{"id":15891,"date":"2019-04-05T14:51:32","date_gmt":"2019-04-05T18:51:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sothebysrealty.ca\/insightblog\/?p=15891"},"modified":"2019-04-05T14:51:32","modified_gmt":"2019-04-05T18:51:32","slug":"closing-the-loop","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sothebysrealty.ca\/insightblog\/fr\/2019\/04\/05\/closing-the-loop\/","title":{"rendered":"Closing the Loop"},"content":{"rendered":"

To a designer, there\u2019s no denying the power of a positive review on Vogue.com. Lucky for Laura Siegel, her fall 2018 collection was much lauded for its shaggy fur-like wools, geo-print jumpsuits and tasselled separates, as was her ongoing commitment to procuring handmade materials from around the world. Shunning factory-churned fast fashion, the 31-year-old Canadian designer has succeeded in bringing traditional weaving and dyeing techniques (these tend to leave a smaller ecological footprint) to the closets of VIP fans like Sophie Gr\u00e9goire Trudeau. Continuing her efforts to preserve cultures through fair-paid craftwork, the social entrepreneur is bidding adieu to the fashion calendar this year. But don\u2019t worry, we haven\u2019t seen the last of Laura Siegel yet.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Before earning a name for herself in the world of sustainable fashion, the Toronto native attended both Central Saint Martins in London and Parsons School of Design in New York City, studying silver-smithing, knitting, natural dyeing, embroidery and weaving. Siegel experienced an aha moment after taking a year off to backpack in India and Southeast Asia. Steering clear of tourist areas, she found herself lost in the mountains of northern Thailand. \u201cThis woman brought me in for a few days and she taught me how to crochet,\u201d she recalls. \u201cShe didn\u2019t speak any English and I didn\u2019t speak any Thai, so craft was the language we communicated through.\u201d It was then that Siegel began to wonder why fashion relied so heavily on factory-manufactured clothing instead of unique handmade pieces, which are superior in quality and beauty.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\"\"Scarves made from recycled cotton & silk saris were sold to benefit the families of the 2013 Bangladesh Rana Plaza building collapse<\/a><\/div>\n

Returning to Parsons to complete her thesis, Siegel used natural dyes and hand-carved blocks from India to create her prints, which were inspired by shibori (an ancient Japanese method of embellishing fabric by shaping it before dyeing) and batik (the Indonesian technique of hand-printing cloth by coating it with wax). A professor critiquing her work asked how it would be possible to sustain, on a large scale, a business linked to slow production methods. \u201cMy initial instinct was [that] I would have to spend probably six months of the year living wherever those [artisans] are,\u201d recalls Siegel. \u201cIt\u2019s a different way of working with new cultures, and I think it\u2019s important to spend time and learn and understand.\u201d The idea stuck.<\/p>\n

Two years post-graduation, Siegel launched her namesake brand in 2012 and began splitting her time between remote villages overseas and Toronto and New York City. She built a niche clientele in North America with pop-ups at cutting-edge clothing brand OakNYC before landing retailers like Holt Renfrew in 2013. The very next year, she became a finalist for the prestigious CFDA\/Lexus Eco-Fashion Challenge, a collaborative initiative of the Council of Fashion Designers of America and Japanese luxury automaker Lexus. Early adopters took to Siegel\u2019s bohemian caftans and flowy tie-dyes \u2014 resort wear for all 365 days of the year.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\"\"The sustainability-driven designer Laura Siegel<\/a><\/div>\n

But if Siegel\u2019s raison d\u2019\u00eatre wasn\u2019t clear among the crowded racks at retail, the documentary Traceable, <\/em>released in 2015, would cement her point of view. Directed by a former Parsons classmate of hers, Jennifer Sharpe, the film follows Siegel through her production process, working with villages in India in the lead-up to one of her early collections. \u201cIt\u2019s about clothing traceability,\u201d notes Siegel, \u201cconnecting consumers with the hands that are making their clothes.\u201d The doc screened at film festivals around the world, two years after the news of the worst garment factory disaster in history \u2014 when a building collapsed in an industrial suburb of Dhaka, Bangladesh \u2014 which shocked North American consumers.<\/p>\n

In 2016 Siegel launched an initiative dubbed Project 1127 to honour the lives lost in the tragedy. Fittingly, a limited-edition number of scarves (one for each of the 1,127 victims), made from recycled cotton and silk saris, were sold in partnership with the non-profit organization Sreepur Village, Bangladesh; proceeds went to the victims\u2019 families. Dozens of industry heavyweights participated in the campaign, from mega-influencer Leandra Medine Cohen, known for her style website, Manrepeller, to British fashionista Alexa Chung.<\/p>\n

The endeavour also drew the attention of major publications, such as WWD<\/em> and Elle.com, as well as Vogue.com, which took the lead with its rolling seasonal coverage of Siegel\u2019s ready-to-wear collections. \u201cWomen who gravitate toward looser silhouettes will appreciate that Siegel\u2019s pieces are roomy but not overwhelming,\u201d it said of her spring 2017 offerings. \u201cAnd the arty prints and details stand out in a sea of similar-looking machine-made clothing.\u201d <\/p>\n

But those complimentary seasonal reviews are now in Siegel\u2019s rear-view mirror, as she is opting to move her business away from the industry\u2019s demanding fashion calendar. \u201cI felt like I was in a wheel, forced to design large collections each season just because the consumer wants to buy something new so many times a year,\u201d she explains. \u201cUltimately, I was part of the industry that was promoting consumerism, and I needed to take a step away to really look at the future and other more sustainable business models on multiple levels.\u201d Siegel realized that her company, which sells labour-intensive clothing crafted by artisans, was feeling the pressure to devalue the products in order to meet market demand and that the middleman \u2014 that is, the retailer \u2014 is reaping the most financial reward.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\"\"Shaggy plush coat that looks like sheepskin or fur is actually made of organic wool<\/a><\/div>\n

This April, Siegel is organizing a sourcing trip to Peru and taking with her a select group of luxury designers from North America and Europe to meet local artisans. She hopes to open their eyes to alternative methods of production, introducing them to exotic fibres and elaborate hand techniques that contrast the factory model. Through her work, the art of many unknown talents may now grow well beyond Siegel\u2019s singular brand. And though the designer doesn\u2019t rule out returning to her self-titled line someday, don\u2019t expect any definitive date.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt will just be whenever it makes sense,\u201d says Siegel. \u201cIt will be natural and evolutionary.\u201d Welcome to the world of slow fashion, where creativity reigns.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

 <\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\n
\n

By Carlene Higgins –  *This article originally appeared in INSIGHT: The Art of Living | Spring 2019<\/a><\/span><\/span><\/em><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

To a designer, there\u2019s no denying the power of a positive review on Vogue.com. Lucky for Laura Siegel, her fall 2018 collection was much lauded for its shaggy fur-like wools, geo-print jumpsuits and tasselled separates, as was her ongoing commitment to procuring handmade materials from around the world. Shunning factory-churned fast fashion, the 31-year-old Canadian designer has succeeded in bringing traditional weaving and dyeing techniques (these tend to leave a smaller ecological footprint) to the closets of VIP fans like Sophie Gr\u00e9goire Trudeau. Continuing her efforts to preserve cultures through fair-paid craftwork, the social entrepreneur is bidding adieu to the fashion calendar this year. But don\u2019t worry, we haven\u2019t seen the last of Laura Siegel yet.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":31,"featured_media":15892,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[394],"tags":[409,1150,1152,1157,1158,1159,1160,371],"class_list":["post-15891","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-insight-magazine","tag-insight-magazine","tag-insight-2019","tag-insight-spring-2019","tag-laura-siegel","tag-conscious-designers","tag-canadian-fashion-designers","tag-sustainable-fashion","tag-sothebys-international-realty-canada"],"yoast_head":"\nClosing the Loop - INSIGHT BLOG<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Celebrated for her eponymous line of handcrafted knits and eclectic prints, Laura Siegel is doing fashion on her own terms, laying out her plans for slow fashion domination, one weave of the loom at a time.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/sothebysrealty.ca\/insightblog\/fr\/2019\/04\/05\/closing-the-loop\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"fr_FR\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Closing the Loop - 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