Sustainability-focused Australian designers are increasingly aiming for ‘emotional durability’: making clothing to be cherished – and kept
hen the question of sustainability comes up in fashion, the focus is usually on the physical durability of clothing. Is the construction high-quality and precise? How are the materials used in a garment obtained? Is it recycled, or recyclable?
Alix Higgins’ pieces are not “trendy” in the literal sense – his simple silhouettes are similar across seasons – but they are undeniably cool. The designer, who has just been awarded emerging designer of the year at the Australian Fashion Laureate, prints body-tight Lycra with original lines of poetry.“My fashion-making process has always begun with an emotional output,” he says. “So it’s always been about connecting myself to … the person who’s consuming the product.
But hidden somewhere, “in some more intimate part” of the garment, there are snippets of text intended just for the person who owns it, Higgins says. “It’s not a statement of identity, or even something that other people can recognise – it’s like a little way for me to speak just to .” Customers feel connected to her clothes, she believes, at a conceptual level. When she designs, Hellyer draws from the patterns and craftsmanship techniques passed down from her great-great-grandmother, who owned a dressmaking shop in Melbourne from the 1910s to the 30s.
‘Longevity is something I think about a lot’ … Maggie Marilyn’s early mornings shacket, which is made to get better with wear
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