hands of designer Mei Hui Liu. The pieces were fantastical and vast in their scope; this was re-making and upcycling at its best.
