Fidler on the ‘roof of the world’ after winning eco fashion award
A Polish design student has taken the fashion world by storm after winning the Kering Award for Sustainable Fashion 2018.
Aniela Fidler stunned judges with her design focusing on empowering local Indian communities through reusing waste copper wires as embroidery material.
As part of the prize, the BA student may now get to work with the Alexander McQueen fashion house which chose her design and is currently in talks about implementing her winning designs for their 2019 collection.
Fidler told TFN: “It's a very big moment for me and I felt really empowered throughout the whole competition. There’s a need for innovation and I’m really looking forward to seeing how the whole industry will develop.”
The Fashion student used recycled copper wire from India and a 2000-year-old technique to hand embroider the winning design project.
This isn’t the first time the fashion-forward thinker has worked with big design names.
During her undergraduate studies at the prestigious London College of Fashion, Fidler secured an internship with Vivienne Westwood.
It wasn’t an easy spot to secure, but Fidler’s talent landed her a role as a production assistant.
She said: “The most important for me was the possibility to explore the archive of the brand. It made me better understand the role of clothes as fashion artefacts and their role in the culture.”
This isn’t the first time Aniela has worked with a big designer, slow fashion designer Aniela also worked an internship with Vivienne Westwood.
Fidler, though just starting out in her career, drives forward on a mission to commercialise sustainable fashion, but she also fights against fast fashion, bringing her to make some unconventional moves in the past.
Assigned by her university to present ideas to fashion giant Inditex (owner of Zara and Oysho) as part of her 2nd semester, the vegan fashionista decided to rebel rather than cooperated.
Rather than present design ideas, Aniela talked about the destructive impact of mass production on the environment.
“It was a risk,” she told TFN.
“But I didn’t want to be taught how to follow practices that I disagreed with and I simply expressed my critique. ”
The young designer failed her 2nd year semester by rejecting to present designs for fast fashion giants Inditex, but now she will be launching her own shoe line [pictured].
Although the designers and teachers understood Aniela’s objection, they still had to fail her in her second semester.
She added: “Nowadays my perspective is much different. There is so much to do in high-street companies and we should interact with them to influence their sustainability agendas!”
And now, with 2019 approaching, she’s planning to bring more sustainable fashion to the market with the launch of her own shoe line Tondo Shoes.
The shoes consist of nylon and rubber, minimal materials make the shoes more recyclable friendly. They will be released on Kickstarter in 2019.
Teaming up with “queen of the operation” and close friend Pia Nowak, the shoes are Fidler’s way of putting into action her ideas on fashion sustainability. According to Fidler, the majority of materials used to make Tondo shoes will be recovered from domestic & industrial waste.
As well as using a folding technique, the production of the stylish eco shoes will minimise waste production.
“They will be for people interested in super comfortable and simple design with
a colourful edge, who recognise the need for alternatives to current footwear options.” Fidler said.
Designed by Fidler and managed by Nowak, the prototypes of Tondo shoes are due to hit Kickstarter in the first quarter of 2019.
