Vintage lunch box purses, sunglasses made of compostable materials or upcycled beer towel sweaters: Stitch Up! selects the most creative and eco-friendly fashion designers of the moment. Characterised by their inventiveness and ethicality, these pieces are the perfect definition of what a green fashion collection can be.
Today, we will be exploring the work of talented designer Sandra Sandor.
Minimalist, sober, elegant, sustainable. These are the words that best describe Budapest native Sandra Sandor’s fashion brand, Nanushka. She graduated from the London College of Fashion in 2005 and launched her brand a year later. Each year she presents her collections during New York Fashion Week and the pieces are then stocked internationally in stores and online shops.
Her designs are all manufactured in Hungary, within a 300km radius of her headquarters, prioritising local production. Conscious of the environmental impact of some materials, Sandor chooses vegan leather, organic cotton, recycled polyester, or even forest-based materials for her collection. For Sandor, craftsmanship is as important as the fabrics used to create the pieces and this is why she encourages her seamstresses to hand sew some parts for better longevity.
The brand also supports some non-profit organisations such as the Bibi Fund for research into child cancer, donating 10% of their February sales. But Sandor is also committed to her local community, working alongside Bagázs organisation to help Roma women get more job opportunities by giving them sewing lessons and donating fabrics.
for her latest eyewear collection, the designer took us back to the sweet aesthetic of the sixties: cat-eye sunglasses, tortoiseshell inspired colour and oval frames. The frames are made from bio-based plastic that biodegrades in compost. The lenses are also bio-based, partly made out of castor oil (vegetable and renewable). And the pouch is also made from dead stock supplies of vegan leather.
Our favourite is the Horus glasses. Definitely the masterpiece of the collection, they stand out with their gold chain arms and ball weight hardware substituting the usual temples, proof of Sandor’s imagination and never-ending reinvention of eyewear.
Credit: Nanushka