November 21, 2019 |
Between the mukbangs, ASMR and endless challenges, YouTube is a like a jumbo car-boot sale of video content. Everything goes – the more ridiculous, the better. Videos like “I ATE 584726 CHEESEBURGERS IN 2 MINUTES AND EXPLODED” with overly dramatic thumbnails gain millions of views, nurturing the culture of the absurd that seems to be taking over not only the Internet but the world in general. However, that doesn’t mean all YouTube content and creators should be shun and put in the same category. Just like in a carboot sale, there’s few incredible gems hiding between all the trash as pockets of forward-thinking creatives produce informative and boundary-pushing content. One of them is the LVMH Prize-winning designer Marine Serre, who not only counts Rihanna, Beyoncé and the Jenner-Kardashian dynasty as part of her fandom, but also leads a YouTube channel expressing the crystal-clear vision of her brand in video form.
Serre’s Futurewear represents fashion considering the current state of affairs but created for its results and tailored to tomorrow. It includes a cultural megamix of references that make a uniform of a global village whose wardrobe grows steadily rather than changes entirely each season. Until their SS20 show, Serre’s brand was separated into four lines, each named after a colour – white as your closet’s foundation which is season-less, experimental gold, couture-like red which incorporated new ideas each season and green, the sustainable line. But after realising that over 50% of their last collection were produced as upcycled garments, the Paris-based brand decided to re-structure the lines into three, with the green one being incorporated across all three. Marine Serre is a sustainable brand and, unlike many others, they aren’t afraid to share that with the world. That’s where YouTube comes in as a tool in spreading their trailblazing ideas with their audience – as part of their Regenerated series, the Paris-based brand is showcasing the upcycling process in its entirety. This part is so often kept a secret, especially in an industry that’s currently obsessed with creating a uniformed idea of sustainability. But Serre’s YouTube videos celebrate transparency as she allows anyone to experience the creation of her best-sellers, from cloth to product.
You can see the signature moon crescent jeans being cut from parts of deadstock denim, and then technically treated into the final look. Vintage scarves are patterned, deconstructed and put back together into large forms of fabrics which are then again reconstructed into patterns that make the hybrid dress – it’s all shown in detail. The short-form videos, created by Serre’s collaborator Giulia Roman, are a new way of communicating the identity of a sustainable brand – within the YouTube madness, the series feels like a liberating breath of fresh air. As of now, it includes six videos focused on six individual products (watch the playlist of all of them above) but as the conversation around Regeneration continues into the next season, so does the potential for future videos. The interactive element of YouTube allows designers to reach a wider audience than just those already aware of their brands – by adding more layers to the new wave of fashion conversations happening on the platform, Marine Serre is proving (yet again) that she is way ahead of the game.
You can follow Marine Serre’s YouTube channel here.
