Heartwear at the Selvedge Spring Fair

It is relatively common today to hear about ethical or freetrade fashion, however, twenty years ago it was practically unheard of. Yet in 1993 Lidewij Edelkoort, along with a group of designers, created  the non-profit organisation, 'Heartwear'. The intention of which was to find fair, improved routes and methods of producing and distributing the designs of craftspeople from all over the world. The organisation has always tried to establish long term and genuinely valuable links with the regions and collectives that they work with, with a focus not just on distributing goods into a high fashion market, but on developing and improving on local demand for goods. The ultimate goal being, that after establishing a way for makers to produce on a larger scale and sourcing a market, the local industry will be completely self sustaining. One of Heartwear's most recent projects has been indigo-coloured textiles for interior and fashion design, sourced from craftspeople in Benin, Morocco and India (pictured). It is hardly surprising that Edelkoort was so ahead of the times, as she is an incredibly influential trend forecaster, who makes trend books for strategists, designers, marketeers and international brands two or more years ahead. Her CV is incredibly impressive, scattered with clients, essays and projects, that could easily be an entire career path in their own right, such as Heartwear.  'Universal Blue' (installation at Merci in Paris). We will be holding Heartwear's first ever UK stall and exhibition at our London Spring fair, 25th April at Chelsea Old Town Hall. It'll be a chance to see this rare and beautiful collection in person. To buy tickets to our fair please follow the link here. Chelsea Old Town Hall King's Road Kensington and Chelsea London SW3 5EE United Kingdom Heartwear 30 boulevard Saint-Jacques, 75014 Paris, France Tél: +33 1 44 08 68 88 Fax: +33 1 43 31 77 91 www.edelkoort.com/heartwear  

portrait : Ruy Teixeira