Sustainability Spotlight

G U Ð R U N A N D G U Ð R U N , F A R O E I S L A N D S , N O R W A Y

Based in the Faroe Islands, a semi-autonomous North Sea nation between Norway and Iceland, Guðrun and Guðrun has been making high-quality knitwear with a hyper-local focus for over two decades. The Faroe Islands’ most famous fashion export, the brand, headed by partners guðrun rógvadótti and guðrun ludvig, is fiercely proud of its island identity and emphasizes Faroese traditions both in its materials and designs. To Ludvig, “modern fashion and traditional knitwear are not all that different. ” Guðrun and Guðrun’s hand-knit sweaters are made of all-natural fiber; the wool is 100% sourced from sheep that freely roam the Faroese mountains.

To purchase a Gudrun and Gudrun sweater is in many ways to return to fashion’s roots: it is as much about embracing a mindset and worldview as wearing a specific garment. The brand describes its vision as “bringing decency back to the fashion industry. ” It markets its sweaters as lasting a lifetime, a comforting step towards de-commercialization even with a 350 euro pricetag. For A/W 2022, it was pastel colors and distressed details that stole the spotlight. Delicate pink and sea-foam green stripes danced across one geometric sweater while interlocking blue and pink diamonds added a youthful innocence to another. Most bold was a sleeveless and near-backless navy sweaterdress. More classic was an achingly soft white sweater that recalled both Chanel and YSL with its Mondrianesque black lines.

Guðrun and Guðrun, to its credit, adds new influences and looks to its repertoire each season. To me, however, the brand, more so than most, is all about investment pieces that can be worn repeatedly and not confined to a specific time of year or even generation. They’re meant to be cherished, lived in, and, just maybe, cause us to reconsider the fashion cycle.

It’s hard for a young brand to stand out at an exhibition of over 90 designers. However, that’s precisely what Maison Youlou did at the Palais Brogninart, capturing my heart with what I viewed as the most unique story among dozens of inspiring labels.

Youlou is a collaboration between Youwen Xiong and Luc Jiminez, partners who have spent their whole careers in the fashion industry (including several decades as professors) but who have little previous experience as designers. The pair has served at the Atelier de Conseil en Création Sino-Français; not surprisingly their brand, while France-based, has deep ties to China. Their first collection is composed exclusively of camel wool sourced from the Kounas region of Western China. The wool is harvested by hand during “shedding season” in alignment with Youlou’s philosophy of “sustainable and sole sourcing. ” Xiong and Jiminez’s team then turns it into dresses, coats, scarves, and even a limited selection of home goods.

The comfortable yet luxurious collection is monochrome; Maison Youlou uses no dies and thus all the clothes retain the original camel color of their yarn.

Maison Youlou, built along similar philosophies to Guðrun and Guðrun, has great potential for growth. I will be watching closely to see what initiatives Xiong and Jiminez introduce next season…and how they find their niche in the Parisian fashion market.

accessory spotlight

Moroccan-inspired shoes have taken Milan and Paris by storm during the past couple of seasons and the trend continued with Rhita Sebti’s fashion week debut. The Brussels-born Sebti, like so many Frenchspeaking designers before her, is enchanted by Berber culture. In 2016, she began creating her own line of babouches (a Moroccan heelless slipper); she now offers an expansive collection of mules, slippers, and sandals as delicate and supple as the desert dunes. All the shoes are handmade using Moroccan artisanal methods. Elysium favorites? The bright blue Maya babouche adorned with stones and silver embroidery and the red suede Lily mules fastened with delicately knotted cords. The brand’s classic Rafia shoes are a dream for a rustic chic getaway in Sardinia or Sicily.

Furla Romualdo

The passion project of a sister team, Romualdo specializes in reversible hand-painted hats made with imagination, love, and a touch of Spanish sun. Christiana, an artist, and Mariana, a designer, have teamed up to create hats in a wide variety of shapes, colors, and patterns…but all have a certain endearing personality. It’s easy to fall in love with the playful Romualda vision, which embraces the concepts of eternal summer and the emotion of the everyday. Simple beauty and sustainability are key to the brand, which prides itself on “recovering ancestral techniques and reflecting the purity of materials. ” Hats are not the only offerings; Romualdo also has flowing pastel dresses, delicate handpainted scarves, and origamiinspired reversible totes to complete the perfect beach ensemble.