This Sustainable Brand’s New Collection Symbolizes a Return to Nature
Emboldened, distinctive beauty takes root in Sonia Carrasco’s “20-20” spring collection, taking form in a lineup of impeccably cut and deconstructed designs. Each piece screams “power” in hushed tones of earthy neutrals such as gauzy white, buttercream and contrasting hues of burnt and bright orange, replete with overlapping layers, textures and transparencies.
The Spain-based, eponymously named, sustainable fashion brand forges a new path forward with a spring 2021 collection centered on elegant suits designed with modern touches that take the “power suit” to a much sexier level. Described as “very intimate” and “personal,” the collection was inspired by nature and Carrasco’s own personal ties to the seaside city of Valencia.
Sonia Carrasco, founder, told WWD, “During the whole inspiration and design process I was in my hometown due to the lockdown in Spain, in a small village in Valencia, surrounded by nature and orange groves; and that’s everything that I saw, smell and heard during three months. I really felt this connection with my roots. The orange color in the collection is something that happened unconsciously. It was afterward, looking back to the collection, that I understood the influence that the environment I was living in had toward the collection that I designed.”
With the brand’s studio based in Barcelona, each of Carrasco’s collections are made with the least possible impact on the planet, from material selection to production in local workshops. In fact, her two previous collections were named with the geographic coordinates relating to a specific environmental issue on the planet (i.e. Plastic Island) — “but this season, life has made it difficult to choose a single problem, when the whole year feels like one,” the brand cleverly stated. The name “?20-20?” was chosen “because the planet is giving us a wake-up call that we can no longer ignore,” Carrasco said.
Its spring 2021 collection was “born as the result of an internal process, where reality is observed at different levels through rational exploration and intuitive deepening.? ?It is based on the reflection of one’s own moods and the ability to express them through fashion,” the brand said.
The sustainably made looks feature materials such as recycled cotton, hemp, raffia and cupro, and the knitwear is made with recycled and organic thread. In past collections, the brand has also used vegan leather made from recycled sugarcane. All buttons and closures are made of recycled polyester — and even recycled seed.
Deconstruction was integral to the collection’s atypical aesthetic, as was the environment itself. “It all begins with the experimentation and deconstruction of a form, a stimulation of the memory and the reflection of your own thought processes. Alongside these come the act of self-awareness, the ability to focus your attention on your own perceptions, concerns, sensations and thoughts,” they added.
Carrasco’s exquisite knitwear and sharp tailoring are obvious centerpieces of this collection, signaling a new direction for the brand moving forward. “I’ve always wanted to mix my two passions that are knitwear and tailoring the way I have always dreamed of. I could never find a piece with the shape I envisioned, everything I saw was very soft/ fluid shapes and what I was looking for was real tailoring with construction and strong shapes,” Carrasco told WWD.
“These shapes and constructions led the design process. It’s an ongoing process to excel the knitted tailoring for us. This will be the signature of Sonia Carrasco from now on — we won’t stop researching and developing knitted tailoring pieces.”
And Carrasco said the COVID-19 pandemic also helped her evolve the brand through a requisite introduction of new technologies for her design processes. “The pandemic has accelerated our shift to 3-D creative design process. Before this situation we were already studying how to design in 3-D in our goal for responsibility, but the pandemic gave us no choice but to embrace the 3-D design process.
“For us this shift has been very natural. Using the 3-D design process, we save a lot of paper and textiles that were used for pattern and prototyping. Every collection we make steps towards our goal of being as responsible as possible.”
For more Business news from WWD, see:
Outdoor Brands Talk Coronavirus Impacts
Brick-and-Mortar, Digital Retailers Adjust Strategies in Wake of Coronavirus
Field Notes: How Fabric Is Helping Save the Planet
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