September 21, 2021 |
After his father died, Osman Yousefzada began to think about the rituals that mark the end of life. “We don’t seem to extend that to how we behave and with our environment and what we do with our clothes,” he said referring to the millions of garments that end up discarded each year. The clothes from the 1800s ended up in museums he points out, but the clothes from 2021 end up in landfills. Not wishing to contribute to the problem the designer has embraced TENCEL™ Luxe – the fully biodegradable fiber, made from trees grown in sustainable forests. It’s as soft as silk and just as versatile, with Osman using it for slinky catsuits and structured ruffled dresses. As well as TENCEL™ Luxe he’s also used deadstock fabrics and worked with south Asian craft collectives for his embroidery and woven pieces.
Working this way puts a limit on how much he can produce but the designer says “it’s not really about being a big business, it is about making stuff which actually resonates and keeps the conversation alive.” Fashion is only one of the ways he is doing so. His book, based on his experience growing up in a Pashtun community in Birmingham is coming out later this year and he has been commissioned by the British Council to create a central London public artwork to mark 75 years of Pakistani independence. Being a polymath suits him. “It’s a real multidisciplinary offering that I am doing and I am much happier.”
Photography courtesy of OSMAN.
