Faustine Steinmetz: Selected works

Selected works by Faustine SteinmetzWe've been keeping an eye on Faustine's work long before we visited her London studio this spring. The outcome of that meeting was a story published in Thisispaper Issue Two - an in-depth exploration of her background and design process. What we learned from her that afternoon makes her work even more unique, if at all possible. Since then she has released a new collection, which is in equal measure fresh and coherent with the overarching brand vision she has discussed in detail in our conversation. In a nutshell, Faustine tries to design as little as possible. Inspired by the style of randomly met people with no interest in fashion, she takes the most common garments everybody has in their wardrobe and recreates them using a fabric she has woven and dyed by hand. As she puts it, " each fabric is solely handwoven by one person using one of our traditional handlooms. Each piece is meticulously made by hand, with some pieces taking over a week to weave." The fabrics meticulously imitate denim - a textile that is at the forefront of industrially produced clothing, in her interpretation becomes a luxury piece. By working this way she not only creates pieces which are, as a fashionista would put it, "to die for", but also keeps an old craft from being forgotten. She has taught herself and her team techniques that could otherwise become a thing of the past. In everything she does, she considers a much bigger picture than just the next season's it pieces - and that's way we're constantly under the spell of her work. Words: Thisispaper Photography: Pierrick Mouton, Sanna Helena Berger, Lena C Emery