Seven current and former students of the Menswear MA course at the University of Westminster have collaborated with world-renowned retail and brand consultant, fashion visionary and wellness advocate Yasmin Sewell on a new fashion range launched this week in Selfridges.
Recharge by Yasmin Sewell explores fashion through regeneration, circularity, creativity, and consciousness. For the first release, RECHARGEX7, Yasmin has mentored seven up-and-coming University of Westminster Fashion students by inviting them to give new life to iconic designer pieces from her wardrobe. The brief? Update the pieces, whether it be a Celine coat or a Comme des Garcons blouse, by dicing, splicing and reconfiguring, or by changing surface texture.
This project invites us to acknowledge the unworn clothing in our closets and get it back into circulation. By extending the life-cycle of luxury fashion, we can look at our previously loved and worn clothes as items with infinite potential - fashion recharged.
The collaboration stems from Yasmin and the students’ interest in using energy healing techniques rarely associated with fashion, such as mantras, crystals, moon cycles and breath. The resulting works set out a bold new path for recharging the energy of vintage pieces and feeding them back into the fashion system.
Collaborating with Selfridges to exhibit and retail the finished works is a natural fit based on the store’s commitment to addressing the materials used in products, launching and exploring new retail models such as repair and resell, and engaging with teams, partners and customers to inspire a shift in mindsets.
The students featured in RECHARGEX7 are: WESLEY STUART HARTWEL, Catherine Hudson, SANKIM, Guangyu Li, Georgia Wilson, ZOLI, YUNN.
RECHARGEX7 launches instore and on Selfridges.com from 10 December. All sales from the pieces will go directly to the design students involved.
Talking about the project, Yasmin Sewell said: “This project is about sustainability and creativity yes, but ultimately it’s about energy. My love for newness was not because I wanted to keep buying or acquiring more stuff but because unworn, stagnant things in your wardrobe bring about just that, stagnant energy.”
Jeannie Lee, Head of Womenswear at Selfridges, said: “Through Rechargex7, Yasmin has combined a unique and engaging approach to circularity with her love for nurturing talent. It was a concept we couldn’t resist as we continue to experiment with new models that have the potential to change the way we shop.”
Liliana Sanguino, Senior Lecturer on the Fashion Marketing and Promotion BA course at the University of Westminster, added: “It has been a privilege to work on this collaboration with Yasmin. She brings all her expertise and industry knowledge, but from an educational point of view, it has provided a vital learning opportunity for students to work with this innovative framework.”
