Fashion Forward: Reclaiming, Restoring, and Reimagining our Future

Hi there, friends! I hope this post finds you well. Time to pull out the gloves, hats, earmuffs, throw an extra log on the fire, and an extra blanket on the bed! Even here in Florida, there is a welcome chill in the air!

This is the post that I look forward to all year…My annual fashion post! This year, I highlight two design houses that are disrupting the traditional fashion industry. And, I will discuss a beautifully-written book that has earned a FSC certification. So, hold on to your knickers, and grab a mug of your favorite cold-weather drink, ‘cause here we go! 😉

Over the past couple of years, my heart has been drawn to work with refugees. I am concerned for the growing number of people being driven from their homes, because of war, persecution, and the effects of climate change. Reflect is elevating the fashion industry to a whole new level, by taking the artwork and drawings of refugee children and turning them into wearable pieces. Particularly arresting is their collection of sweatshirts that represent the thousands of life jackets left behind on the shorelines. Reflect creations are moving, groundbreaking and transformative. If you want to keep up with what is going on in the world, purchase a piece from Reflect. They embody the title of this blog post, and I am humbled by what they are doing.  Stay connected with Reflect  💖 Teşekkür ederim ve sana çok sevgi!

 Love this picture of Ece and Edip from Team Reflect!! Check their Manifesto, which includes "Radical Transparency Establishes Trust"

Now, I want to give a shout-out to one of my favorite designers: Hayley from Raggedy! As a student at the Patel College of Global Sustainability, I appreciate how Raggedy uses off-cuts to create cool and funky vintage-inspired clothing for the modern woman! With their jagged and raggedy edges, and signature “scribble stich” method of piecing fabric together to create unique and edgy clothes, you’ll want to keep up with them on Instagram 😍

The Raggedy Showroom is right on point!!

Display that Slays! Which leads me to my next feature...👗

Next, to my latest favorite book, Refashioned: Cutting-Edge Clothing from UpCycled Materials. This is a fascinating and eye-opening read. It takes us on a journey of essays and tells the stories of creators who take discarded and decaying materials and reshapes them back to a glorious and useful state. For instance, we read about Ruth Holland and her Waste Away Collection. Ruth rescued plastic fishing ropes and transformed them into statement accessory pieces that display her knot-making skills, which exhibits the items original use, while giving new life to plastic that is often found floating away.
 

And the Dalaleo collection, inspired by the favelas of Rio de Janeiro, is created from discarded ring pulls, along with other upcyclables. Its founder observed Brazilian families who were gathering aluminum cans for recycling, and then removing the ring pulls so that they could be used to create products to sell at local markets. 

Thoroughly educational and enjoyable, my coffee table has been begging for a book like this!

Look who I found!!

Catching inspiration,

Working on my posture! 😊

I found this maxi dress in the back of my closet, and wanted to wear it in these pics as a “before” moment. I’m hoping to have it remade into a skirt, tank top, and drawstring purse (wardrobe staples!).  A more structured skirt is something that I would wear to work. I hope to show these “after” pieces in my next post! Until then, cheers, and thank you for reading! Special thanks to the Reflect and Raggedy Teams for providing photos! 

xxoo, RDT