From comfortable jogging suits to summer dresses – Lea Baecker has made the majority of her wardrobe in her London flat and is part of a community of young hobby tailors who are critical of the fashion industry, which is perceived as too devastating.
“I wanted to become independent of ready-made goods,” explained 29-year-old Baecker, a neuroscience doctoral student. Baecker started sewing in 2018 – fueled by her rejection of fast fashion and cheap clothes that are quickly thrown away. She started making small bags, four years later “about 80 percent of her wardrobe” is sewn herself, from pajamas to a long fleece coat to jeans made from denim leftovers that she collected together from her family.
Today, Lea only “very rarely” buys new clothes, she explains to AFP, dressed in a long, hand-sewn dress. The fashion and textile industry is the world’s third-biggest polluter after the food and construction industries, and is responsible for up to five percent of global greenhouse gas emissions, according to a report published a year ago by the Davos Economic Forum. Cut-off fashion chains are regularly criticized for the waste and pollution they generate and the wage conditions imposed on their manufacturing workers.
Think about consumption
Tara Viggo knows this lavish side of fashion well, having worked as a patternmaker for 15 years. Then came the disillusionment: “I saw the amount of clothes going in and out of the camps, it was frightening.” In 2017 she decided to design her own patterns, taking her time and only one model a year on average for sale, a far cry from the “four patterns a day” she was sometimes asked to do in the ready-to-wear industry. “I don’t think H&M will close tomorrow,” she says, but the sewing is thought-provoking: “When you sew it yourself, you can no longer imagine that a shirt should cost three pounds (about 3.50 euros). .”
Her Zadie jumpsuit is now a bestseller on website The Fold Line, according to Rachel Walker, who co-founded this platform in 2015, which brings independent pattern makers together. The site has grown from an initial 20 creative collaborators to over 150. Rosie Scott and Hannah Silvani have also found in their London studio, where – still a rarity in the UK – they sell fabrics from fashion houses’ unsold stocks, that sewing is regaining popularity, especially among young people.
“Our clientele has gotten younger, that’s for sure (…) and they want to make their own clothes and do it in a sustainable way,” assures Rosie Scott. Colours, patterns, materials… Hobby tailors – women make up over 90 percent of the clientele – can choose from 700 design fabrics, ranging from eight pounds sterling (about 9.60 euros) per meter of cotton to 110 pounds sterling (about 132 euros) for high-quality lace. Orders, which have skyrocketed during the pandemic, have not declined despite the lifting of lockdowns.
Instagram community
For Rosie Scott, the trend’s explosive growth would not have been possible without Instagram, where the sewing-fan community has established an activity with an old-fashioned “cool” image.
On Instagram, “people can share their work and discuss it with each other,” she explains. “It’s one of the best ways to exchange ideas with others.” Sharing her patterns there was also the reason why Lea Baecker registered with the social network. “Each pattern has its own hashtag, you can find people who have made the same pattern and imagine what it might look like on yourself.”
For example, Tara Viggo’s #Zadiejumpsuit, made of velvet or cotton, with or without sleeves, has been the subject of almost 11,000 posts by fans of the model. The hashtag #handmadewardrobe (“hand-sewn wardrobe”) is used by around 900,000 people. “You see so many incredible people making great clothes, that showed me that I can do it too,” says Lea Baecker. With her numerous creations, the young woman was even able to convince friends to take part: “That’s what I’m most proud of.” (AFP)
This article was previously published on FashionUnited.fr. Translation and editing: Barbara Russ