Designer Hillary Taymour of Collina Strada is no stranger to socially conscious collections, but her autumn/winter 19 show, in which she distributed tips to reduce your carbon footprint, really made the case that we should all be a bit more environmentally conscious. “I was just really humbled in that, I can do better. And if I can do better, I can tell other people to do better too,” Hillary said, after the show. “And it only takes one thing. Just do one thing on that list, and you can make a difference.”
The show took place in an Elizabeth Street space, where discarded glass and plastic bottles were filled with single stem flowers, alongside crunched up La Croix cans, turning recycled waste into art. These items lined the runway and provided fitting decor for Hillary’s collection — made of 75 percent deadstock fabrics, recycled ocean plastic beads, and good intentions. “All my inspiration I drive from what I’m wearing right now. I’ve been wearing tie dye forever and now we’re mixing prints and stuff like that,” the designer says. “So, I really just wanted to focus on something fun and repurpose all the fabrics that I’d been gathering — whatever spoke to me — and just kind of mess it up.”
The activist and rapper Xiuhtezcatl Martinez opened the show with a personal speech about climate change, as models began to walk. This season, tie dyed sweatshirts worn oversized as dresses, devoré overlays, loads of sheer layers, and mismatched repurposed prints caught our eye. The outerwear was especially enviable on a cold New York afternoon, and for accessories, crystal waist waist belts adorned rainbow tights and models wore tie dyed sneakers. This line up also included reusable water bottles, tupperwares full of watermelon — and the cutest little baby, in bright yellow, floral-dyed lace to match his mom. There really was something for everyone. As the show concluded, Martinez left us with one last powerful message: “We are fighting to protect everything we love. Think about that.”
