Fashion / Bristol Fashion
Interview: a pretty sustainable fashion shoot
Bristol24/7 Fashion Editor Emma Gorton-Ellicott has collaborated with local portrait photographer Patryk Boron to create a high-end inspired, sustainable fashion shoot using fashion salvaged garments, mixed with contemporary sportswear, against an urban landscape.
Many of the garments used in the shoot were salvaged at one of the last Bristol Textiles Recyclers events, where attendees got to hunt for fashion treasures in large plastic bins full of unwanted garms, with the ultimate goal to save the garments from landfill. Sadly, the BTR Fashion Salvage events have now come to an end due to lack of funding; to keep the business sustainable BTR needed to downside and these events were one of the things that were cut. There are still mini fashion salvage type events popping up around Bristol including Revamp, Restyle, Reuse with Emmaus/Kecks Clothing and the quirky Bzzaar Jumble sales.
This sustainable photoshoot is a unique look at how you can restyle and rework salvaged fashion pieces with your contemporary wardrobe.
is needed now More than ever
Photography by Patryk Boron at Emulsional Photography
Vintage padded ski gillet by O’Neill and Vintage pink shell-bottoms, Diamond Cut by Umbro both fashion salvaged from BTR. Dress, socks and sliders, stylists own. Photography by Patryk Boron at Emulsional Photography
What made you decide you wanted to use fashion salvaged items in your fashion shoot?
Emma: I am very passionate about sustainable fashion and saving garments from landfill. I love the fashion salvage events that are held in Bristol and have used many of my fashion salvage finds in photoshoots. I seriously wear a fashion salvaged item nearly every day.
Pat: I am disappointed with what stores have to offer these days. There’s a lot of uniformity and recurrence in both designs and colour patterns. Delving into the past offers a chance to search for quirky pieces that have the benefit of being more authentic as well. Today’s impressions of past decades with modern dyes and manufacturing processes only offer approximate renderings of the colour palettes or the quality of the garments you found in the past. I find it is difficult to replicate that by simply walking into a clothes store.
What is it about salvage events that you like?
Emma: I love it that you can get unique, random, bizarre one-off pieces. I never think what they would match with in my wardrobe; I just fall in love with them and it goes from there! Sadly, BTR, one of the biggest salvage events no longer runs, but there are still similar events popping up around the city, just on a smaller scale.
Pat: There are lots of great vintage fairs or shops in Bristol but BTR was a unique enterprise that offered a selection of clothes that had not been filtered by someone else’s taste . If you had the time and patience to sort through hundreds and hundreds of pieces and knew what you wanted to find, it was a fantastic place.
What is the Bristol style?
Emma: Bristol does streetwear, festival style and vintage really, really well. It’s a great mix of everything, which produces really interesting one-off looks.
Pat: There’s no way of escaping overall trends at the moment – sport designs, the 90s and so on – but I think Bristol still manages to retain a unique urban style that comes from its ethnic diversity and eccentricity that is inherent to the many creatives and nonconformists living in Bristol.
Photography by Patryk Boron at Emulsional Photography Model – George Hampton-Wale
Why did you choose the photoshoot backgrounds that you did?
Emma: I loved mixing the old and new garments with the industrial factory buildings covered in grafitti. It was tough and vintage, and the outfits almost look ethereal against the harsh industrial backround.
Pat: This is simply a consequence of Bristol’s another definitive quality – its industrial heritage – that is often tattooed with graffiti.
Bright clashing colours and prints styled in voluminous layers with a traditional Japanese influence. Vintage Abstract floral maxi dress, fashion salvaged from BTR. Hooded dress stylists own. Photography by Patryk Boron at Emulsional Photography
What do you think of the outcome of the shoot?
Emma: We wanted to use fashion salvaged and unusual garments that were oversized and slightly futuristic, with the vintage element thrown in. We needed a strong model to carry it off, and gender wasn’t an issue. I found George modelling at the Fashion Front show in 2017: she has an androgynous look, is super tall and a dancer. She was beautiful and perfect, and so are the photos!
Pat: I felt Emma married my expectations with her unique style really well. We are both fascinated by oversized, geometrical garments. Her stylings also have a strong urban characteristic. She merges her ideas with sport apparel that often stems from skateboarding – an influence we both share. Finally, I was thrilled that she managed to scout our model in streets of Bristol – a testament to its uniqueness! George’s looks intensify all the ideas that inspired us to work together.
Photography by Patryk Boron at Emulsional Photography
Photography by Patryk Boron
Fashion Stylist – Emma Gorton-Ellicott
Read Emma’s blog No Debutante
Patryk Boron’s portfolio Emulsional Photography
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