When I
arrive at Re-Made in Leeds one unseasonably hot day in March it
all appears quiet on the surface. Lizzie greats me at the door with a huge hug
and we march on through to the kitchen where she has a plethora of tea to
choose from. I dish out some chocolate brownies (donated from the WI) and we
sit down at her pattern cutting table.
It’s a hot
day, we are supping our tea and there is a bloke fitting the floor. “Are you
having your floor fitted? Does he want a drink?” I ask, pointing at the bloke
who is lying excruciatingly close to the rung near the door. “Nooo…” Lizzie
replies, laughing, “He’s a local artist – he’s sketching the rug!” And with
that the bloke pops off the rug, waves adios to Lizzie and exits the shop.
Then the
office phone starts going, a lady comes in to pick her jeans up which have been
mended, Lizzie’s mobile starts bleeping with texts pouring in. Lizzie is one
lady in demand and it’s not hard to see why – it seems the phrase ‘fingers in
pies’ was invented with her in mind. Re-made in Leeds is a social enterprise,
not for profit organisation which has an educational campaign structure. They
facilitate Clothes Swaps (where numbers can exceed 100), Workshops and other
awesome events. They collect ripped tights for recycling and old bras to give
to charities abroad. Out of the Re-Made Building also comes the Antiform brand.
I came
across Antiform when I was researching ethical,
locally sourced clothes for a client in Yorkshire. I was blown away by the
styling – ethically made clothes styled in a way which you would actually aspire to wear. An impressive
75% of all Anti-form clothes are made on site by local seamstresses and the
other 25% are made in homes and businesses within 20 miles of the main factory.
The materials are sourced from local factories – rolls of off cuts are stored
in the Re-Made warehouse. Want to know where the material for their A/W12
collection has come from? The same factory knitting fabric for none other than Victoria Beckham, new darling of world fashion.
Each camp
(Re-Made and Antiform) gives volunteers and interns the opportunity to get
involved. And it is achingly cool. Remember that issue of Elle which was full
of ethical brands but the styling was appalling? Lizzie does, “I don’t see why
ethical brands stand their models next to trees looking soppy. We wanted to
show a whole new way of doing things: that ethical can be just as stylish, just
as on-trend as the mass produced stuff.”
And there are no trees in sight – the colours, the styling, the model,
the location - all scream fashion and are styled by Lucy Harvey, the Ethical Stylist.
The clothes are designed in accordance with the seasons, not 6 months ahead
like other brands do, “We are trying to slow the fashion industry down versus
the speed of the fashion industry proper. Our range depends on what materials
are available to us from our suppliers.” Sold both wholesale and retail, this
approach has seen the brand trade over 2 successful years to date.
So why
Leeds? Lizzie downs her tea “We are sold this amazing lie that fashion only
exists in New York and London but you can
be fashion – it doesn’t matter where you live and it doesn’t matter what
money you spend: just buy something from a charity shop and rip it up!
Experiment! I wanted to prove that a successful label can exist outside of
London, that a fashion supply chain can work in Leeds.” With 9 stockists of
Antiform including stockists in London, Bristol, Glasgow and Spain, it shows
that her wish is her command.
