Fashion’s Heart Find Beautiful and Powerful Waste Not, Want Yes
Many of us will have or had parents or grandparents that sung that old ditty, Waste Not, Want Not” until our ears burned. This proverb means that if you don’t waste things (resources, money, time), you will always have what you need, promoting conservation, thrift, and resourcefulness. Long before the ideals of recycling or repurposing, those with family members alive during the world wars will know what reusing meant. A principle applied to everything from food and household goods to energy, encouraging a mindset of using things efficiently. The concept of reusing or finishing things up is certainly by no means a new idea, but one we are thankfully revisiting. Fashion is, without doubt, and for many years, one of the dirtiest industries, but it is starting to clean up its act, so here are some great cleaner fashion brands and a new one launching. Find out more in Fashion’s Heart, Find Beautiful and Powerful Waste Not, Want Yes. Images by photographer Jean Francois Carly
We love something beautiful to wear; there is no doubt of that, and why not? Brits alone buy a massive amount of clothing yearly, with estimates indicating around 60 items per person annually and a £31 billion total spend. Sadly, however, many items are quickly discarded, suggesting over 1.4 billion items are binned annually, and consumption is growing, though, highlighting significant overconsumption and waste in the UK. The figures are a little shocking when we peer into them.
On top of that we are becoming much more aware that fashion harms the planet through massive water use and pollution (dyes, chemicals, microplastics), high carbon emissions (8-10% of global total), extensive resource depletion from synthetic fibers (fossil fuels) and cotton (pesticides), and overwhelming textile waste (85% ends up in landfills or burned) due to overproduction and fast fashion cycles, affecting wildlife and human health.
Yet there must be a way to look at how we can do better, kinder and fairer? Luxury fashion has been an area that traditionally was considered a better choice, made to be ‘kept’ for a long time and even referred to as an investment buy. But designer items represent a small fraction of the total, with “premium and luxury” items accounting for roughly 23% of total consumption. Still, it helps, but not very much.
We have all in the last decade been made aware of waste, with areas like the fashion industry being made painfully conscious of its environmental footprint, and the growth in high-fashion designers working in cleaner, greener ways has grown, leading the charge when it comes to sustainable practices.
British designer Phoebe English is known for creating entire collections in the UK using only existing materials, avoiding the creation of new textiles. Christopher Raeburn has been using deadstock and military surplus materials to create functional, high-quality, and utilitarian clothing for many years. York-based designer Matty Bovan’s collections were and still are largely made from recycled and sustainable fabrics. Christy Dawn, who is known for vintage-inspired dresses, has specifically scoured fabric mills for surplus rolls to create limited-run, sustainable clothing. French catwalk houses, Gabriela Hearst and Marine Serra, frequently incorporate deadstock, recycled, and vintage materials into their runway collections. New names in this arena include Yaku Stapleton, Rosie Evans, Rua Carlota (by Charlotte Rose Kirkham), and Ninamounah Langestraat, with more constantly following this path.
One element of the whole rethinking and now reevaluating the fashion process is coming from within, from the established ranks of designers who have worked in the industry for many eras and who are now questioning the processes involved. Older guards are rethinking their own take on use and reuse. One such stalwart is Jens Laugersen, the Danish-born, London-based designer and creative consultant who has over 20 years of experience within the international fashion industry. His latest project is possibly his most caring and daring yet. It is called The Re/Jekt Project.
It is a design-led contemporary fashion brand founded on a simple but urgent idea. So, what if strong conceptual design and responsible production were not reserved for a niche audience? What if waste were treated as a starting point rather than a by-product?
Jens brings Nordic design thinking and Indian leather craftsmanship together to create democratic, long-lasting garments made from dead-stock materials, turning landfill waste into quality, highly desirable, long-lasting statement items.
Jens Laugesen is known for his conceptual luxury brand and hybrid design thinking, and here he is alongside Indian manufacturerand ex-investment banker Hitesh Sachdev, having produced for brands such as Marni, Maison Margiela, Diesel, Donna Karan and Karl Lagerfeld.
This collaboration began during Laugesen’s visit to India, where shared frustrations with the fashion system developed into a collective vision. Each founder was confronting a different, but connected, challenge, and so this new project was created as a direct response to both.
Sitting at an intersection of design access and material responsibility. It is not sustainability as an aesthetic ideal, nor a concept as an abstraction. It operates as a practical system. Deadstock leather becomes the starting point. Design adapts to material availability rather than forcing new production. Hybrid design thinking, garment architecture, and handmade craft are prioritised over seasonal trends.
The result is a collection of garments and accessories that are refined, functional, and culturally grounded. The design language draws on Nordic principles of clarity, reduction, and utility, with garments designed to move across cultures, genders, and ages.
Operating with a unisex sizing logic built around an inclusive, ‘unfit for all system’, aligned with familiar international women’s and men’s size norms. This size and gender inclusive approach reduces production complexity while increasing accessibility for the wearer.
By working exclusively with existing waste materials, the brand reduces demand for new resource extraction. Limited production runs avoid overproduction, while designing for durability and repair encourages long-term ownership.
Here, materials that have been rejected by the system are re-entered with a value. The use of “Projekt” with a Danish K references Scandinavian design culture and reinforces the idea of an evolving, process-driven approach rather than a fixed outcome.
The first collection focuses on known archetypes such as the trucker jacket, trench, leather outerwear, utilitarian garments, and accessories. Products are delivered directly from the factory to the store and the endcustomer, bypassing traditional luxury mark-ups, without sacrificing construction or material quality. Accessories and easy-to-wear signature hybrid pieces, including tees and hoodies, extend the same logic, allowing entry into the brand at different levels while maintaining a consistent design language.
After decades working in the industry, both with my own brand and in collaboration with labels such as CalvinKlein, J Mendel, and Swarovski, I’ve been frustrated by how high-end design rarely reaches a broader audience democratically and inclusively. With Re/Jekt Project, we want to make design accessible without diluting its concept or compromisingquality. Design should be inclusive and worn, not exclusive and protected.
Jens Laugesen/ CCO Chief Creative Director/RE/JEKT PROJECT
Invited by the Ciff fair to launch its first collection through an immersive exhibition format merging art and fashion, the debut installation will feature Swedish artist Erika Trotzig alongside iconic Swedish furniture brand Fogia. A curated hybrid gallery and showroom space will bring the brand’s formal and informal approach to garments into a spatial experience, with XXL garment sculptures, reclaimed wood structures, and signature Bolo chairs supporting the hybrid design vision.
Every season, large volumes of high-quality leather are left unused due to overproduction or minor specification changes. The material isn’t wasted in terms of quality, but it is excluded from the system. This project came from the need to use these resources responsibly, at scale, and to treat deadstock as value rather than a compromise.
Hitesh Sachdev/COO ChiefOperation Officer /Co-Founder RE/JEKT PROJECT
This bold new approach exists because the fashion industry does not need more noise. It needs better systems. Crafting that respect for material, labour, and intelligence. Systems that allow good design to circulate rather than accumulate. A new wya forward, one garment at a time, turning industry waste into beautiful and quality-led design.
If you enjoyed reading Fashion’s Heart Find Beautiful and Powerful Waste Not, Want Yes, then why not read Craft Is It The New Luxury? here
.Cent Magazine London. Luxury Mindset
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