Today we place the focus on the very first pillar of sustainability: Circular Thinking. Three of our selected Fashion Crossover London designers will be sharing their work, knowhow and tips with us on how to be more sustainable in every approach of your design. From highlighting environmental issues, fighting against the use of plastic and reworking unusual materials into garments Fashion Crossover London designers Capucine Huguet, Lydia Whiting and Aurelie Fontan each act as representatives of sustainable trailblazers, embedding a greener approach into each design decision. 

Kicking off FCLSLOWFASHIONWEEK is the French sustainable jewellery designer Capucine Huguet. With her Wahlenbergbreen mementoes collection, she creates accessories for people who care about the planet’s future, and who feel ready to communicate their values through their jewellery. They can wear the jewels to pay tribute and always remind of Arctic, but also with the aim to spark interaction and a discussion with viewers about climate change.

Fashion Crossover London designer Capucine Huguet sees fine jewellery is a slow form of fashion: “I am not following trends; I don’t have stock and only produce made-to-order. I aim to create pieces that will be treasured forever and passed down through generations. It’s about buying less but better; fine jewellery is about quality."

Next up is yet again, another French Designer, specialising in bio-design for womenswear Aurelie Fontan. Her collection includes a variety of sustainable design strategies including zero-waste cutting (there were no patterns, it is woven top to bottom on the mannequin), upcycling with a 100% rate of fabric waste recycling, no virgin materials were used except for the shoes, and it was aimed to be as plastic-free as possible. It fosters the idea of traditional craftsmanship and circularity I have been pushing for a couple of years now.

Fashion Crossover London designer Aurelie Fontan creates unique garments following a zero-waste approach as well as fabricates her own bio-material in her lab: “The base material for this collection came from automotive factories, so the leather is used in luxury cars. It was all repurposed with a zero-waste attitude - I designed a low waste laser cutting pattern to be able to recycle most of the waste material I received."

Closing the day was the Scottish sustainable fashion designer, Lydia Whiting. Using her hometown, Holmfirth, as a source of inspiration the Fashion Crossover London designer looked at its industrial past, however, in conjunction with the natural surroundings. “I have been surrounded moors and grassland my entire life, it felt natural therefore to pull colours from these landscapes, taking the greens but bolder moorland burgundies. In contrast, to the nature-inspired colour palette, Huddersfield’s industrial Heritage inspired the lines and shapes of the collection.”

Looking no future than 25 miles, Lydia Whiting carefully mapped out her material sourcing within these parameters, reducing the carbon footprint of the collection immediately through the supply chain. “In purchasing British-made fabrics, full tribally can be guaranteed along with the assurance that the UK’s strict environmental legislation for the disposal of effluents are followed.” 

Finishing off our first day of the Fashion Crossover London Slow Fashion Week - Digital Event with some words of wisdom by our designers Aurelie Fontan, Capucine Huguet and Lydia Whiting. Leaving us with the incentive to think to ourselves, which choice is the best for our planet.

DISCOVER FASHION CROSSOVER LONDON SLOW FASHION WEEK HERE.

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