ENVERO

Shortlisted for the Green Trail Award, Maison/0 sponsored by LVMH. Envero – The title of my project refers to the ripening process of olives from green, pink, and purple through to black. In the context of the climate emergency, my intention was to create a low-impact, fully sustainable, luxury textile for fashion, linked closely to a regenerative, agricultural practice. The project aimed to find an innovative way for an olive mill in my home village; Órgiva, in Southern Spain, to diversify their income by working with agriculture waste by-products of the olive oil industry to create a sustainable textile. I discovered a natural textile discharge that worked on naturally dyed fabrics and created a matt, greyscale print with olive pit charcoal. My project imagines how hyper-local, regenerative fashion systems located in a de-populated, rural town of ‘empty Spain’, with the highest rates in Europe unemployment, could help a community thrive again. The imagery is taken from the surrounding mountains and sun-bleached, rural aesthetic. I enjoyed finding endless technical printing possibilities while working from a limited material source. The challenges that sustainable practices offer have changed how I think and work as a designer. I was particularly interested in seeing how this industry could regenerate a rural, impoverished area. Furthermore, the olive tree has a long life span and can be considered part of regenerative agriculture. I had an interest in creating a fashion system that could work alongside agriculture. Climate change has increased temperatures, fires, and lengths of summers in recent years which affect adversely the yield of the olive harvest. My final outcome includes an organic silk dress, naturally dyed with madder, black beans, bay leaves, and logwood and printed with natural discharge pastes. Thanks to my sponsors, Clericci Tessuto (organic cotton) and Soktas (regenerative cotton) who provided all the fabrics for my dress and textile collection. Thanks to the organic olive oil mill, Flor de la Alpujarra, Órgiva, Spain, for assisting my research.