Hyundai Re:Style 2020 Collaboration
E.L.V. DENIM is proud to be one of the six conscious designers alongside Alighieri, Public School, pushBUTTON, Richard Quinn and Rosie Assoulin. These forward-thinking partners were selected as they share Hyundai’s vision of finding more sustainable ways to create the products we love. Each one sharing Hyundai's goal to collaborate across industries to drive innovation in sustainable design and manufacturing.
Sold exclusively through Selfridges (1st - 15th October 2020) as part of Project Earth, with all proceeds donated to The Business of Fashion 'Institute of Positive Fashion' helping young brands to survive through Covid-19.
“My design process has always started from a point of waste, so Hyundai Re:Style 2020 immediately appealed to me. This project shows when brand ambitions align, industries can collaborate to reimagine waste”.
- Anna Foster, Founder and Creative Director
Hyundai: How did you join “Hyundai Re:Style 2020” project? What was thought when you are asked to join this project?
Anna Foster: As soon as I received the invitation to join this project, I was instantly committed.
E.L.V. DENIM only uses post-consumer textile waste to make my products so I was
really excited to take on this challenge, juxtaposing textile waste from the fashion
industry with waste from the car industry to create something that will be loved
forever.
Hyundai: Tell me about the process of working on this project. What was the most notable/inspiring elements of the project?
AF: I have never worked with leather before, and car industry leather is totally different from fabric leather. Consequently, the leather had to be molded and ‘worn in’ to enable it to be sewn together with the denim. We only wanted to use natural methods, so the team (including my children!) set to work heating the leather with hair dryers and massaged the leather with coconut oil to make it softer and move more naturally on the body. We then had to skive the leather to make it thinner for the machines. This technique removes a layer to make the leather thinner, and if done incorrectly you end up with the leather disintegrating literally into shavings!
Hyundai: Please tell/explain me about your piece in the collection in your point of view?
AF: I have created a jumpsuit which pairs the leather waste with denim waste. The original pattern had to be changed to incorporate the smaller leather pieces, but that is the point of reimagining waste. You have to look at the waste first and THEN decide what you can design.
Hyundai: Could you evaluate Hyundai Motor’s efforts on sustainability and collaboration with fashion field?
AF: Hyundai are leading the field within the car industry and striving for global best practices. Instead of simply discarding their waste, they took the time and care to reimagine what could be done. In order
for us to fully understand how we can begin to reduce waste globally; it is both a matter of necessity AND common sense for different industries to communicate to
see how we can work together to achieve this. As the adage goes, one person’s
trash is another person’s treasure.
“My design process has always started from a point of waste, so Hyundai Re:Style 2020 immediately appealed to me. This project shows when brand ambitions align, industries can collaborate to reimagine waste."
- Anna Foster, Founder and Creative Director
Hyundai: What should fashion industry do to more sustainable lifestyle and environment?
AF: We have to use our common sense and take the time to think of sustainable alternatives. Yes convenience is easy by definition, but only by using existing resources around us, working with local factories and producing ONLY what is needed, can we finally move towards a more sustainable lifestyle and environment. The fashion industry also has a duty to educate our customer and explain how a more conscious lifestyle can benefit us all.
Hyundai: Do you have your fashion brand activities for more sustainable fashion?
AF: E.L.V. DENIM was born from an ethos of using post-consumer denim waste and
turning it into modern sophisticated pieces, but we must always strive to do more.
As the business grows, I aspire for E.L.V. DENIM to be a fully circular brand.
