There’s no getting around the fact that The Good Life requires something to live that good life on (aka a planet). And while we don’t pretend to be immune to the festive hype, complete with more deals than you can shake a roll of wrapping paper at, we’re the first to admit that along with every add-to-cart dopamine hit is accompanied by a sinking feeling. Climate anxiety—the ultimate killjoy.
Worse still, we just learned that here in Aotearoa we send some 143 tonnes of clothing waste to landfill every day. (Pictured above is the amount we send to landfill every five minutes.) But shopping need not trigger a doom spiral—luckily there's a bunch of local brands and individuals putting in some serious mahi behind the scenes to change fashion, for good.
Earlier this year we got a glimpse behind the curtain, slipping into the Mindful Fashion Circular Design Awards where entrants were challenged to redesign the future of business, where enterprises work in tune with nature, not against it. Of course, in quintessential Urban List style we wanted to know how these inspiring people fuel their days and where they feed up after a hard day on the grind. But we also got to talk to them about how they’re changing the threads of our local fashion industry and it was a massive relief.
Peri Drysdale | Untouched World
Image credit: Mindful Fashion Circular Design Awards | Radlab
Founder and CEO of Untouched World, a 40-year-old company that’s the first and only fashion label to be recognised by the United Nations for sustainability.
The Good Life According To Peri
Wandering in nature + the streets of New York and Paris (I love that we can do both of these things) + my pussycat Inky
Designer Crush
I’m really sad to see Kate Sylvester packing up their things. I love what Ruby are doing and, internationally, Stella McCartney.
Fave Cafes Of The Moment?
Osteria at The Mount and Ortolana in Auckland
Our pick: Untouched World's rubbish socks which are made from a knitting operation in Christchurch where all the scraps get collated, cut up, shredded and made into a yarn blended with 50% virgin wool.
Jeff Ward | Offcut
Image credit: Mindful Fashion Circular Design Awards | Radlab
Co-owner of Offcut, a company that’s all about mitigating textile waste. They turn scraps into caps, taking supply chain waste and remnant offcut fabric and turning it into caps which are dropped monthly.
The Good Life According To Jeff
Family + being by the ocean + getting out into nature
Talk Us Through What You're Wearing
This was a collab we did with a company called Zeenya which does women’s activewear. Fun fact: I have a really massive head so I can’t fit most of our hats usually but this has got a nice bit of stretch to the fabric so a bit of colour to my otherwise black wardrobe.
Fave Local Cafe
My go-to place for coffee is Addington Coffee Co-Op down in Christchurch—it’s a big old workshop that’s been turned into this amazing, grunge-feel cafe. They do amazing coffee and also do some really great stuff for the people and the planet.
Our pick: Literally any of their hats. We think the monthly drops are a bold, beautiful way of proving their commitment to the environment. Plus, you can always rummage around in their archive if you need a gift between drops.
Emma Ensor | Standard Issue
Image credit: Mindful Fashion Circular Design Awards | Radlab
CEO of a company called McDonald Textiles which specialises in knitwear and has a number of brands under in, one of which is Standard Issue.
The Good Life According To Emma
Running + my children + my work (I couldn’t do it if I wasn’t passionate about it)
Sustainability And Fashion Don’t Necessarily Come Together Seamlessly, What Inspires You To Stick With It?
So many people are challenging the norms and what I’m loving is small brands doing things differently whether it’s made to order or challenging the status quo in some way.
Fave Hangout
I live in Sandringham so I love going up the mountain and running around that area but I’m going to give a shoutout to a little cafe close to work called Sorella. They do an amazing job out there serving a busy industrial area.
Our pick: Standard Issue's merino drawstring dress. It’s made of 100% ZQ low impact ethical merino.
Salma Ibrahim-Jerrywo | Rising Talent
Image credit: Mindful Fashion Circular Design Awards | Radlab
Postgraduate fashion and spatial design student at AUT and finalist for Mindful Fashion's Rising Talent Award.
The Good Life According To Salma
Piercings (I love them, they make me who I am) + art (I love illustrating and designing) + shopping
Design Aesthetic For The Mindful Fashion NZ Circular Design Awards
I’m heavily into designing menswear and I love challenging myself to create new, refreshing looks for Aotearoa. Alongside that I do a lot of 3D digital work. I’m trying to up my skills so I involved a bit of my practice within my design so it has that element of Salma. I added some laser-cut detailing and a lot of shapes to give that sinewy flow.
The outer fabric is waste materials from the film industry. It got donated to Nick’s Fabrics where I work. The lining is made with offcuts from Zambesi—got to represent a New Zealand brand. I just basically used what I could get and created something cool but I think some people tend to miss the mark of whether people can actually wear a garment and have that longevity so I made sure to think about that.
Fave Local Hangout Spot
Since I’m always at uni I go to Mojo on Symonds Street and I love to get the chocolate chip cookie, the slow-cooked beef brisket sandwich and an iced mocha—my go-to.
Our pick: follow Salma on Early Hours,
Want more like this? Check out our pick of the best ethical Kiwi designers right now.