As mentioned in a previous blog post I had the opportunity to interview Lizzie Harrison, founder of ReMade in Leeds. I met Lizzie at a CCANW Fashion Transitions conference earlier this month and she agreed to help me with my research, so a big thank you to Lizzie!
The interview went really well and is now playing an important part for primary research for my 'Sustainable Fashion'
under-graduate dissertation. The research project is a great opportunity to raise awareness of your own skills within the textiles industry and creating a more sustainable profile for yourself and your clothing.
As described on the Remade in Leeds website:
"The ReMade in Leeds Project is a forward thinking design concept working from a grassroots level to really challenge current fashion systems by working within a community to draw on local skills and resources to create an innovative collection ... This project comes at a time of not only increasing awareness of sustainable issues but also against a backdrop of economic depression. The very principles of this project hope to encourage re-learning of skills, repairing techniques and the collective reuse of clothing through swapping to promote an inclusive system open to everyone." http://www.remadeinleeds.org
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| CCANW Fashion Transitions conference - Lizzie Harrison presentation |
I have pulled out a couple of points throughout my interview with Lizzie that I wanted to feature on my blog to give you bloggers an insight into the business and a view of sustainable issues in fashion from a industry professional:
(LN = me | LH = Lizzie Harrison)
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LN: As we were discussing at the ‘Fashion Transitions’ conference that there are so many definitions of sustainability, what would you say your definition of ‘sustainable fashion’ is?
LH: I think this is a really interesting point, as probably for you who is setting out to do a fashion collection now for your degree there are so many routes that can be taken in terms of how you approach it. For me the really important thing is that the reason that I feel we have got ourselves into a situation that we have globally in the industry is that everyone has something to say to become homogenised, the products have become homogenised and the way it is produced has become homogenised. I think the way that sustainability will work is if everyone approached it differently we would end up with a much more diverse industry.
So I don’t think that any one route such as using natural dyes, recycling or using hemp or nettle. I think the thought of it is if designers approached it in one way, so I guess sustainability for me is about creating beautiful products for your own sustainable and ethical stand point; so for some people human rights issues are really important, for some people the issue of the economy is really important, for some people supporting cotton producers is really important. I think it is about people following their passion and creating something really exciting with everyone doing it in a different way.
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LN: How do you feel Remade in Leeds has now raised awareness of sustainable issues for local people and nationally?
LH: I think locally, it defiantly has had an impact, people that didn’t really engage with it at all and that’s what we have always tried to do is reach out to people who don’t know about these concepts rather than just working with the people that do understand. People come and use different services for example; a girl that lives a few streets over from me; I used to see her with her little child in the newsagents and I invited her down to one of the clothes swaps at Remade in Leeds and she got really into it, just because she lived on a really tight budget. Over the next few months she got really excited about the fact she didn’t have to throw anything away. Her boyfriend rang me up when she was due to go in for her second child and asked could I give them a lift to the hospital as they didn’t have a car and while I was giving her a lift to the hospital, she was asking me how to alter her maternity wear for the next season. A great contrast to before I met her when she would only shop in Primark so I think it’s about reaching out to people who are on a tight budget and willing to learn how to recreate beautiful garments. Whenever we go to conferences the people who go to them pretty much all live in London or somewhere trendy like Brighton and their understanding is what phases the average guy on the street on a daily basis, I feel like they don’t quite get it, this is what I worry about.
I think a lot of sustainable fashion is aimed at people with quite a lot of money however people with money have choice whereas people without money don’t have a huge amount of choice. I think we are defiantly raising awareness and I am really hoping that it is starting to raise awareness in areas of communities. In terms of nationally I have had a lot of really good opportunities to showcase with user work for case studies and in December just gone I spoke at the House of Commons and used that as a case study for what could be done in the UK if policies were in place if the government thought of these type of schemes. I had brilliant feedback from that so it is really important for me to not only work on a more local scale but to work on a national and international scale to promote the kind of ideas behind the work.
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I found Lizzie very inspiring and it was great to talk about her insight to why she believes in creating sustainable and ethical fashion. I hope you enjoyed the brief extract from the interview, please contact me on lauranicol35@hotmail.com if you are interested in hearing more from the interview.
If you would like any more information on Lizzie's project please visit:
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