An Ode To Aging

Millie Connor is an English fashion design graduate specialising in sustainable and genderless fashion. She also has a passion for illustrating, winning the FIDA Worldwide student award of the year 2023. Fuelled by her belief that it is imperative to become a more conscious industry, her work focusses on developing innovative ways to transform textile waste and forgotten textiles into garments. Her collection has a commitment to slow design principles, mindfully crafted to minimize waste and foster a more sustainable future for our planet. She explores how we can celebrate aging, drawing inspiration from old family photos and Japanese philosophies of Wabi Sabi and Ma as a way of creating a slower fashion industry. Using sustainably sourced materials, Millie also explores lost crafts such as crochet and knit, paying homage to her grandma who crafted all the family’s clothes in the 60s and 70s. Curating a collection of soulful second-hand materials, her collection designs garments with a less/zero waste principle. Wabi Sabi suggests that everything has value, and the most expended and looked past materials hold the most ‘soul’. Therefore, materials rich in history were sustainably sourced from local people and places. The discovery of a white quilt at a local car boot sale unveils a narrative of heritage and sustainability in the collection. Once treasured within the older woman's family, this quilt now shares its journey. Combined with materials found at Scrap store Leeds, a sustainable business that salvages discarded materials from ending up in landfill. Beloved textiles were donated by family and friends, enriching the collection with memories. Finished with repurposed coins as buttons, demonstrating the beauty of looked-past objects. Eyelets carefully hand-sewn with deadstock threads are woven with yarn found at the scrap store, also finding new life in garments and accessories.