ONE TO WATCH
SODIUM ONE TO WATCH
Welcome to our new “One to Watch” portfolio section of Sodium Collective.
At Sodium it has always been an integral part of our ethos to champion emerging, socially conscious fashion designers and creatives whose talents and stories deserve to be shared with a wider audience.
These fashion innovators who are beginning to manifest themselves on our collective consciousness have previously been showcased as part of our main digital and print pages. As the industry recalibrate to meet the challenges of a much-changed world and Sodium realigns itself to document this new landscape, our thoughts have turned to how best showcase these new and emergent talents who exemplify the very best of fashion forward thinking.
Bringing them together in a new standalone area of the digital magazine will allow us the space to let them tell their stories and share their passion, energy and vision with you, the reader. Discussing their values and documenting their inspirations and aspirations, Sodium will take a deep dive into the creative and personal journeys which are shaping them. It's a space they richly deserve and one which deserves our undivided attention.
We hope you will join us as we share the stories of these ones to watch, this new generation of designers and creatives, those whom we are sure will play an important and vital role in fashions future.
GRADUATION FASHION WEEK LONDON
ROSE CONNOR
My collection is inspired by the up-cycling of a house hold product, the bath scrunchie, which is often discarded after its use. The aim of my collection was to show people that the most unlikely item can be transformed from waste and up-cycled to be used as a material for fashion. The colours of my collection came from the wildlife that are affected by human waste.
The bath scrunchie garments and the drape fabric dress within my collection were experimental so I had a lot of freedom when manipulating the pieces of scrunchie material and regular fabric on the mannequin. I had no idea what the outcome of the pieces would look like until I stepped back from the mannequin. The trousers in my collection were pattern cut, and toiled first from some CAD designs I did in order to get the correct shape, then produced in the real fabrics.
I think that the UK has a long history with fashion. Clothing that is designed/manufactured within the UK holds a sense of prestige that is desirable. This could be due to the technical craft of the manufacturer or the materials that are made here. Universities are able to allow their students to having access to work more closely with British designers and companies to reinvent/invent new trends in fashion.
Being involved in GFW has made a huge difference to me. It has given me the confidence to show my work to the public and demonstrate the topic of sustainability within fashion. It has also given me access to speak with industry professionals and receive feedback on my collection and portfolio.
ROSE CONNOR
My collection is inspired by the up-cycling of a house hold product, the bath scrunchie, which is often discarded after its use. The aim of my collection was to show people that the most unlikely item can be transformed from waste and up-cycled to be used as a material for fashion. The colours of my collection came from the wildlife that are affected by human waste.
The bath scrunchie garments and the drape fabric dress within my collection were experimental so I had a lot of freedom when manipulating the pieces of scrunchie material and regular fabric on the mannequin. I had no idea what the outcome of the pieces would look like until I stepped back from the mannequin. The trousers in my collection were pattern cut, and toiled first from some CAD designs I did in order to get the correct shape, then produced in the real fabrics.
I think that the UK has a long history with fashion. Clothing that is designed/manufactured within the UK holds a sense of prestige that is desirable. This could be due to the technical craft of the manufacturer or the materials that are made here. Being involved in GFW has made a huge difference to me. It has given me the confidence to show my work to the public and demonstrate the topic of sustainability within fashion. It has also given me access to speak with industry professionals and receive feedback on my collection and portfolio.
PLAIRE PIMCHANOK
My graduate collection is called “2200: The Royal Cyborgs” and is sponsored by Swarovski. Using my birth country’s rich culture and heritage through the medium of a dystopian science fiction film, I reconstructed my own imaginative version of dystopian Bangkok future world.
The collection responds to the current political situation in Thailand and the struggles of Thai people. We lost our beloved King Bhumibol Adulyadej in 2016 which deeply affected all Thais and affected the whole country not just emotionally but also economically. My collection honours the good he has done in trying to tackle poverty and homelessness.
The concept of royal cyborgs was inspired by the life of the king himself as he lost his vision in his right eye after a car accident in 1948 and had to wear an artificial eyeball. I have imagined myself in his shoes and how hard it must have been to continue devoting his life to bettering the future of our country. The collection is a combination of the future and the past, looking back to late 1800s when the reign of the 5th King was signified by the modernisation of Thai infrastructure and by governmental and social reforms, and as a by-product the modernisation of women’s fashion. I have taken my inspiration from some of the luxury garments worn by the queens and princesses of this period and reinvented the elaborate historical silhouette into contemporary eveningwear.
SAVE STUDIOS
SAVE STUDIOS
Savestudios was established in 2018 by Sarisa to reduce the environmental impact of fast fashion practices. Fast fashion contributes to a wide variety of problems. Cheap labor, poor building quality and the overproduction of clothes create a negative impact on people’s lives and the environment. For example, a building collapsed in Bangladesh due to the low quality materials and substandard construction practices.
In other countries, the dumping of wastewater from overproduction in clothing factories pollutes local waters. From a business perspective, marketing and production demands from corporate offices require these factories to produce millions of tonnes of clothes. Every year, areas the size of Olympics pools are filled with unsold and unused clothes.
The delivery and unloading of surplus second-hand clothes to developing countries throughout Asia create a very difficult waste problem. Imagine 40,000,000 tonnes of clothes sent to areas that don’t have modern waste management systems. The clothes become piles of unused materials slowly decomposing in the sun. The transformation of high-quality materials/clothes reborn into artistic designs is the concept behind Savestudios. Every design is created artfully through expert selection of materials and the eye of design resulting in a one of a kind look. Each outfit represents fine art and a unique approach to ready-to-wear.
SAVE STUDIOS
PAST 8
Fashion Graduation Showcase
Faculty of Decorative Art, Silpakorn University
SODIUM ONE TO WATCH has provided the platform for Bangkok’s undiscovered talent to shine by putting these young designers directly in front of the industry veterans and experts that can help them succeed in the cut-throat world of fashion.
Faced with the collective angst of 2020, creativity in the fashion industry is slowly becoming ‘a perfectly calculated formula of spectacle and profit margins. These days, designers often face increasing pressure to either disrupt paradigms, create viral trends, or come up with mind-bending concepts that get the fash-pack buzzing. And while the fashion industry has been known to eat up ingenues alive; these bright young things are here to prove otherwise.
A unique fashion show in which the graduate students showcased their collections, a personal reflection on the future driven by the contamination between fashion, technology and environment. A true celebration of the designers of tomorrow, who are conscious, forward-thinking and tech-savvy. But most of all, they are optimistic and determined to express new utopian ideals through their creations. For us at Sodium Collective, this is exactly what we want to celebrate.
We Are
SUSTAINABILITY
NATALIE & ALANNA
“ Fast fashion means lower price points, but with that comes another price. Unfair wages, pollution, unsafe workspaces; the list goes on ”
When we started Natalie & Alanna, sustainability was something that we were passionate about. We wanted to truly keep everything in-house. This is very challenging for a brand that is new and growing, and it is something that we have struggled with on a constant basis. Fast fashion means lower price points, but with that comes another price. Unfair wages, pollution, unsafe workspaces; the list goes on. We simply can’t stand behind that.
We always keep in mind that it is about quality and not quantity. We want to design statement pieces that our girl can truly be inspired by every time she decides to wear them. We want her to explore her own style and get creative. She shouldn’t be sick of something after one wear. That itself is our version of sustainability. We hope that fashion brands take charge and delve deeper into how their garments are made. Brands need to set high standards when choosing factories and really be involved. Companies need to take ownership of how their products are made and need to show 100 % transparency. Create a plan and decide from the start who you want to be as a designer and do not lose sight of that. Stick to your guns because this business is tricky and it’s not for the easily swayed.
LAUREN GOOD
“ I was bought up in the Jewish community where we were always taught the concept ‘Tikkun Olam’, which means, ‘to repair the world’ ”
I watched the Netflix documentary ‘The True Cost’ when conducting research for my graduate collection and it really reminded me of the importance of this Jewish teaching. My mum is also a recycling freak so sustainability has always been on my mind. She taught me that it is vital to think about the impact of everything we create and consume. We should also all be thinking about the possible repercussions of our actions - in all aspects of life.
My collection features sustainable fabrics, natural dyes and construction techniques. Organic cotton, jerseys and silks made from bamboo were dyed using coffee grounds - my whole collection is infused in coffee! I also explored zero-waste garment construction to make my organic cotton frayed jacket and jeans.
The biggest challenge facing the fashion industry is its ability to adapt to a consumer who has a growing concern for fashion’s impact on the environment. I would love to see more brands use their platform to educate and inspire people to consume consciously. I believe that as a designer you are responsible for what you put out in the world for others to consume and so I would love to see sustainable products become the norm rather than a niche.
SASKIA LENAERTS
“ Climate is changing, people fly across the world and live in multiple seasons at once. Do we need to produce and force creativity at this rate? ”
The starting point of my collection “Rare Fruit” was inspired by reading an article. The article described a bill focused on banning the import of second hand clothing in certain East African countries, due to the resulting impact on locally sourced goods and the threat to ancient artistic techniques. I was aware of the huge issues within the fashion industry and that it actually isn’t sustainable in any way, but this article brought it to another level for me. In addition to the damage that the production of our garments already causes, the donation of our clothes (which is considered a “good thing”) still creates a negative impact on another continent. This shocked me.
I want the sustainable aspect to be founded in the concept of the collection “as one big message under one umbrella.” I don’t choose sustainable materials to go with a collection that has a totally different concept. I want the two to be linked since sustainability and humanitarian issues are undeniably intertwined. I look at sustainability from different angles, and this collection offered a learning curve. I used off cuts of leather, dyed, cut up calico, and used fabrics left over from stock sales, but I also bought certain fabrics in fabric shops that receive old stocks of fabric that would otherwise be discarded. I believe nothing that we do is perfect, and there is no one right way to be sustainable. What is important is being aware and thinking about the choices we make.
YUNRAO CHEN
“ I hope to see every business promoting and working towards a future where no animal, land, ocean or person is harmed in the name of fashion.”
As a child, I grew up living in a seaside town close to the city of Shenzhen. I can still recall swimming in the ocean with plastic waste, and how the waves were bringing more and more of it to the beach that was already filled with it. I was very sad and felt very disappointed watching the waste spoil our beautiful beaches.
That was 15 years ago. Now, each year it is estimated 8 million tons of plastic is being thrown into the ocean and even more is being produced. Merely removing plastic from the ocean will not be enough. We must target the root of the issue which is the production of single-use plastic that cannot be destroyed or recycled.
Individuals as well as companies are guilty of using it often without realizing the consequences. We are the ones that produce plastic and we are the ones that throw it into the sea, hence it is important to educate the public regarding the consequences of such actions and the manner in which it is harmful to our ocean and wildlife. Raising awareness and educating people about sustainability will raise their interest and hopefully it will inspire everyone to make little changes in their everyday lives.
CONTACT US
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