The ninth in a twelve-part series intended to change the way you buy and wear fashion. This month we feature patchwork designer Lu Flux.
Click images to enlarge.
i-Sustain our year long endeavour to change the way we think about, buy and wear fashion is approaching its final quarter and now seems like a good time to ask, are you confused? We only raise this question because cumulatively we’ve covered quite a lot of ground over the last 10 months and there is no getting away from the fact that sustainability has the capacity to scramble the mind; it can feel like a set of ever-changing rules and this sense of shifting sands can leave you longing for the safety and security of the high street.
One of the reasons we chose to tackle this project over a year is that it allows us and you, the space to consider and digest a diverse set of ideas and actions, giving them time to settle and connect on a personal level. Whilst we’ve tried to be clear and uncompromising in outlining the many reasons why things needs to change, we also recognise that as individuals, achieving an understanding of how we can manifest change in our day to day lives can be a confusing and complex process; what feels like the right approach one month can suddenly seem like misplaced idealism the next.
Our aim is to offer an insight into the numerous ways to do things differently but in the end we want you to form your own set of values that will ensure a more fulfilling and long lasting relationship with what you wear. You can make an effort to buy organic or fair-trade clothing, you can recycle, swap, share, customise, go vintage, go local, go slow, buy less, wash less, mend more, make more, every small shift in behaviour is valuable and important, a practical and a symbolic contribution to living a more considerate and ultimately satisfying life.
With this in mind, rather than throwing out more information, we’ll just stop and offer a simple reminder to think, ask questions and take time to look for unique intelligent people and products that you can be proud to be associated with. Just remember confusion is an inevitable part of reflection and reflection is the route to active and informed choices. Whilst it may sometimes feel easier to put the blinkers on and keep going as you are, as Socrates once said “the unexamined life is not worth living”!
On the theme of finding fulfilment in confusion, we decided to focus on a designer whose patchwork approach to creating both garments and collections represents a totally unique and sometimes bizarre fashion experience. Lu Flux makes a rainbow of re-purposed printed and plain fabrics, rescued from textile recycling plants. She does this not so much because of the relative sustainability benefits of working in this way but more because it serves her aesthetic. She makes no excuses for the eclectic outcomes of her endeavours and it is this unashamed boldness that gives clarity to the chaos. Lu creates a wonderful world in which her work makes perfect sense and whilst her garments can range from ethereal elegance to cartoon craziness, somehow the authenticity of her approach brings cohesion. She will never be everyone’s cup of tea and certainly it can take some guts to wear a Lu Flux creation but we celebrate her amazing array of ideas and her sometimes confusing but always original and personal take on fashion.
Click here to see our i-Sustain series in full.
Text: Alex McIntosh
Photography: Kerry Dean
Styling: Sam Willoughby
Hair: Hair stylist & Colourist Selena Middleton using Kiehl’s & L’Oreal Professionnel
Make up: Julie Jacobs using Benefit Cosmetics ‘Cha Cha Tint’
Models: Annie @ M&P & Felix @ Elite
Photographer’s Assistant – Chloe Coates
Styling Assistant: Gemma Butterworth=
Re-touching: Russell Day @ Daybreak Creative
Credits: Look 1: Felix wears shirt Lu Flux. Look 2: Shirt and trousers Lu Flux. Jumper Beyond Retro. Shoes Mr Hare. Look 3: Annie wears dress Oxfam Collection. Look 4 and 5: Dress Lu Flux. Coat Aquascutum from Beyond Retro. Sandals Swedish Hasbeens. Look 6: Shirt Lu Flux. Look 7 and 8: Dress Lu Flux. Coat Aquascutum from Beyond Retro. Look 9: Felix wears jumper and shorts Lu Flux. Annie wears dress Lu Flux. Coat Aquascutum from Beyond Retro.
