By the LFW Team.

Do you know who made your clothes?  If you don’t—perhaps you should. Here at LFW we’re all in favour of fair trade and buying local, and if it’s organic and sustainable as well; even better!

 

Assemblage Project in Braddon has been operating for a few years now, but in the past 12 months it’s not only changed premises, but also expanded to include a number of local designers most of whom are no waste, use organic materials, and work in Canberra and the surrounding region.

Karen Lee is well known for her no darts, easy-wear draping styles, and together with Edition, SZN, and Pure Pod, Assemblage is now in the forefront of sustainable designers in Canberra, and will be exhibiting their individual styles for the first time as a group, at FASHFEST on Saturday 1 October in Show One at 6.30pm.

 

All Assemblage designers Karen Lee, Edition, SZN and Pure Pod will each have their own shows to launch new collections on the same night, together with other Assemblage labels  High Tea with Mrs Woo, Eva Cassis, Kowtow and Wendy Voon. So you get to see all eight labels in the one show!

One of the exciting things about a visit to Assemblage is that you’ll probably find a designer there cutting, drafting, or sewing on their huge industrial steel worktable—which also serves as the reception counter. The industrial look carries through the shop with old piping as clothes racks, low industry pendant lighting, and a simple concrete floor. Huge windows at the rear provide extra lighting to the cutting and sewing area.

 

Styles and fabrics are mixed and include Edition’s soft draping jersey that takes you from work to dinner, and focusses on Selvedge-to-Selvedge designs meaning zero waste. Alice Sutton’s previous collections have been Canberra themed including a nod to the Bogong Moth, and Canberra Brickworks.

SZN clothing is designed and made in Australia and focusses on simplicity. Designer Suzan Dlouhy has side-stepped slightly from her recycled street-wear past and is now using organic materials to produce smock style dresses, batwing tops, and comfy loose fitting dungarees.

Garment colours include a predominance of black, grey, and white with the occasional bold splash of deep blue, vivid red, and earthy burnt orange

 

 

 

Pure Pod was launched in 2006 and is considered one of Australia’s most consistent ethical fashion brands and a pioneer in Eco and Sustainability fashion. Designer Kelli Donovan takes pride in keeping the brand 100 per cent Australian made, using local craftspeople. Pure Pod is for women who really care about what they wear, who makes it, and where it comes from.

Assemblage also includes gorgeous soft knits by Wendy Voon, natural fabrics and textiles from High Tea with Mrs Woo, and ultra-comfy Rollie shoes.

Assemblage Project, Shop 66, 30 Lonsdale Street, Braddon—check the website for open times.

You can see Assemblage Project at FASHFEST Saturday 1 October, 6.30pm at the National Convention Centre. Tickets on sale now!