Ep 146, Who's Shaping Sustainable Fashion's Future?
Joao Maraschin 2020
Each Wardrobe Crisis series we present a new generation talent episode, spotlighting emerging fashion designers who are pushing sustainability forward.
This time we’re talking with: a positive knitwear designer from Canada who’s ongoing collaboration with Post Carbon lab sees her creating living garments that photosynthesise as you wear them. A British fashion multi-tasker who works as a sustainable womenswear designer focused on deadstock materials, a freelance writer, model and stylist. And a community-driven womenswear designer from Brazil who is wowing with his artful, high-craft textile treatments - and challenging fashion’s obsession with youth while he’s at it.
Meet Olivia Rubens, Joshua James Small and Joao Maraschin.
This Episode is guest-host - Nina Van Volkinburg, fashion academic and co-founder of the Reture designer upcycling marketplace.
Don’t forget to go back and listen to Episode 70 with Matthew Needham, Patrick McDowell and Bethany Williams, and Episode 110 with Duran Lantink, Helen Kirkham and Maddie Williams.
EPISODE 146 FEATURES…
OLIVIA RUBENS
OLIVIA RUBENS is the Canadian “positive knitwear” designer who trained at Ryerson, then did her MA in Fashion Design Technology Womenswear at the London College of Fashion, graduating in 2020.
She says her work is: “Meant to poke at human nature, can often solicit the raising of an eyebrow, and is meant to be playfully thought-provoking, often through dark humour, nurturing impactful conversations about human behaviour.”
Her collaboration with Post Carbon Lab on a climate positive, photosynthesising garments is ongoing. More here.
“What gives me hope is all these amazingly talented, passionate and determined new designers… people who are giving people voices but also doing things they way they want to do it, and breaking the status quo - and being recognised for that.” - Olivia Rubens
JOSHUA JAMES SMALL
JOSHUA JAMES SMALL is a British fashion multitasker who works as a sustainable womenswear designer, freelance writer, model and stylist. Part of the Positive Fashion Exhibition at London Fashion Week in 2020, he presented digitally at Helsinki Fashion Week and his work has featured in V magazine, Vogue Italia and Tank. You might have seen him talking fashion on SHOWstudio panels, or read his fashion journalism in indie magazines like Bricks.
Small says that he: “creates concepts that inspire escapism through complex and precise pattern cutting” and “conscious design” and transparency are at the the core of his fledgling brand - which often features one-offs involving many hours of handwork and using deadstock materials.
JOAO MARACHIN
JOAO MARASCHIN is a London-based Brazilian womenswear designer making a name for himself with artful textile treatments and sustainable innovations. Maraschin worked in the Brazilian fashion business for seven years before taking his MA at LCF. His 2020 graduate collection, "Foreigner Traveller", caught the attention of Vogue and Harper’s Bazaar.
He says: “The ethos is based on supporting and preserving handmade techniques like crochet and embroidery, as well as working with new discoveries in raw materials, looking at circularity, waste, repurposing and human centred design. The brand celebrates diversity proposing new ideas to create a more inclusive scenario to a mature demographic as well as to creative practitioners in underserved or vulnerable conditions. The stories behind every relationship are important and key to social, cultural and economic development.”
Maraschin is also notable for celebrating older women both as muses and in his production teams, working with one Brazilian embroider in her mid-seventies who he says, before they began collaborating, “was not working anymore because she was left behind by the system”.
“Women do not suddenly become invisible after 40. We do not lose our need to feel noticed and attractive. We are not afraid to take the spotlight and seek empowerment. Some of that empowerment comes via the way we want to look. Fashion can be a vehicle to express that. Be brave, be bold, be seen.”- Joao Maraschin
NINA VAN VOLKINBURG
ABOUT YOUR GUEST HOST Nina Van Volkinburg is the co-founder of RETURE - a sustainable fashion marketplace selling upcycled fashion and accessories, as well as offering a bespoke upcycling service. The London-based startup: “aims to make upcycling the most desirable choice in modern-day fashion consumption by streamlining the upcycling process via its digital platform and offering clients the opportunity to connect and collaborate with world-class designers on refashioning their preloved garments.” Nina also teaches circular at London College of Fashion, Fashion Business School.
What she’s building at Reture is inspiring, and she’s working with several of the designers we’ve featured on previous series’ new gen episodes, including: Duran Lantink, Patrick McDowell, Matthew Needham and Maddie Williams. See all the designers on Reture here.
RETURE AT SELFRIDGES
As part of the RESELLFRIDGES: THE WEDDING initiative running from 2nd August to 5th September, the RETURE pop-up at the Corner Shop invites customers to shop one-of-a-kind, wedding inspired upcycled fashion and accessories from purpose-led designers including Olivia Rubens, Chloe Baines and Designed by Tom. They say: “Customers will witness upcycling craft in action with in-store designers refashioning used garments into customised, personalised pieces such as transforming a wedding dress into a cocktail dress. Customers can book face to face consultations with in-store designers and begin their own bespoke upcycling journey.” Fun!
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