Inspired by South Africa’s landscape, this designer crafts sustainable fashion solutions

With its striking hues and floral motifs, womenswear designer Lara Klawikowski’s latest collection, 'Wycinanki', reflects both her Polish and South African heritage. Drawing from Polish folk floral art that creates patterns from natural found objects, she interprets this into designs inspired by South African fynbos. But more than just being beautiful, Lara’s designs are making a vital statement. “The fynbos that we take pride in is under threat,” she says. “As exciting as the fashion industry is, it can be very harmful to the environment.” An estimated 90 million tonnes of textile waste goes to landfills around the world. In South Africa, this accounts for 6.5% of total waste. “We’ve become accustomed to a culture of overconsumption and waste,” Lara says. To reduce this, she begins conceptualising her designs with the very fabric in mind. 

“It’s mostly made out of recycled and upcycled materials, essentially low-conscious couture,” Lara says, describing her pieces. She creates brand new fabric panels from recycled plastic packets, mielie meal bags, and fabric offcuts which are collected from Rewoven – a local textile recycling business. From thereon, Lara implements zero-waste cutting techniques in an effort to counter dated sewing techniques which cause an abundance of offcuts.

This is not the first time Lara has touched on sustainability in her designs, nor is this a fleeting attempt at being more green. In her previous bridal collection, Strange Flowers, she sculpted avant-garde wedding dresses from upcycled biodegradable plastic and grocery store packets to mimic the textures and appearance of flora. “Using flowers or things that grow in nature in the designs is an immediate way to get people thinking about nature,” Lara says. While much of the onus is on consumers to choose sustainable options, this isn’t possible if manufacturers and designers aren’t providing feasible alternatives to begin with. By reconstructing how she makes clothing, Lara is making it easier for consumers to make better choices. “We have all the materials we need to create clothes if we just rethink the waste,” she says.