FASHION | Junky Styling

AS PREVIOUSLY POSTED ON THE OXFAM FASHION BLOG...

It's exciting when you discover innovative fashion concepts which not only challenge the ethics of the industry but create visually pleasing aesthetics to boot.

Junky Styling, Hackney

Founded by designer duo Annika Sanders and Kerry Seager, Junky Styling has been an established sustainable fashion brand since 1997. Operating on a number of different creative levels, they offer a unique Wardrobe Surgery for people to bring their own clothing in to be transformed into some Junky couture as well as producing a Ready-to-Wear collection, off the peg garments and a bespoke service. The creastions have been affectionately dubbed 'an eccentrically chic line of mutant couture' by The New Yorker and 'high fashion street couture' by Vogue.

Junky Styling champions the sustainable message of upcycling and said: "All items are created from either post or pre consumer stock which is cut up and reworked. The recycling of textiles into upcycled garments is what makes us sustainable. We create style that outlasts seasons while still managing to retain the original ethos of individuality off the peg."

Inside the Junky Styling shop in Hackney

The unique garments which fill the Hackney shop are made up of material from numerous sources. As well as renovated, high quality second-hand clothing they utilise excess stock from labels, decommissioned army surplus and surplus from textile merchants and pickers across the country.

An example of their celebrated Wardrobe Surgery saw them turn 85 silk bow ties, previously owned by a client's father, into the interior of a cape. "It is a truly amazing piece that fitted the remit of having her dad close to her but without everyone knowing, until the cape came off that was!" said Kerry. She also adds that her dream Wardrobe Surgery would have been reworking the late Princess Diana's wedding dress into something Kate could have worn.

As founder members of the Ethical Fashion Forum, the brand aligns with Oxfam's reuse, recycle and resell philosophy aiming to combat the 1.4 million tonnes of textile waste sent to landfill each year. They said: "I think sustainable fashion is the only future and, with the help of tomorrow's generation of designers being exposed to so much information on sustainability, knowledge is key to change."

A selection of the Junky Styling clothing range

Having forged upcycling into a career, when it comes to getting crafty with clothing, Junky Styling are experts. Their advice is: "identify your own style, what cuts you like and what suits you and then get confident with the scissors! Initially, it's all about how your pieces look on the outside, so don't feel pressurised to reach perfection in the first attempt. Begin with tweaking pieces first and save the transforming for a little further down the line."

After 15 years in business, and many more to come, Junky Styling are in the midst of a rebrand. With promises of exciting offers, keep an eye on this exciting ethical brand in the future.

Blog post written by Helen Archard

Online Fashion Content Intern

More by Helen Archard

Posted with Blogsy

FASHION | Green Carpet Challenge

As the industry gets painted green it’s not just high street consumers who are being encouraged to bring their morals into their buying, celebrities are also being encouraged to recycle their enviable wardrobes.

For most, it would be a blissful dream to be able to wear a new outfit everyday and to be avalanched with gifted designer garments but, if you’ve ever seen an episode of MTV Cribs, you’ll see that for those in the public eye it is quite the norm. 

 

Kate Middleton, the regal trendsetter, has been championing this ethical ideal. Style spies have clocked the Duchess of Cambridge wearing this pink Emilia Wickstead dress twice in ten days. After 'recycling' her blue Missoni coat on numerous occasions, it's been announced for re-release and expected to sell out in hours.

Kate’s influence on fashion has been phenomenal. Her love of the British High Street has helped sales boom and her thrifty attitude to clothing has been seen as setting a great example by Queen Elizabeth.

To be honest if I owned a McQueen dress or Chanel suit it’d probably have to be forcibly removed from my person every day, no problem with sustainability here!

This is no new concept but is one which is at the forefront of industry. In 2009, Livia Firth and Lucy Siegle, of Eco-Age, launched their Green Carpet Challenge to bring sustainable style to the most prestigious a-list events proving eco-fashion is not just for hemp-loving hippies. Eco-age.com is a valuable resource for all things ethical, sustainable and eco-conscious across lifestyle industries.

Their latest member is actress/model and ethical activist Lily Cole who accompanies fellow a-list supporters Cameron Diaz, Meryl Streep and Elizabeth McGovern in the campaign. The movement encourages designers to create environmentally conscious designs and stars to recycle their red carpet outfits.

Check out the Eco-Age website and Livia’s blog for Vogue.co.uk.