From Stella McCartney’s sustainability podcast to the new size-inclusive lingerie label refreshing our underwear drawer, here’s what we’re excited about this month.
When Michaela Coel was announced as the face of Oxfam’s second annual #SecondHandSeptember campaign, we jumped for joy. Now, the charity’s mission to make our wardrobe’s more sustainable just got even more exciting. Vestiaire Collective, the luxury reselling platform, has partnered with Oxfam to host a star-studded sale of designer pieces donated by the coolest women in fashion. From Kate Moss, Naomi Harris and Michaela Cole to Georgia May Jagger, Julia Sarr Jamois and Chloe Sevigny, you can shop Burberry trench coats and YSL blazers in support of both circular fashion and charitable causes. Race you to the check out!
The Vestiaire Collective x Oxfam Second Hand September Sale is live here now.
Our favourite London brand Rixo just gave us one more reason to love it. Launching this week and priced from £125 to £225, Rixo Recycle is made from recycled, waste and offcut materials salvaged from the cutting room floor of a factory in India and is the brand’s first foray into circular collections. Each of the 10 pieces – comprising blouses and dresses – is unique by its very nature but all the Rixo trademarks are there: puffed sleeves, tea silhouettes, XXL collars and brilliant prints.
Rixo Recycle, from £125, is available here.
New Sustainable Brand Aligne Launches
Fans of Frankie Shop, & Other Stories and Arket, rejoice! New kid on the block Aligne is launching on 14th September and hits the sweet spot of its contemporaries in both price and aesthetics. The difference is that Aligne is a sustainable label and will fast become your new favourite go-to for wear-anywhere floral midis, slick puffer jackets and stomping boots. Founder Dalbir Bains has been challenging the myth of sustainability’s high prices, working with suppliers over the past few years to ensure Aligne’s carbon footprints are lower: denim is produced with 50% less water, and pieces are made from 100% organic cotton, Lenzing™ Ecovero™ viscose and recycled finishes. With prices ranging from around £30 to £180, we’re excited to see where this new label goes.
Aligne launches here 14th September.
Hallelujah! Sportswear giant Nike has just launched its first dedicated maternity collection to support women at every stage of pregnancy and beyond – and about time too. By taking data from 150,000 comparison scans of non-pregnant and pregnant women, plus feedback from 30 female athletes who were pregnant or postpartum, Nike has designed the collection to ensure the form, fit and function is there to serve mothers of all kinds. Beginning with a four-piece essentials capsule including a Swoosh bra, tank top, leggings and pullover, it takes into consideration breastfeeding and a changing body, making exercise that bit more inclusive.
Nike (M), from £31.95, is available here this week.
Secondhand Stans are in for a treat this month: minimalist haven COS has launched a resell site, a new digital hub that provides a platform to buy and sell preloved COS clothes and accessories. For anyone who missed out on sellout pieces from seasons past and those looking to pass their no-longer-worn items on to loving homes, this is a great step in the right direction for brands tapping into the booming resell and secondhand markets. Long live circularity!
COS Resell has launched here.
Thanks to its Wallabee style, heritage shoemaker Clarks has enjoyed a renaissance in recent years. The true star of its AW20 campaign, though, is the desert boot. Starring musician Kindness, songwriter Miink and photographer Charlotte Patmore, the campaign celebrates the silhouette’s 70th birthday, having been designed by Nathan Clark back in 1950. The genderless, cross-generational favourite, coming in styles ranging from blue suede to black leather, is a timeless classic. When better to champion it than now, as we move away from flash-in-the-pan trends and invest instead in pieces that go the distance?
Clarks Desert Boots, from £110, available here.
All-American heritage label Tommy Hilfiger has made impressive strides with its sustainability and inclusivity commitments over the past few years and its latest initiative, Make It Possible, goes one step further. Driven by its aim to “waste nothing and welcome all”, the brand has set 24 targets to hit by 2030. The first is to make all products fully circular, the second is to operate a ‘made for life’ expectation of all items, the third is to become a brand for every kind of Tommy fan – particularly exciting is its innovations for differently abled dressers – and the fourth is to create equal access to opportunity.
You can read more about Tommy’s Make It Possible initiative here.
Is it wrong that we secretly wished away the last days of summer so that we could wrap up in Charlotte Simone’s Penny Lane-inspired coats? Now direct-to-consumer (small-scale made-to-order production means no wasted product) and 100% fur-free, her AW20 collection is inspired by London’s Swinging Sixties. We’re torn between the cropped leopard jacket and the black and white fuzzy coat.
Charlotte Simone’s AW20 collection, from £75 and up, is available here now.
If you’re anything like us, lockdown has made your approach to dressing far more practical. Heels and restrictive denim were stowed away in favour of weatherproof staycation-ready pieces. Great news, then, that one of our favourite Scandinavian brands, Samsøe & Samsøe has collaborated with GORE-TEX on a line of 100% water and windproof jackets. Coming in camel and black, they’ll go perfectly with our rain boots for an autumnal weekend away.
The Samsøe & Samsøe x GORE-TEX collection, £460, is available here now.
If you loved the virtual moodboard site Polyvore back in the day, you’re in for a treat. Avail, a super creative community-based style inspiration and shopping app let’s users curate pieces from over 150 small, independent labels from around the world (think Rixo, Wilhelmina Garcia and House of Sunny) to create dream outfits that are easy to shop directly through the app. You can follow influencers like Monikh and Lotta Lavanti to see their outfit creations and most-wanted pieces. Genius!
Download Avail via the app store on your phone.
One of Australia’s most well-known heritage labels, Oroton, has had a new lease of life thanks to the appointment of new creative director Sophie Holt. Fusing the brand’s prestige with contemporary Aussie style, the result is a slew of relaxed tailoring, leather shirts and dinner party-appropriate silk dresses. Good news for us: the brand launched in the UK on 3rd October, meaning Oroton’s easy pastel-hued pieces are accessible for us Brits, too.
Oroton is available here from 3rd October.
On a mission to amplify diverse voices in the sustainability movement, ethical and environmentally-friendly brand Stella McCartney has launched a podcast called Mother’s of Invention. Addressing issues at the intersection of climate and racial justice, the three episode series includes interviews with tribal attorney and indigenous rights advocate Tara Houska, marine conservationist, policy expert and writer Dr. Ayana Johnson, and writer and climate justice activist Mary Annaïse Helgar. If you’re serious about reducing your carbon footprint, this fun and informative podcast is a great place to start.
You can listen to Mother’s of Invention here.
From JW Anderson to Jil Sander, there’s so many UNIQLO collaborations to bookmark, but first up is a collection created with London-based accessories brand CHAOS. Known for its stand-out phone cases, the brand has created a line of slick slogan tees and hoodies featuring retro typography. We love the ones reading “Sorry I’m late, I didn’t want to come,” “Unavailable,” and, more fittingly for 2020, “Argh!”
UNIQLO x CHAOS, from £12.50, is available here now.
If you’re trying to diversify your shopping habits by supporting more Black-owned businesses, there’s more than the monthly Black Pound Day to expand your rolodex. Savvy app Blaqbase is your one-stop-shop for Black-owned brands, from beauty to fashion and lifestyle. Founded by Benedicta Banga in 2019, think of it as a discovery marketplace of cool contemporary businesses, all available to shop at the tap of a button. Smart.
Download Blaqbase via the app store on your phone.
There’s a new lingerie label on the scene, and this one’s a goodie. Swedish brand Closely was founded last year but just launched online. Creating pieces that blur the line between sports and underwear, you can wear the functional bras anywhere and everywhere. It’s sustainable (Closely publishes its carbon footprint calculated for every new garment) and is size inclusive (it ranges from a UK 2 – 32). Best of all, whether you favour lacy numbers or colour-blocked pieces, the whole line is pretty as it comes.
Closely, from £22, is available to shop here now.
Your new favourite slogan tee has landed: meet Sustain Sportswear, founded by Ellie Vincent, formerly of Nike and Converse, who founded the label in the midst of the pandemic. Launching with two tees – our favourite is the Earthling long sleeved number – Sustain prints made-to-order (zero waste!) on 100% cotton Fair Wear-certified fabric in a solar-powered warehouse. All its packaging is compostable and 5% of the profits go to a charity supporting the fair wages and work of Bangladeshi cotton workers.
Shop Sustain Sportswear, from £40, here now.
Inspired by the brand’s archival Texan heritage prints, Dickies new Western Revival Capsule, featuring twill jackets, trousers and jumpsuits with a kitsch cowboy print, is an homage to its own vintage Americana narrative. Based on the Dickies Icon 874 pant and classic over shirt style, we’re styling ours with stomping boots and roll necks for autumn.
Dickies’ Western Revival Capsule, from £70, is available here now.
Grenson’s Nanette hiking boot may be as popular as ever (we’ve got our eyes on the new suede shearling-lined pair), but the heritage footwear brand just launched a 13-eye lace-up boot perfect for stomping through autumn in. Team with tiered skirts and band tees to emulate the ’90s, or take a leaf out of Copenhagen Fashion Week’s street style book with floral midi dresses and a rain hat. They’ll last forever.
Grenson’s 13 Eye Boots, £350, is available here now.
Like what you see? How about some more R29 goodness, right here?
31 Fashion Month-Worthy Outfits To Try In October