HLT x HIDDEN
Designer & Illustrator
I am aiming to create a self-made brand specialising in Menswear. NEO drives its focus on making a change in the fashion industry and how much it is affecting our world. Designer Stella McCartney, who has been labelled as "the queen of sustainability" for her eco-friendly fashion line, is widely considered to be a pioneer of the sustainable fashion movement and my aim is for NEO to fit in the forever growing gap.
The collections...
Stella McCartney explained that "If every single second there's a truckload of fast fashion being incinerated or landfilled, then I'm a big, big believer in reusing that and [participating in] the circular economy,". This quote has made an impact on my first collection as I will be using a mixture of self-owned, donated and second hand bought clothing from charitable retailers. This collection has been inspired by the sustainability movement and to join the action in stopping the 350,000 tonnes, which is around £140 million worth of used but still wearable clothing which goes to landfill in the UK every year.
Louis Zamperini was an Olympic long-distance runner in the 1930’s. He was famously known as the “Torrance Tornado” as he completed a mile run in 4 minutes, 21 seconds. Overtime fashion has changed, in the 1930’s sportswear would be consisted of ‘sport’ shirt and pant set made from a ‘sturdy cotton’. This would also be worn as workwear. Combining current fashion with our ancestors fits and aesthetics my collection will closely resemble 1930’s fashion and sport inspired ready to wear upcycled menswear line.
That's one thing you learn in sports. You don't give up; you fight to the finish.
Adidas are known for being a relatively sustainable company since 1989, they banned the use of chlorofluorocarbons (CFC) for all of the products they release. If Adidas can be environmentally friendly from the first day of their business, then I want to make sure I do too. If more business decided to cut out CFC from their products, then it would reduce the catalytic reaction destroying our ozone massively. Inspired by my first collection I aim to create a collection that is a biseasonal autumn winter collection, some up-cycled fabrics will be carried over from the Spring Summer collection. The production and fabrics will still have an ethical value. Using smart fabrics such as Antimicrobial protected fabrics and purthread my collection will then effectively last longer which will stop you from having to throw away clothing sooner than needed.
Tyler the Creator once said he felt “too white for the black group, but too black for the white group” I want my brand to be inclusive to all. I will be doing this by creating a more genderless fit to sports clothing. Not focussing on the 'typical' second skin fit, I will be taking an 1930's approach incorporating high waisted shorts, tracksuits and jersey pieces.
