PARS.- Capital of the moda, Pars It is also a great dumping ground for luxury fabrics, the meeting place for independent creators who unapologetically reuse scraps of alpaca, macram or silk. They are the leftovers from a roll of fabric that designers discarded, or a lace ribbon, and everyone has their second chance at the Nona Source warehouse, in the north of the city.
Until recently, it was common for these stocks, such as unsold clothing, to be burned or buried. At best, they gathered dust in warehouses.
Eager to change its image, French luxury giant LVMH created Nona Source three years ago to sell those leftovers at a considerable discount to emerging designers.
“I realized that there were what we call ‘sleeping beauties’ in the warehouses, magnificent fabrics that lay there for years after the collections were presented,” said the workshop’s co-founder, Romain Brabo.
Last year Nona Source sold about 280 kilometers of fabric, enough for approximately 140,000 items of clothing.
Impact on designers
Among the regular clients is Arturo Obegero, a 30-year-old Spanish designer who has been a regular at Parisian Fashion Weeks for a few years now, who uses only recycled and recyclable materials.
Obegero is an independent designer, who works in his apartment and who recognizes that life for a small creator like him is difficult in the noisy world of fashion. But he has landed major orders, including a corset for Beyonc on her Renaissance tour, a sign of his skill and the growing appeal of environmentally friendly design.
“I come from a family of surfers, of fishermen. When you come from a small town you are connected to nature, you learn to respect it,” explains Obegero, who was born in Tapia de Casariego, in Asturias.
Thanks to Nona Source, he says, he can stay in the limelight.
“People are more conscious about what products they buy… but it can be difficult to offer something truly sustainable at an affordable price,” says this designer who has also worked for singers Harry Styles and Roisin Murphy.
Beauty in evolution
As pressure increases on the fashion industry to manage its mountains of waste and enormous ecological impact, initiatives like Nona Source are multiplying. Luxury giants like LVMH can afford to make an effort, and they also understand their value in marketing terms.
This group says it has ambitious goals such as changing transportation from planes to ships, enabling suppliers to better manage water, and investing in new materials such as vegan leather.
But Hlne Valade, LVMH’s head of sustainability, says the company’s main role is to evolve people’s understanding.
“That’s really our power. Ten years ago, when we used something recycled, people found it ugly. That changed,” he told AFP. “Beauty is no longer something completely smooth, perfect, straight… It’s also what designers can do with recycled fabrics.”
Some are skeptical.
“Until they eliminate PVC plastic from their supply chain, especially at Louis Vuitton, LVMH will never be a green company,” says Dana Thomas, author of “Fashionopolis,” about the industry’s climate impact.
Louis Vuitton, the world’s best-selling luxury brand, makes most of its money from its monogrammed handbags, which are made of PVC-coated canvas.
“Major change”
Thomas welcomes ideas like Nona Source, but finds them frustrating. “It’s a sensible idea. Why didn’t they do it 20 years ago?” he asks.
“Fashion is so far behind compared to, for example, the automotive industry. Now you can buy an electric truck, but the bags are still made of plastic?” she exclaims.
“We are seeing a real important change,” says Brabo.
While speaking to AFP, enters Charles de Vilmorin, the 27-year-old prodigy who was creative director of Rochas and runs his own brand in Paris.
“I come here looking for inspiration. I like to surprise myself,” says De Vilmorin. “I think it’s wonderful that they give new life to these materials, that they are not thrown away or destroyed. It is very important,” he says.
FUENTE: AFP
