Sustainable fashion is set to become a staple trend at future London Fashion Weeks, as the next generation of designers have displayed a talent for incorporating upcycling into collections.
“It is imperative that we see upcycling as a teachable technique,”said Orsola de Castro, designer and campaigner.
“As it is one of the very few ways to combat mass production, while we wait for recycling technologies to become advanced enough to offer real and effective closed loop solutions.
“As always, the LCF students came armed with talent, dedication and ingenuity.”
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Student Jaehwa Rhee, was part of the team who created the ‘Something New’ collection as part of the project.
“This project helped me to think about the potential environmental pollution and hazards created by discarded clothing,” said Rhee.”For all of us that love fashion we need to always consider the environmental issues surrounding it.
“Our collection is focused on a zero-waste concept. We used textile techniques to create a completely new fabric with scraps of unwanted parts of garments. We tried to modify the original elements of the waste garments whilst also displaying the original starting points of the designs.”
The collections can be viewed across five London H&M stores for the duration of London Fashion Week from 16th – 20th September 2016.
Click through the gallery below to learn more about the nine collections created for the project.
LCF Designing For Sustainability
Imperfection Is Beautiful(01 of09)
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"The pre-lived nature of recycled garments forms the foundation of this collection. Rather than disguising old as new, elements of the recycled garments have been preserved to engage the wearer in the origins of the design."
By Kayla Satzger, Sourena Ghaffari, Yuntao Ma, Jiaxin He and Wei Qi Lim. (credit:HM x LCF)
Dissimulation And Exposure(02 of09)
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"Using the two most common recycled textiles - denim and jersey - patchwork, weaving and other textile techniques have been applied to this collection to create modern garments that are both structured and delicate." By Camila Fukumothi, Yueqi Li, Margot Didier, Monta Kairena and Siar Hawzhen. (credit:HM x LCF)
3패패人(03 of09)
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"Weaving and construction techniques found in traditional Japanese packaging have been applied to garments within this collection to create minimal to zero waste. The imperfection of used garments is embraced through celebrating flaws and asymmetry."
By George Boyle, Phoebe Yang and Miju Ko. (credit:HM x LCF)
Playful Activists(04 of09)
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"This collection explores fashion activism with a playful aesthetic. Bright and colourful textile manipulations with small fabric pieces have been developed to re-use the abundance of children’s garments that are donated to recycling."
By Dayun Lee and Dawn Kelso. (credit:HM x LCF)
Something New(05 of09)
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"This collection is based upon a zero-waste textile technique. Scraps of unwanted garments have been used to create a completely new fabric with a distinct aesthetic. This re-formed fabric was the starting point for each design within the collection."
By Jaehwa Rhee (soorhee), Dylan Groundland, Xuan Nga Le Pham and HaLim Kim. (credit:HM x LCF)
The Return Of Youth(06 of09)
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"The concept of burden is the vision for this collection. The layered shapes and silhouettes represent the burden we have put on the planet through overconsumption and the burden we now carry to change the way we live."
By Lana Toskan, Flora Butler. Gwen Cheah and Linh Thuy Nguyen. (credit:HM x LCF)
Contract And Release(07 of09)
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"A large number of garments that are donated to recycling are relatively unused. This collection aims to prolong the duration of the user phase by allowing the wearer to adapt garments through adjusting shape, volume and length as desired."
By Nicole Carrasco, Jeraldine Ng, Madison Marcantonatos and Lisa Fulchignoni. (credit:HM x LCF)
Mass Hysteria(08 of09)
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"This collection draws upon the 1960s environmental movement and youth spirit of time. Bringing femininity and masculinity together, recycled garments have been used to redefine the classic 60’s patchwork style."
By Adela Carvajal, Won Jeon, Amon Kale, Yuting Chen and Ludan Zhang. (credit:HM x LCF)
Freaks Of Nature(09 of09)
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"This collection explores a vision of what nature might look like in the future. Recycled textiles and hardware from garments, natural dyes, wood scraps and shells from food waste were used to create pieces that represent new forms of plant life and insects."
By Yuluo, Yemeng, Haojia, Niamh and Xiaoyan. (credit:HM x LCF)
This September The Huffington Post UK Style is focusing on all things sustainable, for the second year running. Our thirst for fast fashion is dramatically impacting the environment and the lives of thousands of workers in a negative way. Our aim is to raise awareness of this zeitgeist issue and champion brands and people working to make the fashion industry a more ethical place.
We’ll be sharing stories and blogs with the hashtag #SustainableFashion and we’d like you to do the same. If you’d like to use our blogging platform to share your story, email ukblogteam@huffingtonpost.com.