Designing for Re-wilding
Written by: Isabelle Sain, Content Coordinator & Education Manager @ Threading Change
30 May 2022
[8-minute read]
The fashion industry impacts and influences our daily lives across generations and across the globe. Through clothing so much of our selves, emotions, and interests are established. The connection between how we dress and the forming of our individual identity is vast. These connections are interestingly wrapped in this concept of rewilding. The 'rewilding' movement was originated by a group of grassroot environmental activists in the 80's. The movement focuses on restoring and protecting natural processes and our ecosystems.
The contemporary take on this way of life involves engaging in natural restoration practices and connecting respectfully with our environment. Rewilding is a lifestyle, social-environmental movement, and an embodied process and practice of understanding our roles as members of a greater ecosystem. It is a way of living and being which calls on each other to have a profound level of empathy for the land, people and resources. The act of rewilding is the reconnection with the surrounding natural world and rethinking the current relationship with nature. With regards to fashion, we are seeing this with the slow fashion movement which values the slowed down process of extracting materials, and letting the earth replenish itself naturally. Rewilding and the slow fashion movement shares this practice of mindful making, consuming and being attentive to the our communities.
Re-Wild Kids is a hand-made, slow-fashion, solution-based design house that specializes in children’s wear. Sasha Schaepe, the founder and designer of Re-Wild Kids, has built the brand on sustainable and ethical practices. The clothing is made with recycled and upcycled fabrics, natural hand-dyeing techniques and utilitarian details to facilitate a lifestyle of outdoor learning and play. Re-Wild Kids is an embodiment of rewilding, growth, creativity and curiosity. Ever since she was young, nature has been her inspiration and in her final year of fashion design school she created this “slow-fashion project providing hand-made, ethically responsible apparel made to facilitate a mindful lifestyle and inspire the growth of a nature-loving child.” Their philosophy of play, reconnection and natural curiosity is designed and woven into the fabric of the brand. They seek to re-engage youth with the connections that fashion shares with the natural world. Schaepe honours and celebrates the process and craft behind constructing garments and acknowledges the historical and current exploitation and harm that the industry causes.
The fashion industry as we know it today is extremely destructive and harmful to our communities and environment. The children’s wear landscape is changing business models to maximize circularity and create clothing that won’t further harm the next generation. They have shifted their business model to align with their mission of fostering a connection between children and their discoveries in nature. This connection fosters a deeper connection and reasoning to why the environment needs to be protected. Re-Wild Kids has created a brand that fosters a sense of belonging to the natural world through the appreciation of craft and textiles. With youth and nature at the center of Schaepe's design philosophy, she embraces the clothing's ability to connect youth with nature. Schaepe often explains it as making the process and messaging “accessible to kids because there is power in the process.” Re-Wild Kids understands the importance of teaching youth the process of making garments, which can facilitate storytelling and growth of their empathy.
Every garment tells a story, and the slow production process allows there to be more time to storytell and embrace the practices of making clothes. With this holistic approach, she addresses the connections that have been lost over the years with nature and the connection between our natural world and fashion. Kids have a natural affinity to the natural world. But how can clothing be a way to foster and support the growth of the natural world and their own growth? Schaepe’s designs allow children to connect to their clothing beyond the garment; meaning they are able to connect the natural world to their garments. The clothing is specifically designed for children to grow and explore nature. The colours, imagery and symbolism on the garments include elements from the natural world. Schaepe’s designs all carry a story that the children can draw from and therefore go out in nature and see those natural elements to deepen their knowledge of the world around them. Schaepe uses practical and utilitarian elements, like fabrics, durable cottons, multiple layers, elbow pads and knee patches to create a variety of uses with the garments. Many of the tops and shirts have a varying array of pockets for rocks and natural treasures. The details in her designs provide the opportunity to physically connect to the natural world. The design often has details like ties, buttons and the option to reverse the garment so they can be adapted to their adventure. Her approach to designing is stepping into their world and asking, “how can I create garments that will endure through their adventures and offer elements to inspire them?”
The slow fashion movement is a holistic approach that addresses the ethical and ecological implications of producing the way we do. Schaepe’s take on ethical and sustainable fashion goes beyond materials and biodegradability. The garments are designed to last and grow with the child with adjustable hem lines and sleeve lengths. Re-Wild Kids are fostering sustainability in the material and ecological sense but also on a deeper level. Clothing is a powerful tool in preserving the connection between children’s discoveries and the protection of nature. Schaepe explains how the environment and preservation of our natural environment must include youth and the importance of communicating this to youth because “so much imagination they embody looks at aspects of a living being so much more than just objects.” Through each piece, there is a connection being made for children to connect and develop a relationship with.
The next generation will face an unprecedented impact on their future because of climate change and deterioration of the environment. There are studies showing the effects of the next generations and the children of this generation growing up with less time and access to nature. Schaepe emphasized the importance of embracing sustainability through connection building and co-creating with youth. She believes that the future of sustainable fashion must take a reimagination of the entire way of producing clothing. She expressed the need to find wisdom from our elders and children and deconstruct the separation between nature and children that is prominent in our world. Clothes reflect attitudes and mentalities and reflect how things are done in culture. Schaepe has founded Re-Wild Kids as a way for children to process empathy, and to rethink the current relationship with nature by slowing down the entire process. Schaepe has shown that mindfully designed clothing can be a tool that can bring back curiosity, empathy and a reconnection to our natural world.
Check out our Global Innovation Story Map to learn more about brands and organizations like Re-Wild Kids. There is plenty of learning that needs to happen from an industry that suppresses the knowledge consumers and citizens can have. The Global Innovation Story Map (GISM) is a research and visualization project where we feature the stories and best practices of sustainable and ethical fashion brands and organizations from around the world. Think of it as your new interactive tool to use as a guide when trying to find a sustainable fashion brand to buy from or an ethical fashion organization to support.
Threading Change is working to elevate the stories of global brands and organizations leading the way in sustainability and ethical practices in the fashion industry.
About the Author:
Isabelle is an artist whose work is an ongoing sensory experience that explores the relationships between body and space. Her work is grounded in establishing connections and events that define shared experiences to understand human interaction within the physical, political, social, and spiritual environment. Isabelle obtained her BFA in Textiles and Fashion at NSCAD University. Isabelle’s work has been exhibited in Toronto, Halifax, and Copenhagen. She has conducted a number of research projects investigating the future of fashion with KEA University, and has collaborated with several brands including Samsøe & Samsøe, and the Green Cannabis Co. In her art practice and experiences, she has created textile based design processes and solutions that establish connections to reinterpret textile production into a more environmentally and socially conscious industry. She is grounded by the preserving and passing of tradition while focusing her research on designs and systems, intersectional environmentalism, and climate justice.
