When Prince Charles' nettles turn into haute couture

When Prince Charles' nettles turn into haute couture

The two designers, pioneers of sustainable fashion, met last year the Prince of Wales, who has long been keen on ecology.

Thus began an unlikely collaboration between a member of the royal family and stylists who describe themselves as "very punk" hiding behind large sunglasses. "It's a very weird union," Vin confesses.

But Prince Charles is "amazing" assures Omi, a designer from Singapore. “You would not think that a future king of England would be interested in these questions” but in reality, “discussions on the environment captivate him”.

The result of this unusual partnership will be presented on Tuesday evening at the prestigious Savoy Hotel, in the heart of London.

nettle mantle

Among the pieces, an elegant beige coat resembling wool but created with several thousand nettle plants, in which one would well imagine Camilla, the second wife of Charles.

The plants were collected by a team of students from Oxford Brookes University and then stripped of their leaves.

Quand les orties du Prince Charles se transforment en haute couture

Stinging plants, often seen as weeds, "nettles have been used since ancient times to make clothes, by those who had no land," observes Vin. Working these plants is "laborious but it is doable", according to him.

With the head gardener of Highgrove House, located in Gloucestershire (south-west of England), the duo are also interested in how other elements of the park destined to be thrown away (such as plant bags or flower pots) could be used creatively.

Wood from the property of Prince Charles has already been recovered to design jewelry that the models will wear.

mushroom leather

Among the other creations presented Tuesday evening by Vin + Omi, a shirt made from recycled paint tubes and other clothes created from plastic collected in rivers and oceans and reused.

The Victoria and Albert (V&A) Museum, a major art and design museum in London, plans to acquire some of these garments to enrich its permanent collection devoted to sustainable fashion. At a time when the climate emergency is making headlines, Vin + Omi's creations seem to be in tune with the times. But "20 years ago, when we graduated, we were thought to be hippies, it was predicted that sustainable fashion would never be a big concern," recalls Omi, 43.

The environmental movement Extinction Rebellion, which has organized protests around Fashion Week, is "awesome", Omi says. "They are doing the right thing by putting pressure on institutions," he adds, saying the fashion industry is not doing much except "greenwashing", superficial measures to raise awareness of environmental protection.

The duo work on around 40 projects, from the United Kingdom to China via the United States, where they transform the plastic collected in the Hudson River in New York into T-shirts distributed locally.

They explore the use of other natural materials such as making leather from chestnuts or mushrooms.