Baby Steinberg’s first turn on the LG Fashion Week catwalk last year was called Salvage and featured dresses made from found materials including coffee filters and scouring pads.
For this afternoon’s show though, she’s focusing on the waste produced by the garment industry, knitting together pieces with remnants sourced from clothing factories and textile manufacturers in Brazil.
“Last year, my goal was to raise awareness,” says Steinberg who cites her Brazilian roots and a make-something-out-of-nothing mantra as the source of her sustainable style philosophy. “But this year I wanted to show what’s possible with discarded fabric.”
It’s definitely not your usual runway-to-retail concept but the new dresses are more wearable than you’d expect (though Steinberg also makes a point of mentioning that the coffee filter frock from last spring made many off-the-catwalk appearances too).
She previewed the collection in late September at the Gladstone Hotel. Using extra large needles, Steinberg knit together tunics, halter dresses and one-shoulder frocks. Mismatched strips create a marled texture in some pieces. And the densely woven jersey gives them a nice hand and a substantial weight.
Steinberg plans to retail a few of the styles to test the market for recycled high fashion but that doesn’t mean she’s moving on from designing statement pieces.
“I still love creating my one-of-a-kind dresses,” she says.
