Amelia’s Magazine | Marina Spetlova: creating fabulous upcycled fashion garments from zips

Martina Spetlova S/S 2011 by Krister Selin
Martina Spetlova S/S 2011 by Krister Selin.

Fashion designer Martina Spetlova hails from Bohemia in the southern part of the Czech Republic. She studied Chemistry and Biology at university in Prague before coming to London where she was accepted onto a print design BA at Central Saint Martins, sickness despite the absence of a portfolio. Having recently graduated from her MA she is now working on her second collection. En route she has won several prestigious competitions. Studying for an MA at Central Saint Martins seems to open doors.

During her year out from Central Saint Martins she set up a fairtrade embroidery network with women in Pakistan, stuff spending six months living in the area to network between communities and fashion designers, which was great fun but also a lot of responsibility. There was an exhibition in London but sadly the project didn’t last much longer after she left. I am now busy with my own label but I hope to incorporate similar projects into my work in the future. Thanks to her print design background Martina is able to fund her label from the sale of her printed textile designs and she also teaches pattern cutting to a small group of ladies…

Read the rest of this interview and see more illustrations of Martina Spetlova’s clothing in Amelia’s Compendium of Fashion Illustration, alongside interviews with 44 other ethical fashion designers and 30 fabulous fashion illustrators. You can buy the book here.

Categories ,ACOFI, ,Amelia’s Compendium of Fashion Illustration, ,Central Saint Martins, ,Czech Republic, ,Eco fashion, ,embroidery, ,Ethical Fashion, ,fairtrade, ,Krister Selin, ,Martina Spetlova, ,Pakistan, ,Prague, ,recycling, ,Upcycling, ,Zips

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Amelia’s Magazine | Martina Spetlova: New S/S 2012 Season Interview

Martina Spetlova By Shauna Tranter
Martina Spetlova S/S 2012 by Shauna Tranter.

Eco designer Martina Spetlova first caught my eye when I was putting together Amelia’s Compendium of Fashion Illustration last year. She has an inimitable ability to combine materials and colours which has made her past two collections every bit as eye catching as that first one I saw. Time for a catch up me thinks.

Stacie Swift - Martina Spetlova AW11
Martina Spetlova A/W 2011 by Stacie Swift.

For A/W 2011 you shot a more spooky video with a tribal beat, cheap can you speak a bit more about the inspiration for this?
I wanted to work with a dancer and I used a very inspiring film by Maya Deren called A Study In Choreography For Camera as reference. Margarita who performs in my film was loosely choreorgaphed for the piece and then we filmed it over a stretch of a few hours. The music came later and was sourced by Paddy Austin, price who got it from an old Italian opera by Roberto De Simone.


Your use of sustainable leather and zips for A/W 2011 is amazing, how did you mock up trial samples of this range?
I always spend some time researching in the library at the start of a season, but my ideas tend to evolve by experimenting in the studio. I am always testing and mixing the combinations of textures and colours at my studio… playing with various leathers and using zips as connectors and features. 

Martina Spetlova by Celine Elliott
Martina Spetlova S/S 2012 by Celine Elliott.

Your use of colour is very intriguing – where do you get the ideas for your mismatches? Is there something in particular that you look at for inspiration each season, or is your colour choice in your DNA?
In order to be sustainable I work with end of line fabrics and yarns which can be quite limiting in terms of colour. I always have an idea of the main colours I would like to use when I start working on a new collection, but I have to also see what is available and what happy accidents I discover along the way. But I suppose you could say that colour is in my DNA, as I seem to know that the choices and combinations I use are right.


The video for your new S/S 2012 collection is beautiful – what gave you the idea to work with split imagery and different focal lengths?
For my presentation I took the elements that helped create the S/S 2012 collection and separated them out in petri dishes on a large light box. I wanted to highlight the way I experiment when I work, by creating a formula for various processes my designs go through. The film had to sit next to this piece in Somerset House so thats how we thought of using mirrors and a magnifying glass to distort and split images. The film is a collaboration with Ruta Balseviciute and Till Janz, and we were inspired by the short films of Erwin Blumenfeld of course.

Martina-Spetlova-SS-2012-2
Martina-Spetlova-SS-2012-3
Martina-Spetlova-SS-2012-3
Martina-Spetlova-SS-2012-3
Chemical theory is still a dominant theme, how is this applied to the making of your garments for S/S 2012?
My formula I mentioned above takes the ingredients I use – the end of line fabrics and yarns, ethically sourced leathers, textures and colours of elements such as the zips and knit – and combines them with my own experimentation processes to create the finished piece. I studied a chemistry degree in Prague before I went to Central Saint Martins to study fashion and I found some similarities between the two disciplines. The way I experiment with colours and textures in the design process at my studio echos the blending and mixing of chemicals in order to achieve a prescribed reaction within the laboratory. 

Martina Spetlova S/S 2012 by Erin Sleeper
Martina Spetlova S/S 2012 by Erin Sleeper
Martina Spetlova S/S 2012 by Erin Sleeper.

You first came to my attention as an eco designer – how has a desire to be ethical continued to influence your work, and how do you make sure that all fabrics are sustainably sourced?
I work with end of line fabrics and yarns from European mills which the industry sees as waste material, but which I am able to use for my limited edition collections. I also work with leather companies which have sustainable policies. 

Martina-Spetlova-SS-2012-6
Martina-Spetlova-SS-2012-7
Martina-Spetlova-SS-2012-8
Martina-Spetlova-SS-2012-9
You’ve recently been doing some teaching – how does this compliment and fit in with your design work?
I have just started teaching fashion on Academy of Fine Arts in Warsaw which is a brand new course and full of energy. It gives me an opportunity to step away from my own work, whilst helping the students develop their own ideas in the same way I was encouraged to at Central Saint Martins.

Martina Spetlova S/S 2012 by Stacie Swift
Martina Spetlova S/S 2012 by Stacie Swift.

Where can people buy a piece of Martina Spetlova?
Selected pieces from my A/W 2011 and S/S 2012 collection will be soon available at LN-CC. I am also selling my new collection with Osmoda, which is new online shop.

Martina-Spetlova-SS-2012-10
Martina-Spetlova-SS-2012-11
Martina-Spetlova-SS-2012-12
Any future plans or collaborations that you can tell us about?
I am hoping to carry on collaborating with Atlantic Leather, which I have been working with for a couple of seasons now. I am also looking into a shoe collaboration for the new season, to be shown next February. 

Wonderful stuff! You can see more of Martina Spetlova in Amelia’s Compendium of Fashion Illustration.

Martina-Spetlova-SS-2012-13
Martina-Spetlova-SS-2012-14
Martina-Spetlova-SS-2012-15
Martina-Spetlova-SS-2012
S/S 2011 collection

Categories ,A Study In Choreography For Camera, ,A/W 2011, ,Academy of Fine Arts, ,ACOFI, ,Amelia’s Compendium of Fashion Illustration, ,Atlantic Leather, ,Celine Elliott, ,Central Saint Martins, ,Chemistry, ,ecodesign, ,Erin Sleeper, ,Erwin Blumenfeld, ,ethical, ,film, ,LN-CC, ,ma, ,Martina Spetlova, ,Maya Deren, ,Osmoda, ,Paddy Austin, ,poland, ,Prague, ,Roberto De Simone, ,Ruta Balseviciute, ,S/S 2012, ,Shauna Tranter, ,Somerset House, ,Stacie Swift, ,Till Janz, ,Warsaw, ,Zips

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Amelia’s Magazine | Martina Spetlova: New S/S 2012 Season Interview

Martina Spetlova By Shauna Tranter
Martina Spetlova S/S 2012 by Shauna Tranter.

Eco designer Martina Spetlova first caught my eye when I was putting together Amelia’s Compendium of Fashion Illustration last year. She has an inimitable ability to combine materials and colours which has made her past two collections every bit as eye catching as that first one I saw. Time for a catch up me thinks.

Stacie Swift - Martina Spetlova AW11
Martina Spetlova A/W 2011 by Stacie Swift.

For A/W 2011 you shot a more spooky video with a tribal beat, cheap can you speak a bit more about the inspiration for this?
I wanted to work with a dancer and I used a very inspiring film by Maya Deren called A Study In Choreography For Camera as reference. Margarita who performs in my film was loosely choreorgaphed for the piece and then we filmed it over a stretch of a few hours. The music came later and was sourced by Paddy Austin, price who got it from an old Italian opera by Roberto De Simone.


Your use of sustainable leather and zips for A/W 2011 is amazing, how did you mock up trial samples of this range?
I always spend some time researching in the library at the start of a season, but my ideas tend to evolve by experimenting in the studio. I am always testing and mixing the combinations of textures and colours at my studio… playing with various leathers and using zips as connectors and features. 

Martina Spetlova by Celine Elliott
Martina Spetlova S/S 2012 by Celine Elliott.

Your use of colour is very intriguing – where do you get the ideas for your mismatches? Is there something in particular that you look at for inspiration each season, or is your colour choice in your DNA?
In order to be sustainable I work with end of line fabrics and yarns which can be quite limiting in terms of colour. I always have an idea of the main colours I would like to use when I start working on a new collection, but I have to also see what is available and what happy accidents I discover along the way. But I suppose you could say that colour is in my DNA, as I seem to know that the choices and combinations I use are right.


The video for your new S/S 2012 collection is beautiful – what gave you the idea to work with split imagery and different focal lengths?
For my presentation I took the elements that helped create the S/S 2012 collection and separated them out in petri dishes on a large light box. I wanted to highlight the way I experiment when I work, by creating a formula for various processes my designs go through. The film had to sit next to this piece in Somerset House so thats how we thought of using mirrors and a magnifying glass to distort and split images. The film is a collaboration with Ruta Balseviciute and Till Janz, and we were inspired by the short films of Erwin Blumenfeld of course.

Martina-Spetlova-SS-2012-2
Martina-Spetlova-SS-2012-3
Martina-Spetlova-SS-2012-3
Martina-Spetlova-SS-2012-3
Chemical theory is still a dominant theme, how is this applied to the making of your garments for S/S 2012?
My formula I mentioned above takes the ingredients I use – the end of line fabrics and yarns, ethically sourced leathers, textures and colours of elements such as the zips and knit – and combines them with my own experimentation processes to create the finished piece. I studied a chemistry degree in Prague before I went to Central Saint Martins to study fashion and I found some similarities between the two disciplines. The way I experiment with colours and textures in the design process at my studio echos the blending and mixing of chemicals in order to achieve a prescribed reaction within the laboratory. 

Martina Spetlova S/S 2012 by Erin Sleeper
Martina Spetlova S/S 2012 by Erin Sleeper
Martina Spetlova S/S 2012 by Erin Sleeper.

You first came to my attention as an eco designer – how has a desire to be ethical continued to influence your work, and how do you make sure that all fabrics are sustainably sourced?
I work with end of line fabrics and yarns from European mills which the industry sees as waste material, but which I am able to use for my limited edition collections. I also work with leather companies which have sustainable policies. 

Martina-Spetlova-SS-2012-6
Martina-Spetlova-SS-2012-7
Martina-Spetlova-SS-2012-8
Martina-Spetlova-SS-2012-9
You’ve recently been doing some teaching – how does this compliment and fit in with your design work?
I have just started teaching fashion on Academy of Fine Arts in Warsaw which is a brand new course and full of energy. It gives me an opportunity to step away from my own work, whilst helping the students develop their own ideas in the same way I was encouraged to at Central Saint Martins.

Martina Spetlova S/S 2012 by Stacie Swift
Martina Spetlova S/S 2012 by Stacie Swift.

Where can people buy a piece of Martina Spetlova?
Selected pieces from my A/W 2011 and S/S 2012 collection will be soon available at LN-CC. I am also selling my new collection with Osmoda, which is new online shop.

Martina-Spetlova-SS-2012-10
Martina-Spetlova-SS-2012-11
Martina-Spetlova-SS-2012-12
Any future plans or collaborations that you can tell us about?
I am hoping to carry on collaborating with Atlantic Leather, which I have been working with for a couple of seasons now. I am also looking into a shoe collaboration for the new season, to be shown next February. 

Wonderful stuff! You can see more of Martina Spetlova in Amelia’s Compendium of Fashion Illustration.

Martina-Spetlova-SS-2012-13
Martina-Spetlova-SS-2012-14
Martina-Spetlova-SS-2012-15
Martina-Spetlova-SS-2012
S/S 2011 collection

Categories ,A Study In Choreography For Camera, ,A/W 2011, ,Academy of Fine Arts, ,ACOFI, ,Amelia’s Compendium of Fashion Illustration, ,Atlantic Leather, ,Celine Elliott, ,Central Saint Martins, ,Chemistry, ,ecodesign, ,Erin Sleeper, ,Erwin Blumenfeld, ,ethical, ,film, ,LN-CC, ,ma, ,Martina Spetlova, ,Maya Deren, ,Osmoda, ,Paddy Austin, ,poland, ,Prague, ,Roberto De Simone, ,Ruta Balseviciute, ,S/S 2012, ,Shauna Tranter, ,Somerset House, ,Stacie Swift, ,Till Janz, ,Warsaw, ,Zips

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Amelia’s Magazine | New S/S 2013 Season Interview: Martina Spetlova

Martina Spetlova S/S 2013 by Sharon Farrow
Martina Spetlova S/S 2013 by Sharon Farrow.

Innovative fashion designer Martina Spetlova introduces her new S/S 2013 collection and explains why you should help fund the movie to showcase her upcoming season on Kickstarter.

Marina Spetlova 'The Print & The Jacket' by Dom&Ink
Marina Spetlova ‘The Print & The Jacket‘ by Dom&Ink.

You are a textile innovator – what is it about different textures that you find so appealing?
Texture is like print for me, juxtaposing diferent textures together gives my designs the power I like to achieve in my collections. I tend to experiment with contrasting colours and opposing textures. I am always trying to find ways to treat standard fabrics to give them different structural properties – for instance by bonding, pleating and weaving satin through leathers – which helps me create a point of difference. That is how I can make my designs stand out but I also have lots of fun creating new collections. I am minimalist in shapes but maximalist in texture.

MartinaSpetlova_SS13_Look11
MartinaSpetlova_SS13_2
Your colour palette is also always very distinctive – what inspired this current season’s colour range?
My selection of colours is always little bit random. I usually start with 3 or 4 colours I like and are available and add more of them while working on my fabric samples.

Where did the graphic patterns come from?
From a photograph of my mum in the 70s.

Martina Spetlova by Alexandria Coe
Martina Spetlova by Alexandria Coe.

How do you source your fabrics?
This season I mainly worked with leather. My supplier in London has certain sustainable policies: I am concern about environment and I try to be as eco friendly as possible with my label.

Who creates your pieces?
All the knitwear is created in my studio in London, which does all samples and production at the moment. We work on domestic knitting machines.

MartinaSpetlova_SS13_Look4
MartinaSpetlova_SS13_1
What was the inspiration for the abstractions in your S/S 2013 film?
I wanted to create a land of Martina Spetlova. Shooting the collection froma microscopic view, showing the collection as a diverse landscape of bold colour and glistening mountains of fabric. It captures the detailed focus of this collection.

Martina Spetlova by Ashley Fauguel
Martina Spetlova by Ashley Fauguel.

Looking forward, what can we expect from the new collection?
The new collection is entirely leather and knitwear and features lots of textures and colours again… My simple twisted yarn knitted dresses and neckpieces accompany every look of 15 silhouettes and are a great compliment to raw edged, un-lined leather jackets, tops, skirts, shorts and trousers. Collars are created by patch-working fish skin leathers and off-cuts of sheep skin and no piece in the collection is flat. Amongst the techniques used are the playful exploration of accordion pleats on leather, cuts punched through soft leathers to create grids on the surface and my satin tape hand-woven technique from last season combined with graphic pattern (seen also on knits). I’m using softly twisted stretchy yarns for knitted neckpieces and dresses in black, light grey and graphic patterns. A/W 2013 uses soft colours of pale blue, moth green, mustard orange, white and black together with acid yellow and orange. I use a high quality of craftsmanship, making pieces by hand in the studio.

MartinaSpetlova_SS13_Look13
Martina Spetlova SS13 by Isher Dhiman
Martina Spetlova S/S 2013 by Isher Dhiman.

You are currently seeking funding on Kickstarter – what will these funds go towards and what can contributors expect in return?
I have set up Kickstarter to help me fund my film presentation in Somerset House during London Fashion Week, which will pay for the space to showcase my film in the Portico Rooms. Everyone who sponsors this event will be invited to Somerset House, and pieces from my collections will be gifted to generous backers. Of course there will also be a BIG THANK YOU to everyone who supports me!

There are six days left to help Martina Spetlova raise £1000 for her film presentation at the LFW – help out on Kickstarter here.

Categories ,Alexandria Coe, ,Ashley Fauguel, ,Dom & Ink, ,Dom&Ink, ,Dominic Evans, ,ethical, ,film, ,Isher Dhiman, ,Kickstarter, ,leather, ,London Fashion Week, ,Martina Spetlova, ,Portico Rooms, ,S/S 2013, ,Sharon Farrow, ,Somerset House, ,textiles

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Amelia’s Magazine | London Fashion Week S/S 2011 Esthetica Review


Illustration by Annejkh Carson
Partimi Dress by Joana Faria
Partimi by Joana Faria.

I probably shouldn’t do this because I actually don’t believe the ghettoisation of ethical designers is a particularly good thing, more about but for ease of storytelling in the grand scheme of things it makes sense to cover the interesting stuff I came across at Esthetica altogether. This is by no means all the stuff I loved, purchase but I’ll be covering others in my upcoming book Amelia’s Compendium of Fashion Illustration (with an ethical bent) so for now I’ll just stick to a few that may not have been covered on this blog before….

Martina Spetlova
The Centre for Sustainable Fashion were promoting the work of Martina Spetlova, prescription another MA graduate of Central Saint Martins who has a first degree in chemistry and has set up a fair trade embroidery network between women in Pakistan and designers in the UK. She creates clothes made of interchangeable panels and her recent collection features some interesting garments sponsored by waste from the YKK zip company. She is currently building relationships with mills to use more end of line products that are well suited to the small runs of high end designers, but I do wonder what happens once all that waste has been scooped up.

Somerset House SS2011 Martina Spetlova
Somerset House SS2011 Martina Spetlova
Somerset House SS2011 Martina Spetlova
Octavi Navarro - Martina Spetlova
Martina Spetlova by Octavi Navarro.

Little Glass Clementine
I was really pleased to see my friend Clemmie from Little Glass Clementine exhibiting at Esthetica for the first time. We’ve covered Clemmie before, both for her work drawing attention to the imperilled island of Tuvalu and for her beautifully made jewellery.

LFW SS2011 Little Glass Clementine

I feel quite proud that her necklaces, constructed from found objects and lovingly sourced vintage items, are now finding a much wider audience. Read an interview with her here.

LFW SS2011 Little Glass Clementine
LFW SS2011 Little Glass Clementine
All photography by Amelia Gregory.

Sägen
Over in the Scandinavian corner I was most intrigued to discover the finely detailed work of Sägen, also showing at Esthetica for the first time. This is upcycling at it’s best – taking shards of old porcelain and reinvigorating them for a new life as a piece of delightful one off jewellery.

Somerset House SS2011 Sagen

Choose from twee rose patterns or more modern classic Scandinavian leaf designs, all set in nickel free silver. One massive downside: the website does not seem to cater to the English speaking customer, so one can only hope some UK based buyers have bought into the range.

sagen-katie-harnett
Sägen by Katie Harnett.

Nina Dolcetti
I tried on a pair of Nina Dolcetti bouncy platform shoes at Esthetica, and instantly fell in love… perhaps I could even ride a bike in a pair of these?? Inexplicably the head designer is not called Nina Dolcetti. Elisalex de Castro Peake is a Cordwainers graduate who launched her first upcycled shoe in September 2008 and the brand name Nina Dolcetti – meaning Little Sweets – comes from a combination of her nickname and her grandmother’s maiden name.

Somerset House SS2011 nina dolcetti
Somerset House SS2011 nina dolcetti
Somerset House SS2011 nina dolcetti

All shoes are made in a small factory run factory in East London from off cuts and pre-consumer waste, and she utilises only vegetable tanned leather and sustainably sourced cork and wood. So want a pair to bounce around in, but they’re a leetle bit pricey for me. Well worth it if you earn a decent wage though: I urge you to check them out.

LFW-Nina Dolcetti by Chris Morris
Nina Dolcetti by Chris Morris.

Partimi and Joanna Cave
I love Partimi‘s clean simple designs. Designer Eleanor Dorrien-Smith named her label after the architectural term parti, meaning the conceptual starting point for a project, and she makes beautiful wearable dresses adorned with simple graphic prints.

emma_block_partimi
Partimi by Emma Block.

This season she paid homage to costumes from Diaghilev’s Ballet Russes that her mother had collected at auction. I particularly loved her collaboration with ethical jewellery designer Joanna Cave, and am lusting after a pair of graphic cut out dangly earrings.

LFW SS2011 Partimi
Partimi Long dress by Joana Faria
Partimi earing by Joana Faria
Partimi by Joana Faria.

Oria
This jewellery range is the baby of creative duo Tania Kowalski and Synnove Saelthun, who have worked in the jewellery industry for a combined 25 years. Increasingly concerned wih the social and environmental impact of mining they created Oria in 2007 with an intention to make the supply chain transparent.

Somerset House SS2011 Oria

They source from fair-trade companies, all materials are traceable to point of origin and then the jewellery is made in their London studio. I love the delicate dangly cutout earrings featuring bees and birds.

Oria by Faye West
Oria by Faye West.

Michelle Lowe-Holder
I knew Michelle Lowe-Holder as a clothing designer, but after a break from the industry she’s decided to make a come back as an accessory designer. This was prompted by the realisation that she was always most interested in the details so she decided to be more sustainable and make use of the oodles of waste fabric from old collections – that she still has lying around in her studio – to create some stunning accessories: giant arm, neck and leg pieces are stacked to create dramatic silhouettes.

LFW SS2011 Michelle Lowe-Holder
LFW SS2011 Michelle Lowe-Holder
Michelle Lowe by Michelle Urvall Nyrén
Michelle Lowe-Holder by Michelle Urvall Nyrén.

From Somewhere
From Somewhere has been upcycling waste luxury materials since 1997, and as a bastion of sustainable fashion it was to designer Orsola de Castro that the BFC came when they wanted to set up Esthetica in 2006.

LFW SS2011 Orsola From Somewhere
Orsola de Castro.

This season she has been working with offcuts from Speedo to create a lovely limited edition capsule collection.

speedo_by Alia Gargum
Speedo From Somewhere collaboration by Alia Gargum.

Made
Having just returned from a Fashion Business Club get together with the unexpectedly lucid Laura Bailey I thought I would also mention Made, a jewellery brand “by the people for the people” that is reasonably well known thanks to some high profile branding and wide distribution. They are big on their “designer” collaborations, though not designers I’ve ever heard of: since when was Laura Bailey a jewellery designer anyway? Boy do I want her job. I’m not a massive fan of a lot of their stuff (looks wise), but they do undeniably good things by providing trade for impoverished communities in Africa.

made by natsuki otani
Made by Natsuki Otani.

Categories ,Alia Gargum, ,Central Saint Martins, ,Centre for Sustainable Fashion, ,Cordwainers, ,Ecofashion, ,Elisalex de Castro Peake, ,Emma Block, ,esthetica, ,ethical design, ,Fashion Business Club, ,Faye West, ,From Somewhere, ,jewellery, ,Joanna Cave, ,Katie Harnett, ,Laura Bailey, ,Little Glass Clementine, ,MADE, ,Martina Spetlova, ,Michelle Lowe-Holder, ,Michelle Urvall Nyrén, ,Nina Dolcetti, ,Octavi Navarro, ,Oria, ,Orsola De Castro, ,Partimi, ,recycling, ,Sägen Butik, ,scandinavia, ,shoes, ,Speedo, ,sustainability, ,Synnove Saelthun, ,Tania Kowalski, ,Tuvalu, ,Upcycling, ,YKK

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Amelia’s Magazine | London Fashion Week S/S 2011 Esthetica Review


Illustration by Annejkh Carson
Partimi Dress by Joana Faria
Partimi by Joana Faria.

I probably shouldn’t do this because I actually don’t believe the ghettoisation of ethical designers is a particularly good thing, more about but for ease of storytelling in the grand scheme of things it makes sense to cover the interesting stuff I came across at Esthetica altogether. This is by no means all the stuff I loved, purchase but I’ll be covering others in my upcoming book Amelia’s Compendium of Fashion Illustration (with an ethical bent) so for now I’ll just stick to a few that may not have been covered on this blog before….

Martina Spetlova
The Centre for Sustainable Fashion were promoting the work of Martina Spetlova, prescription another MA graduate of Central Saint Martins who has a first degree in chemistry and has set up a fair trade embroidery network between women in Pakistan and designers in the UK. She creates clothes made of interchangeable panels and her recent collection features some interesting garments sponsored by waste from the YKK zip company. She is currently building relationships with mills to use more end of line products that are well suited to the small runs of high end designers, but I do wonder what happens once all that waste has been scooped up.

Somerset House SS2011 Martina Spetlova
Somerset House SS2011 Martina Spetlova
Somerset House SS2011 Martina Spetlova
Octavi Navarro - Martina Spetlova
Martina Spetlova by Octavi Navarro.

Little Glass Clementine
I was really pleased to see my friend Clemmie from Little Glass Clementine exhibiting at Esthetica for the first time. We’ve covered Clemmie before, both for her work drawing attention to the imperilled island of Tuvalu and for her beautifully made jewellery.

LFW SS2011 Little Glass Clementine

I feel quite proud that her necklaces, constructed from found objects and lovingly sourced vintage items, are now finding a much wider audience. Read an interview with her here.

LFW SS2011 Little Glass Clementine
LFW SS2011 Little Glass Clementine
All photography by Amelia Gregory.

Sägen
Over in the Scandinavian corner I was most intrigued to discover the finely detailed work of Sägen, also showing at Esthetica for the first time. This is upcycling at it’s best – taking shards of old porcelain and reinvigorating them for a new life as a piece of delightful one off jewellery.

Somerset House SS2011 Sagen

Choose from twee rose patterns or more modern classic Scandinavian leaf designs, all set in nickel free silver. One massive downside: the website does not seem to cater to the English speaking customer, so one can only hope some UK based buyers have bought into the range.

sagen-katie-harnett
Sägen by Katie Harnett.

Nina Dolcetti
I tried on a pair of Nina Dolcetti bouncy platform shoes at Esthetica, and instantly fell in love… perhaps I could even ride a bike in a pair of these?? Inexplicably the head designer is not called Nina Dolcetti. Elisalex de Castro Peake is a Cordwainers graduate who launched her first upcycled shoe in September 2008 and the brand name Nina Dolcetti – meaning Little Sweets – comes from a combination of her nickname and her grandmother’s maiden name.

Somerset House SS2011 nina dolcetti
Somerset House SS2011 nina dolcetti
Somerset House SS2011 nina dolcetti

All shoes are made in a small factory run factory in East London from off cuts and pre-consumer waste, and she utilises only vegetable tanned leather and sustainably sourced cork and wood. So want a pair to bounce around in, but they’re a leetle bit pricey for me. Well worth it if you earn a decent wage though: I urge you to check them out.

LFW-Nina Dolcetti by Chris Morris
Nina Dolcetti by Chris Morris.

Partimi and Joanna Cave
I love Partimi‘s clean simple designs. Designer Eleanor Dorrien-Smith named her label after the architectural term parti, meaning the conceptual starting point for a project, and she makes beautiful wearable dresses adorned with simple graphic prints.

emma_block_partimi
Partimi by Emma Block.

This season she paid homage to costumes from Diaghilev’s Ballet Russes that her mother had collected at auction. I particularly loved her collaboration with ethical jewellery designer Joanna Cave, and am lusting after a pair of graphic cut out dangly earrings.

LFW SS2011 Partimi
Partimi Long dress by Joana Faria
Partimi earing by Joana Faria
Partimi by Joana Faria.

Oria
This jewellery range is the baby of creative duo Tania Kowalski and Synnove Saelthun, who have worked in the jewellery industry for a combined 25 years. Increasingly concerned wih the social and environmental impact of mining they created Oria in 2007 with an intention to make the supply chain transparent.

Somerset House SS2011 Oria

They source from fair-trade companies, all materials are traceable to point of origin and then the jewellery is made in their London studio. I love the delicate dangly cutout earrings featuring bees and birds.

Oria by Faye West
Oria by Faye West.

Michelle Lowe-Holder
I knew Michelle Lowe-Holder as a clothing designer, but after a break from the industry she’s decided to make a come back as an accessory designer. This was prompted by the realisation that she was always most interested in the details so she decided to be more sustainable and make use of the oodles of waste fabric from old collections – that she still has lying around in her studio – to create some stunning accessories: giant arm, neck and leg pieces are stacked to create dramatic silhouettes.

LFW SS2011 Michelle Lowe-Holder
LFW SS2011 Michelle Lowe-Holder
Michelle Lowe by Michelle Urvall Nyrén
Michelle Lowe-Holder by Michelle Urvall Nyrén.

From Somewhere
From Somewhere has been upcycling waste luxury materials since 1997, and as a bastion of sustainable fashion it was to designer Orsola de Castro that the BFC came when they wanted to set up Esthetica in 2006.

LFW SS2011 Orsola From Somewhere
Orsola de Castro.

This season she has been working with offcuts from Speedo to create a lovely limited edition capsule collection.

speedo_by Alia Gargum
Speedo From Somewhere collaboration by Alia Gargum.

Made
Having just returned from a Fashion Business Club get together with the unexpectedly lucid Laura Bailey I thought I would also mention Made, a jewellery brand “by the people for the people” that is reasonably well known thanks to some high profile branding and wide distribution. They are big on their “designer” collaborations, though not designers I’ve ever heard of: since when was Laura Bailey a jewellery designer anyway? Boy do I want her job. I’m not a massive fan of a lot of their stuff (looks wise), but they do undeniably good things by providing trade for impoverished communities in Africa.

made by natsuki otani
Made by Natsuki Otani.

Categories ,Alia Gargum, ,Central Saint Martins, ,Centre for Sustainable Fashion, ,Cordwainers, ,Ecofashion, ,Elisalex de Castro Peake, ,Emma Block, ,esthetica, ,ethical design, ,Fashion Business Club, ,Faye West, ,From Somewhere, ,jewellery, ,Joanna Cave, ,Katie Harnett, ,Laura Bailey, ,Little Glass Clementine, ,MADE, ,Martina Spetlova, ,Michelle Lowe-Holder, ,Michelle Urvall Nyrén, ,Nina Dolcetti, ,Octavi Navarro, ,Oria, ,Orsola De Castro, ,Partimi, ,recycling, ,Sägen Butik, ,scandinavia, ,shoes, ,Speedo, ,sustainability, ,Synnove Saelthun, ,Tania Kowalski, ,Tuvalu, ,Upcycling, ,YKK

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