One of our favourite conscious designers, Alexandra Groover, is back with her latest collection for Autumn Winter 2016, ANCESTRAL. In her follow up to ADAPTATION for Spring Summer 2016, she continues to explore the natural sciences and their relationship with the human condition. Initially inspired by her Scottish ancestry and her life in the UK, Groover has combined her clan history with her research on the ancient inhabitants of the UK, along with her experience living in modern Britannia.
Continuing along the lines of her previous collection ADAPTATION, Groover has delved deeper into the nomadic notion of conservation and reuse by incorporating both the positive and negative shapes cut from the fabric, making the ANCESTRAL collection 100% zero waste. Further emphasising her focus on the utilisation of local resources, each garment is made in London using 100% English-made organic cotton jersey and cotton fleece.
Groover is also pleased to announce the launch of AGxRF, a new accessories collaboration with leather innovator Rachel Freire. Beginning with Groover’s concern for the environmental impact of leather as a main design parameter, Freire has adapted her innovative leather skills into using both ethically sourced low-waste leather designs, as well as introducing a wonderful new vegan alternative to leather: Piñatex™, a textile made completely from pineapple fibre, which consists of the waste leftover from the pineapple harvest. Having seen and felt these bags in person, I can tell you they look so strikingly close to leather and while they have a different feel, Piñatex™ is an amazing textile for use in the place of leather. Freire has designed a collection of minimally elegant, yet functional bags and accessories, incorporating her Irish Catholic ancestry with abstracted pagan-inspired sigils created to compliment Groover’s contemporary, yet primitively inspired collection. With a view to adapt leather products into a more ethical, yet equally beautiful alternative, Groover and Freire hope that this collection will encourage consumers to consider the greater effect that their purchasing choices have upon the environment and future generations to come.
After studying at Central St. Martins and RISD, and working in the studios of Alexander McQueen and Zandra Rhodes, Alexandra Groover launched her first collection for Autumn Winter 2009. With press from iD, Dazed, Vogue.com, Harper’s Bazaar and Grey, and collaborations with cult bands SunnO))), Chelsea Wolfe and Bo Ningen, Groover has rapidly gained a strong following within the fashion, art and music industries.
With a BA Hons in Design for Performance from Central St. Martins, Rachel Freire is a designer who, along with launching her own collection in 2009, has worked as a leather specialist with designers such as Giles Deacon and Alexander McQueen. Seamlessly combining elements of future fashion and textiles with traditional craftsmanship, Freire’s work focuses on value attribution and sustainability, as well as innovative material collaborations. Additionally, she is designer and director at m i.mu gloves, a pioneering gestural interface which allows you to make music with your hands. Her work exists to tell stories, or to inspire them.
