Responsible fashion players: the Ester Manas case

A noticed duo

Few young designers can boast of having had as dazzling beginnings as Ester Manas and his partner, Balthazar Delepierre.Following meeting them during their studies at La Cambre (Brussels), the duo quickly launched thanks to the success of the end of Ester's end of course, called "Big Again".Born from personal frustration (the designer dresses in 44 and found no clothes that highlights her), the line stands out with her unique concept.Rare in luxury ready-to-wear that is enough to get them out. Vainqueurs du H&M Design Award, puis du Prix Galeries Lafayette lors du Festival de Hyères en 2018, les créateurs se voient offrir la possibilité de dessiner une collection pour le grand magasin parisien.Unveiled in 2019, the latter will be the prelude to the official first line of the house, presented as part of the fall-winter 2019 season.Finally, last year, it was the LVMH price that made them soft eyes, seeing the duo rise to the rank of finalists.What offer him an additional dose of exhibition.

Inclusive fashion

The particularity of Ester Manas clothes?They are available in a range of colors, materials and cuts...but in one size.A skillful feat made possible by gathees, tightening cords and other stylistic tips that allow clothing to change proportions without losing attractiveness or style."Mathematically, between a 34 and a 50, 40 centimeters, explained Ester Manas at the Printemps site.com last April.So if we add four tissue extensions of 10 centimeters each around the bust for example, it works.We obviously use many elastic materials, gathers, which support these surpluses of material.It's like a ball that we swell.We avoid complicated manipulations.Buttonholes, belt cords: we use things that already exist, we play with it, we move them on the body so that they serve us.»»

But this one -sized concept is not only a question of inclusiveness and inventiveness.It also makes it possible to combat overconsumption by offering parts that last longer, thoughts to support their owners in several stages of their lives."We want the clothes we make last longer than the average," said the designer to the Belgian edition of Elle magazine last January.That they adapt to the bodies of our customers according to their evolution.The body moves!A body changes over the years.Sometimes I am 44, sometimes 46.Isn't it crazy to constantly change all your wardrobe according to its weight?Women can continue to wear our clothes, for example during pregnancy or other morphology changes.»» Qui plus est, la production sans taille spécifique permet également d’éviter les problèmes de stocks et par conséquent, d’invendus qui gangrènent une bonne partie de l’industrie de la mode et alimentent les décharges.

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Ethical production

However, far from stopping on such a good path, the brand also makes it a point of honor to choose responsible materials and to produce its collections in an ethical manner.Their secret boot?Deadstock, this textile surplus bought from large houses that we are talking about more and more and which makes it possible to avoid the waste of raw materials while ensuring a hint of exclusivity to the designs of the claw."(...) If our stock of fabrics are exhausted, it is exhausted, confided Balthazar Delepierre during the same interview.We practice a very strict policy of combating overconsumption.Even before a new collection takes shape, we go to a textile store, generally in Paris.We buy the Deadstock there - excess rolls of creators fabrics who, if not, would end up in the trash.It is only from this moment that we reflect on possible silhouettes for the collection.»» Et afin de produire de manière locale, le duo s’est rapproché de Mulieris, un atelier de confection sociale qui emploie de femmes en situation de réinsertion professionnelle, situé à une vingtaine de minutes de son studio.In a word, an extra-short circuit that avoids expensive and polluting transport and tries more than ever to put people back, all sizes combined, at the center of the debate.