Sustainable Couture is a flourishing network of Australian textile artists and designers,
passionate about creating distinctive eco-fashion and promoting sustainability
About Sustainable Couture
Sustainable Couture is a thriving network of Australia wide designers who have fused their skills to forge a unique approach to recycling, refashioning and reconstructing textiles.
Members have been creating one-off, edgy fashion designs, accessories and
homewares, as well as focusing community attention on
sustainability through the endless possibilities of recycling, upcycling, repurposing and reducing textile waste, since 2009.
The collective energy of the group is refreshed annually by way of new designers being invited to participate in the parade and pop-up shop or the return of past designers - the ebb and flow is managed by a core group. This group also shares the following overall responsibilities including, seeking funding, coordinating the various events’ program, social media activity, public relations, website management, producing the parade, coordinating designers and their models and hosting the various events referred to below.
2020 Online Collection
In 2020 Sustainable Couture worked with talented videographer Devris Hasan to launch our collection online.
2021
One world ~ many threads
Sustainable Couture invites you to join us in Alice Springs in 2021 for our Parade and Marketplace on Sunday 27 June and our Pop-Up Shop from 28 June - 4 July 2021.
Our theme for this year, One World – Many Threads – has our designers buzzing as they interpret and explore this timely theme.
Scattered across the vastness of Australia, our designers come together in Alice Springs in June, to present their inventive 2021 collections on the outdoor catwalk at the Central Australian Aviation Museum.
We are thrilled that Sustainable Couture will be part of the Alice Springs Beanie Festival program in 2021. It will be a vibrant weekend of fibre festivities at the Araluen Cultural Precinct with the Sustainable Couture Parade on Sunday 27 June at 1230pm.
Click here for profiles of our designers, and explore our website for step-by-step ways to reuse fabrics, and how to remake and refashion garments that have been hanging idly in your wardrobe, as well as linking you with other online resources to nurture your creative urges to recycle textiles.
And remember, no matter where you live you can connect creatively and explore some inventive ways of living more sustainably. But, be warned…once you become inspired to have a go at some creative playtime, you will find a world of new and irresistible possibilities!
Visit our on-line marketplace so that you can buy one-off, distinctive garments created by our passionate Sustainable Couture designers from recycled clothes and fabrics.
So, be sure to buy your tickets for the Parade and join us for One world ~ many threads!
Philomena Hali and Franca Frederiksen
Sustainable Couture Founders
Co-instigator of Sustainable Couture and three-time recipient of ‘runner-up’ Wearable Art Awards, Franca is passionate about fashioning stylish garments from recycled and sometimes surprising fabrics.
Philomena is recognised nationally and internationally for her diverse work; her pieces are held in private collections, museums and galleries across Australia and overseas.
A long-time dressmaker and passionate about the environment, Carmel prefers to reuse and repurpose, and loves working with vintage pre-loved or found natural materials that 'come with a story’.
Galleries
2020 Online Collection
"Why send perfectly good clothing to landfill?" The Sustainable Couture Designer's deconstruct and reconstruct garments, embellishing them "One Stitch at a Time"...
All In The Same Boat
“All in the same Boat” invited everyone to “come on board and sail the oceans of possibility, ride the tide in the shift to a more sustainable and ethical clothing industry”.
Worn to be Wild
Clothing has always been a way of expressing oneself: our national or ethnic identity, our class, gender and sexuality. Clothes are and always have been Worn to be wild.
*Sophie Daniels (centre) on the runway with her models, at Eco Fashion Week Australia 2018
Mentorship Program Information
Applications for the Sustainable Couture Mentorship program shall be announced shortly.
Stay tuned to hear the details of our mentee for this year's exciting program of creative and personal development.
EVENTS
Get in Touch
We would like to thank our sponsors
for giving us the opportunity to develop our creative skills, contribute to a rich, innovative art, craft and design community and bring attention to the national discussion around our environment and the urgent need to reduce textile waste in landfill.