Dutch fashion design duo Schueller de Waal teams up with Pik Pik Environnement For Paris Haute Couture 2019/2020 to present its first Collaborative Cleaning Initiative named ‘Litter’, supported by the city of Paris.
The collection was presented on a public square, right in front of city-hall in Paris. A group of 50 models, cool kids and volunteers started to clean the streets in an upbeat cleansing fashion performance. The models picked up trash from the streets, dressed head-to-toe in freshly made garments made from the studio’s leftover fabrics, deadstock and other remains from the fashion industry.
SDW Studio dressed a diverse group of people in an eclectic range of cleaning uniforms andcreated an intervention that has a positive effect on the location. Collaborating with local NGO’s (PikPik Environnement, Green Bird Paris) educating about rubbish separation and conscious living as part of city maintenance, with fashion professionals (stylists, fashion journalists etc.) supporting the mission.
Driven by the idea of re-using previous collections and giving them a new context, the collection translates the concept of ‘Litter’ into re-purposing. SCHUELLER DE WAAL re-purposes their body of work into a range of one-size-fits-all and multifunctional cleaning uniforms through various re-purposing design principles.
The foundation of the collection is the repetition of a singular silhouette, a workwear inspired overall. The symbolic meaning of ‘rolling up your sleeves’ to work defines the look and feel of the collection. Through belting systems the uniforms can be worn in various ways, creating different looks or silhouettes within a singular style.
Most of the cleaning uniforms were accompanied by safety shoes by the Dutch brand EMMA Safety footwear, known for their Corporate Social Responsibility mission. For the silhouettes mimicking couture references, SCHUELLER DE WAAL collaborated with footwear designer Marko Bakovic. A small series of functional safety boots are presented with fully rubberised uppers and soles made from dead stock pleather.
This presentation is a pilot of a traveling public pop-up cleaning station applicable in various places.
#cleaningismorethenaseasonaltrend
About the brand
SCHUELLER DE WAAL are fashion design duo Philipp Schueller and Rens de Waal. The label name stand for SDW
S(eeking) D(esign) W(ellbeing) They create fashion statements and capsule collections in which they research and suggest Fashion as Therapy.
‘FASHION THERAPY’ as term has a double meaning for the designers. It stands for a time where the fashion system urgently needs to be re-envisioned and transformed; on the one hand it means a more sustainable production of garments and on the other searching for a new relevance of fashion. It’ is not only a method to improve the problems of the fashion system but also the vision of experimenting with ‘fashion’ as ‘therapy’.
