A New Year means only one thing at Ragchop. London Fashion week is almost here. New ideas will fizz and sparkle and we will become embued with a fresh sense of purpose as the constellation of ideas light the way.
For some this will also be tainted with guilt as we know that Fashion retailers will react more quickly, to produce ever more quantities of ever cheaper garments, destined for landfill. There was always more money to be made selling chicken and chips than producing creative gourmet delights -and so it is in Fashion too.
Technology can help make the planet cleaner. It has been quite a long wait but it is heartening to see the new innovations coming into our store. Our Sustainable Edit is about to triple in size.
We are adding a bio-degradable wadding that is made from cellulose
Sustainable bio-degradable wadding made from Silk
Recycled knitted and woven interlinings made from plastic bottles (PET)
Viscose Linings that are FSC Accredited (Blog to follow)
Organic Cotton Linings
We can enjoy fashion while respecting the planet's ecology and resources. This requires producing garments from only the best quality, sustainably sourced materials.
Better still, If our customers can keep wearing the clothes that we produce for many years -and even re-discover them, as the fashion cycle brings them back to life -then we are, in a meaningful way, reducing pollution and waste.
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There was a time long, long ago, when Interlinings were thought of as 'that stuff' we iron on, to stabilise our fabric. Lightweight fabrics turned to cardboard as we ironed on the solution that turned our dreams to disappointment.
At some point technological breakthroughs in textiles came to the rescue (as if from design heaven) and brought special adhesive systems and fine yarn interlinings to the design houses of Paris and Milan.
It started with Armani but more recent examples are the earlier years of Victoria Beckham and Roland Mouret. Perfect examples of the fully-fused garment, their signature peplum dresses could never have made it to a catwalk without the help of some very clever interlining. Those zip-backed dresses from Lanvin, Balmain's architectural delights, all created using interlinings.
Look now and every designer worth their pantone book is using interlinings like a wizard uses a magic wand.
We love these special, professional, fusibles because when we make something, we want it to look like it could stalk the front rows of Chanel, Chloe and Erdem -not hang about outside BHS.
So don't be shy, get your making hands on some serious professional interlinings... just like they do in Paris. See you on the Front Row ;-)
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