17 August/18 August 2019 ★ FT Weekend 5Style
E
uphemia-Ann Sydney-Davies
founded her eponymous
brand following her gradua-
tion in 2012. Just five years
later she was chosen to
present her sustainable designs to the
Duchess of Cambridge at the Common-
wealth Fashion Exchange — along way
from where her story began.
Born in Sierra Leone’s Freetown,
Sydney-Davies had her childhoodshat-
teredone night in 2006 when rebels
invaded the city, posing as fleeing civil-
ians to lure alarmed locals from their
homes. “In the morning it was hell,” she
recallswith the flat insouciance needed
to keep past ghosts unstirred.
Just 12 years old, she hid with her
mother in their tiny outside lavatory
shed while the rebels turned their house
upside down — “we would be raped or
killed if they found us” — only escaping
on the third day. “There were dead bod-
ies everywhere. I will never forget the
image of bodies burning in tyres outside
my neighbour’s house.” The pair made it
to the safety of a relative’s home and a
few months later crossed the border
into Gambia.
Sydney-Davies’ mother found a job as a
teacher in Kenya, and from there they
went to the UK, where Sydney-Davies
finished her A-levels and enrolled on a
fashion foundation course. “For me,
fashion was an outlet... therapy. Mymind was a mush after what hap-
pened... I had nightmares every night.”
She founded her company Sydney-
Davies after graduating from Heriot-
Watt University in Edinburgh and an
internship at Alexander McQueen. The
label merges the richness of her African
heritage — its bold prints and opulent col-
ours — with western shapes and styles. “I
was adamant on having my own brand as
my vision was so strong, I couldn’t really
adapt it to someone else’s.”
Her lack of ego is manifest — a wel-
come anomaly within the fashion spin.
While uninterested in the fame, the
Insta-glory of fashion, she recognises its
currency in mobilising her brand. “I see
fashion from a different angle to how
many people do in the west. I want to
give back to a nation that is broken and
be a beacon for Sierra Leone.”
She is already taking steps. Sydney-
Davies has started raising funds to ship
sewing machines to Sierra Leone in a bid
to kick-start its fashion industry, and
has installed a more transparent pro-
duction line for her own brand, which is
currently manufactured in the UK. “I
feel like I’m fighting for more than most
fashion brands. I have such gratefulness
for simply being alive... ”
Optimism and protean creativityalso
runs through the work of Syrian
designer Nabil Nayal, whose story fea-
tures Aleppo, Elizabethan plumes and
Karl Lagerfeld. With a British mother
and Syrian father, Nayal, 33, attributes
his creative streak to his family’s textile
business and an Aleppo-based child-
hood: “The city attacks your senses on
every level — the smells of the souks, the
heat from the scorching summer sun,
the ancient citadel that dates to 3BC.”had been shortlisted for the LVMH
prize, exclaiming, “I love it, I love it, I
love it”, before buying a pleated shirt-
dress forAmanda Harlech. “Karl Lager-
feld became my first customer and the
press attention he generatedallowed
me to launch my label,” says Nayal.
Now stocked in Selfridges, Dover
Street Market, Harvey Nichols across
the Middle East and Joyce in Shanghai,
the Nabil Nayal team haveso far fore-
gone any funding. Continuing to takeinspiration from historical dress,
Nayal’s AW19 show at London Fashion
Week saw a cavalcade of Marie Antoi-
nette-inspired tulles, shirts and feathers
pace down the runway.
Like Sydney-Davies, Nayal felt crea-
tively stifled in his home country yet
still honours its influences in his work:
“I’m making my way towards an explo-
ration of traditional Syrian dress.” He
shares Sydney-Davies’ longing for the
“homeland” as well as an optimism that
is hard to comprehend. “What has hap-
pened in Syria is a tragedy born from
oppression and resistance against an
archaic dictatorship,” he laments.
“Many lives have been destroyed or lost,
and the country has been scarred physi-
cally and symbolically... but I believe
that things will improve.”
Racil Chalhoub, 37, another British-
based, Middle Eastern designer,founded her brand, Racil, in 2015. Her
eponymous suits and playfully sophisti-
cated pieces aresold in 42 countries, on
e-commerce fashion titans such as Net-
a-Porter and MatchesFashion.com, and
have graced red carpets the world over
on the likes of Sophie Turner and
Vanessa Kirby.
Raisedon a diet of Parisian fashion
and “Le Smoking” iconography, as befit-
ting her suit affinity, Chalhoub had a
morecomfortable childhood than most
but her drive, determination for crea-
tive rebirth in her home country and
straddled identity are just as powerful.
“I was one when we left Lebanon so grew
up a Parisian, but I was brought up Leb-
anese,” she explains.
Returning to the country in 2006 to
set up a concept storehaving completed
her fashion degree,Chalhoub fell on the
wrong side of Beirut’s then volatile poli-
tics: “I turned on the television and saw
images of Israeli air strikes targeting the
city, I was the only member of our fam-
ily in Beirut.” Hearing the airport had
been bombed, she rang her parents in
France, who advised her to drive to their
old home just outside Beirut and from
there cross the Syrian border to another
airport. “I was basically driving through
a war, I saw bombs exploding behind
me. It was the scariest day of my life.”
And yet Chalhoub was on the first
flights allowed back into the country. “I
think it’s about freedom,” she says of her
passion for Beirut. “If you’re told you
can’t be somewhere, you want it more.”
The concept store survived the bombing
and was reopened by Chalhoub.
As Nayal attests: “When someone has
felt any form of repression, the voice of
creative expression gets louder.”Report |The war-torn
townsof their childhood
still inspiresome UK-basedbrands, saysRosalyn Wikeley
O
ur gym routines have
changed. Memberships are
now sold as “joining a com-
munity”. In this wellness-
obsessed era, advances in
technology mean we are tracking every-
thing from our sleep quality to running
techniques. But the newest movement?
The eco gym kit. The mindset being, if
you are going to look after yourself, why
not look after the planet too? From
trainers crafted from recycled plastic to
biodegradable yoga mats, workouts
have gone planet friendly.Clean swimming
“As a lover of water sports, I have
experienced first-hand the marine pol-
lution crisis that is impacting wildlife
both underwater and on beaches,” says
Janaya Wilkins, founder of SLO Active, a
female-led sustainable swimwear line
dedicated to cleaning and protecting
our oceans, which launched earlier this
year (pictured right). “Growing up in
New Zealand, I’ve always had a deep
love for the ocean and a concern for its
protection.” The brand’s debut seven-
piece collection includes a wetsuit made
with Yulex — a plant-based neo-
prene alternative — which is
functional, form-hugging and
environmentally friendly.
Check its website for a guide
on how to be plastic free.
From £90,sloactive.comBiodegradable chic
Ever thought your gym
equipment could be 100 per
cent biodegradable? UK-
based ecoYoga’s new “Jute”
mat is made from
plant-based materi-
als (a blend of natural
hessian and jute), with a natural
rubber underside that makes it
perfect for pilates and yoga.
JJJute mat, £45,ute mat, £45,yogamatters.comCaffeine boost
British brand Sundried waslaunched by triath-
lete Daniel Puddick
in 2016 with a sim-
ple missive— to
create affordable,
quality triathlon kit. Its
Eco Charge range is
made from recycled cof-
fee granules. Why? Usedcoffee grounds often end up in landfill,
but when made into yarn
has a number of surprising
benefits. A naturally anti-
bacterial fabric, it controls
odour and can dry more
than200 times faster than
cotton. We particularly like its
Olperer men’s T-shirt, great forBag it and run
Swedish brand Sandqvist has created
a range of bags from backpacks
and gym duffels to tote bags
made from 100 per cent organic
cotton and recycled fibres from
post-consumer waste. The
brand’s tote is an ideal
gym companion — roomy
enough to contain your kit
comfortably, it also fea-
tures hooks for yogis to
attach their yoga mats to.
The brand also has a
series of repair shops, thus
preventing its products from ending up
in landfill.
Thea bag, £139,sandqvist.comDrink aware
Single-use plastics are so
passé that investing in
reusable bottles is now a
norm, and a fresh batch of
brands are offering quality,
non-plastic alternatives.
WAKEcup, launching this
month, uses sustainably
sourced organic bamboo.
Its bottles have been proven
to keep water ice cold for up to eight
hours — even during the sweltering heat
of a Bikram yoga class. 10 per cent of
profits go to the Marine Conservation
Society, which campaigns to prevent
single-use plastic pollution.
Water bottle, £20,globalwakecup.comClued up cotton
British lifestyle brand Bamford is best
known for its natural bath and face
oils, but its newly launched range of
sustainably sourced gym and yoga
wear is worth paying attention to.
Inspired by the brand’s spa
retreat in the Cotswolds, all its
designs are made from sustain-
ably sourced cotton certified by
GOTS (Global Organic Textile
Standards) — an organisation that
ensures cotton within the supply
chain is grown without the use of
toxic pesticides and
fertilisers. (Non-
organic cotton repre-
sents 12 per cent of
the world’s agricul-
ture, and is the
largest pollutant in
the fashion indus-
try.) The new range
includes all your
basic yoga needs
—from floaty
harem trousers and
tank tops to leggings.
Haybarn vest top, £55,bamford.comEco-foot forward
Adidas x Parley’s new Terrex Parley
Shoes are made from recycled waste
that has been intercepted from beaches
before it reaches the ocean. The trainer
is super lightweight for comfort making
long-distance running a breeze,
and features a rubber outsole for extra
grip even in wet conditions. Not a
runner? They also have a swim and
workout range.
Speedfactory AM4LA, £159.95,
adidas.co.ukShopping| The latest trend in wellness? Planet-
friendly fitness gear.Flora Macdonald Johnston
decodes the conscious workout wardrobe
cyclists and runners.
Olperer T-shirt, £40,sun-
dried.comTurn it up
Headphones can be Earth-
friendly, too. Crafted from
materials such as recy-
cled plastics, recyclablemetals, bamboo and Forest Stewardship
Council-certified wood, these chargea-
ble headphones by House of Marley
have an eight-hour playtime and a
sweatproof neckband makes the
Smile Jamaica wireless earphones
ideal for gym goers. For every
product sold, a portion of the
profit is donated to 1Love, a
charitable organisation set up
in memory of Bob Marley
that supports youth and envi-
ronmental causes.
Smile Jamaica wireless in-ear
bluetooth headphones, £39.99bluetooth headphones, £39.99bluetooth headphones, £39.99,,
houseofmarley.co.ukLeg it
Gym kit made from eucalyptus?
Vyayama does just that. The Tencel fab-
ric is created by dissolving sustainably
sourced eucalyptus pulp, which is then
dried. The plant-based
fibre has added exercise
benefits — it helps wick
moisture away from the
body, making it ideal for
high-intensity regimes.
Conscious of your envi-
ronmental footprint? On
site, Vyayama details
where each item has been
made. Its sunset leggings
are crafted in Portugal.
Sunset Shadow legging,
$170,vyayama.comTime out
In 2018,watch enthusiasts Lilian
Thisbault and Fred Ly launched a Kick-
starter campaign with the
dream of starting a sustainable
watch brand. In one hour,
Awake’s Kickstarter page
raised $20,000, reaching
almost $330,000 within
the month. The brand
offers four different watch
styles — the Phoenix is
made from recycled plastic
bottles, while the Blue Reef is
waterproof to depths of 100
metres, making it perfect for
regular swimmers. Each watch
is solar powered, so no need to dispose
of batteries.
Blue Reef watch, €249,awakecon-
cept.comBack to basics
British label Riley Studio launched
last year with the aim of providing ward-
robe staples using recycled materials
and natural fibres. It has since added eco
gym kit to its product offering, with leg-
gings and crop tops crafted from plastic
waste. The brand has already upcycled
an estimated 2,000 plastic bottles from
oceans and landfills across the world,
saving 3,219
litres of oil (that
would otherwise
be used in nylon
and polyester
production).
“An increasing
amount of eco-
clothing
brands, like ourselves, are taking
responsibility for the whole lifecycle of
their products” says Riley Uggla, the
brand’s founder. “We offer a lifetime
guarantee on all of our products, includ-
ing a repair scheme and a recycling pro-
gramme, diverting any Riley Studio
products from ending up in landfills.”
MBR Crop Top V1, £50,riley.studioThe new
eco- gym kit
my school friends in Sheffield.”
StudyingEuropean dress at Manches-
ter Metropolitan University, Nayal fell
for Elizabethan smocks and theflam-
boyance of Tudor courts. He combined
this with futuristic production tech-
niques and in 2012, while still at univer-
sity, became the first fashion designer to
use 3D printing on the catwalk.
But the ultimate sartorial seal of
approval came in 2015 when the late
Karl Lagerfeld spotted Nayal’s raffish
designs at Paris Fashion Week, where heClockwise from top left; ‘Gold Rush’ 2018
collection by Euphemia-Ann Sydney-
Davies (pictured left); Nabil Nayal AW19
Luca TrevisaniBut in 1998, when he was 14, his mother
sensed that things were taking a turn for
the worse.
They left for the UK. Manchester then
Sheffield in the late 1990s packed a
sharp culture shock for Nayal. Com-
modity Britain with its Adidas-clad chil-
dren and Walkman-mania was a far cry
from the hand-me-down spirit of
Aleppo. “I remember feeling alien in
both countries — never quite Arabic
enough to fit into Syrian society and
never quite British enough to fit in with‘Through fashion, I want
to give back to a nation
that is broken and be abeacon for Sierra Leone’
From combat zone to catwalk
Clockwise from top left; ‘Gold Rush’ 2018
collection by Euphemia-Ann Sydney-
Davies (pictured left); Nabil Nayal AW19
Luca TrevisaniBut in 1998, when he was 14, his motherMorgane de SchaetzenРЕ
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