That's why they were looking at me quite critically for a long time. “It’s big business and it supports our economy.”. Maybe I wasn't any different back then, before I really started to deal with the global cycle of garments. Sometimes, I need flat fabrics to work with, sometimes I can deconstruct existing pieces. Here, they share industry advice and compare creative processes with up-and-coming students from New York’s Parsons School of Design, Tokyo’s Bunka Fashion College and more It’s an issue that is becoming increasingly important to H&M, and the wider fashion industry, Johansson adds. Priya Ahluwalia, Marques'Almeida, Bianca Saunders, Bethany Williams and Art School’s Eden Loweth are just some of the coolest names in fashion right now. Priya Ahluwalia receives the Queen Elizabeth II Award for British Design. She unveiled her SS21 collection during London Fashion Week. The queen inaugurated the award in 2018 for talented emerging designers who are “making a difference to society through either sustainable practices or community engagement.” A trophy created by the queen’s designer Angela Kelly comes with it. How do you see that happening? Amongst the many designers who have had to overcome the lack of a physical show is Priya Ahluwalia, who’s presented AW21 as a short film, Traces, in collaboration with musician Cktrl and director Stephen Isaac-Wilson. Tell us about the two journeys that have had a big influence on you: one to India and one to Nigeria.My mother is Indian and my father Nigerian. For example, if a store orders 3,000 of my red patchwork trousers, the patches will be different. That’s how Priya Ahluwalia received the Queen Elizabeth II Award for British Design in this uncommon year—via a webinar. And there was Ahluwalia, sitting in her studio in south London—where we interviewed her about her sustainable practices on a London segment of Good Morning Vogue last September. The epicenter of runway news, street style, and emerging trends. Vogue chats with them about the importance of the prize “You can’t underestimate the value that art plays, in whatever form, be it fashion, music, other kinds of cultural arts,” she said. The one that follows was from British Vogue editor in chief Edward Enninful. Today it's different.Right. Here are some surprisingly on-point moments about sustainability and the industry as a whole from the conversation that followed. vogue.fr 2 designers of the moment reveal the 5 … Do you aim to bring out new collections each season, or work towards a more permanent collection that will expand gradually?At the moment, I'm working by seasons and I see the pieces as small capsule collections. I hope that this will encourage people to keep my pieces forever. Now sustainability stands for cool, forward-thinking, with the future in mind. London Fashion Week came to a close today with a countess interviewing a designer. My fashion should not be a #throwback. What I saw in Panipat was overwhelming and shocking. Is the nostalgic aesthetic or sustainable process more important to you?Both. I really do believe that after the pandemic—well, not after, because I think it will be ongoing—that people will just want to enjoy themselves, whether that’s through clothing, self-expression, or just going out for a meal. The latest fashion news, beauty coverage, celebrity style, fashion week updates, culture reviews, and videos on Vogue.com. Where do you find most of the materials you use for your designs?There are huge depots that sort out second-hand clothing and merchants that deal in large quantities of fabric. Caroline Rush CBE, Chief Executive British Fashion Council (BFC) commented: “We are delighted to announce Priya Ahluwalia as the fourth recipient of the Queen Elizabeth II Award for British Design. Meanwhile, rising designers such as Priya Ahluwalia have always placed sustainability at the heart of their businesses. I just want my audience to love the pieces – regardless of the fact that it is vintage and sustainable. And there are interesting rules that have evolved over time. On one side of the collaboration there's Ganni, run by Ditte and Nicolaj Reffstrup, a pretty ready-to-wear brand that has made scandi-cool its fashion signature.On the other side, there's the emerging designer Priya Ahluwalia's eponymous label, face of the new British fashion guard and finalist of … But, certain menswear traditions fascinate me, the sequence of designing and tailoring pieces. This year’s H&M Design Award winner – graduate of London’s University of Westminster Priya Ahluwalia – says a lot about the fashion industry’s current drive for sustainability. So it became clear to me which way my fashion should go. Sustainable fashion had such a bad reputation for so long, it immediately made me think of something made of bamboo, which I certainly don't want to wear. Womenswear and accessories; I’m obsessed with homewear. Maybe doing a callout on social media to ask if people have certain fabrics. Priya Ahluwalia’s focus on sustainable vintage fabrics and modern Nineties nostalgia has won her the H&M Design Award 2019—the brand’s annual prize for the best graduates around the world. These are strange times for awards ceremonies, obviously, but this one had an unexpected plus … So I think it will take a while, but they can look at their own inventories, what they have left over, and look at who they can bring in to rework that. In a way, it just means there is one more task because I have to bring them back to their original fabric state. Edward Enninful: Priya, what’s the most important lesson the pandemic has taught you? Written by Fiona Sinclair Scott, CNNRising British clothier Priya Ahluwalia, whose work is setting a brand new normal for moral vogue design, has gained World Queen Elizabeth II design award honors Priya Ahluwalia Now, I also do a lot of online research. It’s about using your community. I’ve found isolation so hard….but what I have loved about digital fashion weeks from the beginning is that it’s enabled me to connect with people around the world that wouldn’t normally be able to be at fashion week. [It was made from] things I didn’t want to wear anymore; I asked friends, and their boyfriends gave me bits and bobs. It’s about applying those natural skills to gather materials. Priya Ahluwalia uses Ganni's unused fabric scraps to breathe a new lease of life into the all-cool Scandi brand. Fast-fashion companies like H&M are also rethinking – case in point, they chose me as this year’s winner! How can they turn something that’s a liability into an asset? For example?For example, the patch on sportswear is always on the left side – traditionally you want it to sit over your heart, because you love your team so much. Harris Reed. But it has always been an advantage that I use a mix of existing garments and old fabrics. Marine Serre and Priya Ahluwalia light the way | VOGUE India Paris-based Marine Serre and London-based Priya Ahluwalia, both designers who have built sustainability into the DNA of their respective eponymous labels, light the way At the end of the Countess of Wessex’s conversation with Ahluwalia, the audience submitted questions. That’s how Priya Ahluwalia received the Queen Elizabeth II Award for British Design in this uncommon year—via a webinar. Ganni is back at it again with another iconic collaboration. On paper, the two do seem like unlikely partners—Ahluwalia being a budding menswear label based in London, Ganni a global womenswear brand in … Here, Ahluwalia talks to Vogue about her sustainable vision, her love of menswear, how her dual Nigerian-Indian heritage influences her design and what she’s got planned for next year... Vogue: Has it always been clear to you that you wanted to create menswear?Priya Ahluwalia: That came pretty fast, yes. I can engage with people who wouldn’t normally get a ticket to a show, or who don’t really know much about fashion weeks. I started when I was about 16. Ahluwalia SS21 Courtesy of Ahluwalia.Ahluwalia SS21. I found out that Panipat in India is the place where the most second-hand clothes are being traded worldwide. The British menswear designer, whose mother is Indian and father is Nigerian, fuses together sportswear-inspired designs with tailoring, all created using repurposed vintage pieces and deadstock. One of my hacks at that time was to go to the richer areas of London, Richmond for example. To revist this article, visit My Profile, then View saved stories. In conversations with them, I learned that all second-hand clothes have to be bought in African countries and that they are not actually being donated, which is what we think in Europe. But actually there's nothing better than finding a good piece of vintage after hours of trawling through the shops. To trust my instincts. When I started on my my graduate collection, it was just a question of using what was available to me. The cool thing about Nigeria is that everyone there is a fighter, everyone wants to create something, everyone wants to be someone, everything is fast. VOGUE.COM - “It makes so much sense, but it’s so random at the same time—which I really love.” So says Priya Ahluwalia of her new collaboration with Ganni. Your approach is very contemporary, but there used to be a lot of scepticism around recycling and sustainability in fashion. Have you always collected vintage clothes?As a teenager, yes. ** I went to Nigeria to visit him and some relatives, he now lives in Lagos again. And, I guess, to have a leadership position in advocating for positive change within our industry. BERLIN, GERMANY - NOVEMBER 28: Priya Ahluwalia during the H&M Design Award on November 28, 2018 in Berlin, Germany. Priya Ahluwalia presented her namesake label's Autumn/Winter 2021 collection during London Fashion Week today. I really love it. Priya Ahluwalia: It’s made me really know what I’m doing. One of my uncles is probably my most important muse – there is a picture of him in a down jacket that I keep thinking about. Which would also be very sustainable.Exactly. In its seventh year, the LVMH Prize has announced the semi-finalists for 2020. It is! But for young people, it might be hard to know how to start. During my bachelor's studies, I started out designing womenswear, but after a menswear project, I realised I liked that a lot better. London’s got some great ones—so they can take their pick! I wonder if post-COVID there’ll be a collection of yours in the future which will reflect this era? Priya takes elements from her Indian-Nigerian heritage and London roots to explore the life of vintage and deadstock clothing, integrating technologically advanced textile finishing techniques to give them new life. Now that's changing because there's a lot of sustainably made stuff that people really want to wear. Explore the world of Ahluwalia, shop the new collection of mens T-shirts, jeans and books. The final took place in Berlin on 28 November, a city known for championing youth and innovation, with a panel including Ann-Sofie Johansson, creative advisor at H&M, Vogue Germany editor-in-chief Christiane Arp and stylist Jan-Michael Quammie. (Photo by Franziska Krug/Getty Images for H&M), BERLIN, GERMANY - NOVEMBER 28: during the H&M Design Award on November 28, 2018 in Berlin, Germany. And officiating, the British Fashion Council’s CEO Caroline Rush, from her home in Wimbledon. I also completely deconstruct and re-manufacture them – I cut them open, change the cuts completely, turn them around to make entirely new pieces. How is it filtering into your designs?When I design, I always look at old photographs, especially of my family. I’ve something coming out at the end of March, beginning of April, which I can’t talk about yet—which has definitely been informed by the fact that I’m desperate to go out and party again! Ahluwalia gave her a concise verbal tour of the diaspora research for her fall 2021 collection, which recently appeared on Vogue Runway. I'm a nostalgic person, but I don't want to live in the past. It was just a question of being resourceful—and students are naturally resourceful. And this year has seen design taken to the next level, with a global eco-fashion focus. That's what makes people creative and the city so exciting. You are a fantastic recycler and re-user; that’s what your whole brand is about. What’s your favourite decade?The 1990s, of course. “We’re always aiming to do things in a positive way— it’s part of the DNA,” she explains, adding that she’s Read more: Meet H&M's Design Award Winner. Recently, my main focus has been to find even better and more efficient ways of obtaining materials. It is so good to see that the world understands this now, and that many Nigerian artists also have international success. But during my master's, the time had come, I was fully supported in doing this. At least that's how it's always been among my friends. And I love sportswear from past decades. The city that is being hyped as one of the coolest in the world. It can’t just be a media or marketing ploy to say, “We’re going to be sustainable now.” You have to implement positive change and good practice at every level. Sophie, Countess of Wessex: Where would you like to see your brand going in the next decade? For me, the way many people dress in Nigeria was also totally inspiring. Not only about how something is made, but also how long it is being worn. Many people didn't understand that. Ahluwalia’s eponymous menswear collections speak eloquently about her British and Indian-Nigerian identity; she owns a POC-staffed enterprise and has been a committed sustainability practitioner since her graduation show at the University of Westminster. Have your tutors always been open to your way of working?Some were more open, some less. The countess, who is patron of the London College of Fashion, made some remarks on British culture as a whole. London Fashion Week 2021 has been the talk of the town in the fashion industry, especially when it comes to the virtual reveal of designs. People there threw away so much and so many good things, unbelievable! The material on this site may not be reproduced, distributed, transmitted, cached or otherwise used, except with the prior written permission of Condé Nast. Noticing people everywhere wearing clothes out of their sorts, street traders in T-shirts with obscure British graphics and another wearing a London Marathon top, the designer decided to dig deeper into the life of a second hand garment. For Harris Reed, now didn’t seem like the right time to drop his first full ready-to-wear … And that's where you went next?Exactly, that made sense anyway, because my mother is from India and I hadn't seen my grandmother who lives there for such a long time. Previous winners have included Stefan Cooke (in 2018) and Richard Quinn (in 2017), both graduates of London’s Central Saint Martins, known for their fresh forward-thinking approach to technique, silhouettes and materials. But among all that, I’m always trying to create interesting projects—books, films—that amplify different communities and voices. So each piece is unique. This is also important in my use of vintage clothing: that we think ahead. It really does democratize the whole process. Ahluwalia gave her a concise verbal tour of the diaspora research for her fall 2021 collection, which recently appeared on Vogue Runway. Use of this site constitutes acceptance of our User Agreement and Privacy Policy and Cookie Statement and Your California Privacy Rights. Priya Ahluwalia, whose brand gives new life to vintage and deadstock clothing, says, “Big businesses run in the same way – they put profits over people constantly and consistently. Already the world—royal family included—is listening. But at least the shops on Brick Lane in East London were still good and not as overpriced as they are today. There’s a lot of nostalgia from Generation Y (born in the 1980s and 1990s) right now. If they think that's good too, great. Priya Ahluwalia: I’m a menswear designer, but there are so many things I’d love to branch into. Ahluwalia’s first book, titled Sweet Lassi focuses on the family trip Priya made to Lagos, Nigeria in 2017. vogue.com Priya Ahluwalia Reveals Her First Women’s Designs in a Collaboration With Ganni The London menswear designer worked with Ganni’s team in Copenhagen to reimagine leftover fabric and clothes that didn’t sell during the pandemic. And to have fun at the same time! It’s time to talk openly about the fact that white Priya Ahluwalia convinced the judges mostly because of her sustainable approach, said Johansson – she works exclusively with vintage fabrics and uses second-hand clothing as the basis for her designs. In a first, three designers from the Indian diaspora have been shortlisted. I’m 25 now, so of course I’m nostalgic about the 1990s. Especially the people selling clothes there, who wore a compelling mix of second-hand clothes from all over the world – it didn't look like second-hand, though, I only knew because it was something like a T-shirt from a mud-run in England. Vogue Meets Priya Ahluwalia, Winner Of The H&M Design Award 2019 H&M has been promoting young talent with the H&M Design Award since 2012. Here, the young British designer chats to Vogue about her fashion inspirations By Hella Schneide r … GQ met the designer to find … Do you have any advice for young people coming into the industry? Plus, Billie Eilish is the subject of a new documentary, Daft Punk splits, and Priya Ahluwalia wins a prestigious design award. And that I really care about communication. But for now, that’s going to remain my well-kept trade secret... Read more: The Young Designers Pioneering A Sustainable Fashion Revolution. VOGUE.COM - “It makes so much sense, but it’s so random at the same time—which I really love.” So says Priya Ahluwalia of her new collaboration with Ganni. Vogue may earn a portion of sales from products that are purchased through our site as part of our Affiliate Partnerships with retailers. Because, again, everybody needs to get better at this. So, there was the queen’s daughter-in-law, at an undisclosed location, but quite probably working from home at Bagshot Park in Surrey. H&M has been promoting young talent with the H&M Design Award since 2012. Both labels share a core value of … So says Priya Ahluwalia of her new collaboration with Ganni. Finding good vintage wasn't that easy back then, today there are a lot more options. You could buy pieces by Issey Miyake for five pounds! This kind of symbolism has brought me to menswear. It always depends on the point of view. And I think that’s positive. After the queen made her first fashion show appearance ever to award it to Richard Quinn, she’s made it a tradition that senior women members of the royal family should do the honors. It’s about using your networks. Here, she talks to Vogue about the labour of love that’s been 18 months in the making. At least I couldn't. Here, she talks to Vogue about the labour of love that’s been 18 months in the making By Liam Freema n (Photo by Franziska Krug/Getty Images for H&M), The Young Designers Pioneering A Sustainable Fashion Revolution. Ad Choices. VOGUE.COM - London Fashion Week came to a close today with a countess interviewing a designer. Priya Ahluwalia, Marques’Almeida, Bianca Saunders, Bethany Williams and Art School’s Eden Loweth share industry advice with students from Central Saint Martins, Parsons School of Design, Bunka Fashion College The Indian-Nigerian-British designer tells a story in everything she does. On paper, the two do seem like unlikely partners—Ahluwalia being a budding menswear label based in London, Ganni a global womenswear brand in Copenhagen—but aren’t those the best matches? What about from the other end of the market, for big brands? **Could your approach be commercialised? By Liam Freema n I think for big brands it’s harder, because if they’re a huge brand they’ve been running a longer time, and it means there’s a company culture that will take a long time to undo. The word sustainability sometimes scares me. 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