Those who don’t believe sustainable fashion can be as glamorous as the unsustainable couture dresses parading down the red carpet need to check out Ronald van der Kemp’s radical practice of upcycling and repurposing deadstock. I have. It’s just amazing what this passionate trailblazer can accomplish by turning scraps of couture fabric salvaged from the trash into stunning frocks. “It’s Project Trashure,” he joked. “Treasure from textile waste.”
Today’s events (he didn’t want to call it a “show”) will take guests through a wall of thick smoke curtains, ominous red lights, and disturbing noises to a luxurious France-Dutch location. It started with entering the courtyard of the ambassador’s residence. Clearly a metaphor for the chaos of the world. Van der Kemp is on a mission to inform us of the state of our crazy planet. He is a tireless optimist who believes fashion has the power to change things for the better.
“As a designer and couturier, I believe I have a great influence on how people behave because fashion today is a very powerful force. You have to have it and use it.” When he started designing for sustainability eight and a half years ago, people thought he was insane, idealistic and delusional visionary. It is to be commended that he worked on the idea early, as younger generations have embraced his approach.
To model today’s wardrobe 17, he gathered friends from the Maison. “Interesting people who share our values and stand by what we stand for.” Ribbons, leather scraps of all kinds, cleverly turned into great showstoppers. The cast was as imaginative as the costumes. Dutch model Marpessa Hennink and Broadway producer Jordan Ross are in charge of the booking, a human rights lawyer working on issues of discrimination and his LGTBQIA+, an Amsterdam museum copywriter, a flamboyant Japanese fashion journalist, Many figures appeared, including a former German businessman. medical industry. What Ronald van der Kempff is most concerned with is clearly human nature.
Among the rather exceptional riot of upcycled pieces, three looks stand out, made with our in-house developed Trashure Trove fabric. This is an expandable project where small discarded scraps of silk, glitter or leather are rewoven into shimmering new textiles. One was an asymmetrical mini dress in multicolored leather with a metallic sheen. The other is a discarded black leather jacket, the construction of which is truly imaginative, pierced, re-embroidered with thin ropes and richly decorated in equally luxurious black and gray colors. She wore jeans. “Trash is the new gold,” summed up van der Kemp. He sounded so convincing that it was hard to disagree.
