ZERO WASTE COUTURE

WITH her EPONYMOUS LABEL, NEW YORK BASED, BEIJING-BORN FASHION DESIGNER REN HAIXI PROVES ZERO WASTE FASHION DOES not HAVE TO COMPROMISE on STYLE

- JAMIE LEE

If "sustainability" was the buzzword the last few years, "greenwashing" has taken over for 2022. Major fast fashion players who raced to play the green card now have to substantiate their claims, due to a major legal crackdown across the United States and Europe. Yet, sustainability should not be seen as a trendy catchphrase, especially when there are many in the industry who take it seriously. Indeed, at Ren, a namesake label by 24-year-old designer Ren Haixi, circularity is at the core of the brand, "I view fashion as a form of fine art that allows the designer to not only speak on modern social issues, but to also provide meaningful solutions," she says.

At 18, Beijing-born Ren came to New York City to further her fashion design studies at the Fashion Institute of Technology (FIT). Her education and accrued work experiences would play a part in forming the core of her brand ethos: zero-waste couture garments. At luxury brands Thom Browne, Vera Wang and Proenza Schouler, she learned the ropes of the business, including how to manage made-to-measure projects for major red carpet events such as the Met Gala and the Oscars. "These experiences triggered my interest and ambition to challenge myself to enter the made-to-measure world," Ren says.

Yet, the designer could not ignore the big issue within the fashion industry: textile waste. "During my internships, I realised that textile waste is a huge problem in every fashion company. To solve this problem, I needed to e-design the garment construction process to make it 100 percent zero waste."