Global Sourcing Marketplace

Eden studio caught my attention at the fair because of the dress laid out on the table. It was really beautiful and clean and such a constrast to the other stalls. i didnt find out too much infomation at the stall but just enough to make me want to research it. What i gathered was that this company would make samples of your clothes, and basically do the designing that you may not have the skills and knowledge to do. This reminded me very much of jennifer Ballie's lecture that we had heard a few weeks prior which really really interested and confused me equally. So i set out re-reading through my notes and trying to get my head around why co-design is infact a sustainable and green way of designing. I think what it has to do in relation to Eden Studio is making a garment personal so therefore more precious and less likely to be replaced quickly.

Eden Studio itself doesn't have a website, that i can find, so i looked at Catharina Edens website and her jewelled spine collection. The collection is influenced by her childhood memories and photos which remind her emotions and events from when she was young. Working with the artist Rob Burton who creates beautiful prints from these images, she has made a collection of beautiful very feminine and whimsical gowns. She wants each dress to be unique and like a work of art, so each dress will be comissioned and the clients own photos and memories will be interpretted by Rob into an exclusive print and then made into one of Catharinas dresses. I think this is a lovely idea, and the dress you'd get out of it would be a one off, keep forever, pass down to your grand children type of dress.

We were asked to think of a company doing the same type of thing but less sustainably, two popped to mind whilst i was researching, New Look and Topshop for their celebrity endorsed ranges. I know many high street shops do collaborations but these two-the lilly allen and the kate moss-stayed in my mind. In the same way these collections are designed for people who may not have skills in designing clothes with the help of those more experienced. However, it is not personal for the people who actually buy the clothes, they are just buying a celebrities idea. I think this does the opposite of what the Eden Studio are doing, and cheapens the clothes instead of making them something very personal to adore.

Co-design in this way may not be, to me atleast, as obviously sustainable way of designing as with fairtrade organic fabrics (which im sure this project would use i just dont know) but it is an investment and a way to make clothes your own, precious and something to cherish re-work, and look after instead of getting bored of and replacing.