The fashion industry
is one of the most polluting industries on the planet: it’s the
number 2 polluter of clean water and in 2012 14.3million tons of textiles ended up in landfill sites.
BEVERLY SMART is an
example of how it is possible to offer couture clothing within a sustainable setup. Here’s what she has to say.
Q How do you source your fabrics?
A Nearly all my fabric is overstock, ie, remains of unused fabric
(over)ordered by the large clothing companies.
It’s the perfect example of upcycling.
I also work with fabric suppliers that sell sustainable and
organic fabrics. I have a preference for
natural fabrics. Not only are they are biodegradable,
decomposing
in a way that synthetics never will, but they are much more satisfying to work
with and have an unbeatable aesthetic quality.
Q Why do you source in this way?
A Initially it was a question of what was available. I live in a beautiful but sparsely populated
area, so there were virtually none of the traditional choices. I scoured the local town markets and
developed relationships with the traders there, persuading them to let me come
and see their warehouses, so that I could dig around and find fabrics even they’d
forgotten they had. One of those traders fast became my main supplier, and we’ve
been working together for years now. He travels around France’s fabric producers
and buys up their unsold stock. Like me,
he is passionate about cloth and knows exactly what I like. I also go up to Paris where I have another
couple of good addresses, all faithful to the upcycling principle.
Q What kinds of creative challenges do you face through this way of sourcing fabrics?
A Traditionally, a designer will be there at the beginning of the season saying, what can I do? When there are no
boundaries, no limitations, it can be overwhelming. When you work within a ‘restricted’
choice, you say ok, what can I do with this? It’s a starting point. Limitations
focus your mind.
Q Where does your style come from?
A I’m always thinking how I can marry my personal design style to a
choice of body types. I’ve always been unapologetic about the style of my collections
being influenced by my height (I am 6’2”), even if for my store I scale
everything down for a more average height. The best selling sizes are 42/44, and the fact that I love bias cut,
flowing clothes means that even if a particular dress looks ravishing on a size
38 for the photo shoots, it looks equally lovely on a size 44 because of the generous
cut, the drape of a quality fabric and the simple, clean cut lines of the
design.
Q What are your design inspirations at the moment?
A I’ve just finished watching Series 2 of House of Cards, so the part
of the collection I’m working on now (SS15) is inspired by Robin Wright’s
formidable character Claire Underwood.
The other part is an ‘oversized’ range. I’ve always adored huge enveloping clothes (I
spent a lot of my time at college dressed in men’s suits, belted with a huge
belt, à la Annie Hall) and I continue to be a fan of that style. It’s all about balancing the silhouette.
