Christopher Raeburn soars with eco-sportswear

By

Dominique Muret

Published
Jun 11, 2018

It was in a packed room at the hub of London Fashion Week Men's that Christopher Raeburn revealed his new collection for spring-summer 2019. The star of the show, as usual, was outerwear, with parkas, anoraks and other jackets made out of recycled polyester looking ready to face whatever challenges climate change might throw at them. 
 

A proponent of eco-friendly and sustainable fashion, the 35-year-old designer has long been concerned with the future of the planet, as shown by his signature slogan, "Remade, Reduce, Recycle, Raeburn", which could be seen printed in white letters on the black shoulder straps used to carry the collection's transparent pouch-bags, or on the trim of certain apparel pieces. 

Following the same eco-philosophy, Christopher Raeburn had also taken images from Nasa, showing glaciers melting due to global warming, and printed them on a range of silhouettes. Indeed, perhaps in response to the threat of climate change, the idea of protection was another strong presence in the collection, represented through layered clothes, themselves made out of various strata of different fabrics, and caps with detachable neck and ear guards – the perfect wardrobe for urban trekkers. 

This season, the designer offered up a very graphic collection, working primarily with white, red, black and transparent materials. He also favoured layering techniques that alternated feather-weight fabrics, such as polyester, parachute fabric, organic cotton and nylon mesh, with warmer materials like fleeces. 

With some ten years of experience on the London scene under his belt, this graduate of the prestigious Royal College of Art is now in high demand. He recently collaborated on a six-piece capsule with Umbro, for example: the collection uses old football shirts from the British sports brand and has been on sale since the beginning of the month.

At Sunday's show, Raeburn also unveiled a selection of looks from his collaboration with VF corporation-owned outerwear brand Timberland, with whom he is set to produce a 15-piece capsule, also based on the principle of recycling.