To celebrate the start of London Fashion Week, we invited East London-based NewGen designer Faustine Steinmetz to create an exclusive window installation, showcasing key elements of her Spring/Summer 2015 collection, for Opening Ceremony Shoreditch.
Check out her stunning work in the pictures, and read our interview with the design darling, below.
Shop all Faustine Steinmetz here
SHAWANA GROSVENOR: Can you talk me through the ideas of deconstruction that inspired your exclusive window installation at OC Shoreditch?
FAUSTINE STEINMETZ: This season, I focused on different ways to make the same pieces over and over again, and to do that I simply went back to the roots of the fabric. For instance, a few of the outfits we made for the show are entirely made of recycled denim. We basically unraveled jeans until it was a big pile of yarns and remade it into completely different items by hand-weaving it back into lots of different fabrics by felting it and fraying it.
Have you always been fascinated by denim... even as a child?
I don't so much remember wearing it but I do remember cutting it to pieces and experimenting with it. The back pocket would become a bag, the hem was the strap, the waistband would become a headband; there were loads of very bad ideas like this! The worst one was definitely the day I decided to cut a hole in the crotch to transform a pair of jeans into a denim jacket. These experiments came to an end when my parents realized where all the garments they bought for me ended up.
Do you have a specific person in mind when you are designing a collection?
No not at all—the thing I always wonder is "Would I wear that?" Every time I have an idea, I have to think why would I wear it before going ahead. That's an essential step in my work process—an auto-censor pretty much.
As London Fashion Week is fast approaching, what is your vice when preparing for a show?
I usually become a smoker for the two weeks proceeding Fashion Week—and loads and loads of Pepsi Max and guarana to stay awake.
Where do you go to unwind after LFW?
Something calm! The noise of the looms drive me mad, all this wood banging two or three times per minute for months! I have been in the studio for the whole summer, even on the weekends. I need some fresh air, so after the show I am bringing my friends to the rooftop of the Boundary. I cannot wait to have a glass of wine and catch up with them!
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Faustine Steinmetz' new installation for OC Shoreditch. Photos by Toni Hollowood![]()
Made entirely of 100% recycled denim, the designer unraveled jeans until it was "a big pile of yarns."
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OC Shoreditch carries the designer's current Fall/Winter 2014 collection, seen in this picture—handwoven boucle and denim jackets.
Check out her stunning work in the pictures, and read our interview with the design darling, below.
Shop all Faustine Steinmetz here
SHAWANA GROSVENOR: Can you talk me through the ideas of deconstruction that inspired your exclusive window installation at OC Shoreditch?
FAUSTINE STEINMETZ: This season, I focused on different ways to make the same pieces over and over again, and to do that I simply went back to the roots of the fabric. For instance, a few of the outfits we made for the show are entirely made of recycled denim. We basically unraveled jeans until it was a big pile of yarns and remade it into completely different items by hand-weaving it back into lots of different fabrics by felting it and fraying it.
Have you always been fascinated by denim... even as a child?
I don't so much remember wearing it but I do remember cutting it to pieces and experimenting with it. The back pocket would become a bag, the hem was the strap, the waistband would become a headband; there were loads of very bad ideas like this! The worst one was definitely the day I decided to cut a hole in the crotch to transform a pair of jeans into a denim jacket. These experiments came to an end when my parents realized where all the garments they bought for me ended up.
Do you have a specific person in mind when you are designing a collection?
No not at all—the thing I always wonder is "Would I wear that?" Every time I have an idea, I have to think why would I wear it before going ahead. That's an essential step in my work process—an auto-censor pretty much.
As London Fashion Week is fast approaching, what is your vice when preparing for a show?
I usually become a smoker for the two weeks proceeding Fashion Week—and loads and loads of Pepsi Max and guarana to stay awake.
Where do you go to unwind after LFW?
Something calm! The noise of the looms drive me mad, all this wood banging two or three times per minute for months! I have been in the studio for the whole summer, even on the weekends. I need some fresh air, so after the show I am bringing my friends to the rooftop of the Boundary. I cannot wait to have a glass of wine and catch up with them!
Faustine Steinmetz' new installation for OC Shoreditch. Photos by Toni Hollowood
Made entirely of 100% recycled denim, the designer unraveled jeans until it was "a big pile of yarns."
OC Shoreditch carries the designer's current Fall/Winter 2014 collection, seen in this picture—handwoven boucle and denim jackets.