Work in progress: AW17

We are currently working on the new collection for Autumn/Winter 17 and want to give you an update and a few little hints on what is going on the Hellen van Rees atelier.

For this season we are collaborating with Texperium, an open innovation centre for high quality textile recycling in Haaksbergen in the East of the Netherlands. Texperium utilizes and upgrades used textile materials to produce better fibres for high-quality products. A great example for their successful up-cycling is for example the use of old KLM cabin crew uniforms transforming them into new products such as beautiful shawls. As you know Hellen van Rees is all about being environmentally aware and using production leftovers for her collections, so this sounds like a great and interesting cooperation, doesn’t it!

For the AW collection Hellen van Rees is working with a felt developed and recycled from Texperium. Felt normally has a stiff character to it and that is not exactly what you want your clothes to be. But it has also a big advantage: you can cut it into any size or shape you want, without having the need to finish the edges. The challenge for Hellen is thus to make it flexible and pleasant to wear and to transform it into beautiful luxury clothing. Right now we are playing with different shapes and sizes and with creating movement, so we can find a way to integrate the felt into the garments. Underneath you can see some swatches we have developed so far.

We are excited to see how it will turn out… So stay tuned!