Feature with Sass Brown: Christopher Raeburn

In this episode, part of our monthly brand feature series, we learn about Christopher Raeburn, a design-focused, London-based fashion brand that focuses on remaking, reducing and recycling materials. 

Joshua Williams: Each month on NewsBytes, we feature a fashion brand that approaches business differently and innovatively or operates outside of the main fashion systems and capitals. I'm with Sass Brown, an expert in ethical fashion, sustainability and craftsmanship. She is the former Dean of Art and Design at the Fashion Institute of Technology and the founding Dean at Dubai Institute of Design and Innovation.

Joshua Williams: Hello, Sass. It's so great to have you back. Who are we featuring this month? 

Sass Brown: We're talking about Christopher Raeburn. 

Joshua Williams: Christopher has done a lot of work in many different areas, but what should our listeners know about Christopher Raeburn and his work? 

Sass Brown: He is really diverse, as you say. He produces a menswear collection, a womenswear collection, as well as luggage and accessories. And actually one of my favorite parts of what he does is his Animal Zoo, which is a line of bags in animal shapes. But effectively, he works with certified organic materials, recycled polyester, and a lot of surplus, particularly military surplus. 

Joshua Williams: Christopher really has a unique approach to design. Can you tell us a little bit about it?

Sass Brown: Absolutely. His aesthetic comes from a fascination with military materials and something that he's quoted as saying "archeological discoveries." So, the brand dates back to about 2009 and his first collection, which was fall winter 2010, was made from decommissioned military wool field jackets and nylon parachutes. And that's an aesthetic that has continued throughout the collection, since that day. It's very technically savvy; it's full of utilitarian details. 

Joshua Williams: What's particularly interesting is that even though he's in many ways upcycling things that already existed, that already had a very strong sort of point of view--you're talking about military outfits-- he's really turned this into something that he's very well known for. When you see this on the streets, you know it's Christopher Raeburn. 

Sass Brown: Very distinctive aesthetic, that is instantly recognizable. The collections focus across three main themes, which is Remade, the collection that's the limited edition, it's proudly--and that's on the label--proudly reconstructed in the UK from surplus materials, products and artifacts, predominantly military or other utilitarian uniforms and materials. So, parachutes and tents as well. Then their is the Reduced, which is reworking surplus materials. So dead stock fabrics, et cetera, that's produced in smaller batches. And then there's the Recycled, which is using preexisting materials and with a focus on green technologies. 

Joshua Williams: In many ways, the limitation of using these materials has created this amazing opportunity to be creative and in a whole new way. Can you speak about that? And perhaps what other brands can learn about how to approach business differently, maybe thinking about materials differently? 

Sass Brown: For sure. I mean, Christopher very much makes this the ethos of the brand. This is the inspiration. It's the passion. Remade, reduced, recycled is behind everything he does that drives the aesthetic as well as the process.

 So, there's a lot to learn in revaluing and reusing his particular resources of military and utilitarian uniforms; we're talking about quality materials that are decommissioned long before they're worn out. Right? I mean, nobody wants a parachute with a hole in it, unless you're upcycling it into a fantastic dress, which Christopher did this last year. So, I think it's a phenomenal resource of quality materials that are taken out of use, but at the same time, I have an awful lot of life left in them. I think there's a lot to learn from that. 

You should know that Christopher is also the creative director of Timberland. 

Joshua Williams: Wow! So does he bring that aesthetic also to Timberland, or is that something completely different for him? 

Sass Brown: I mean Timberland have their own brand ethos and aesthetic, but it is a really nice parallel with Christopher's work. So I think it works very well. And he's the recipient of many, many awards. The Young Gen awards from London Fashion Week dating back to 2010. Menswear from UK FT. He was just awarded, in 2020, British Fashion Council's award for the environmental category. 

And he's probably known as much as anything for his collaborations, which he does an enormous amount of. He just finished a collaboration with Aesop, which is actually a skincare brand. It's his first brand. And he produced the packaging out of reclaimed 1960s aeronautical navigation maps. He did one with Moncler, Victoria nox. He recently did one with AATB, which is about digitized blue Baltic printing. He's always pushing the envelope in terms of collaborations, in terms of material, experimentation and processes.

Joshua Williams: I love this word. You said value. And it seems like not only is he adding value in everything that he does and really thinking about that, but also very much at the cutting edge. So many of these things that typically are values oriented, but he's really doing things at the forefront of really rethinking both business models and aesthetic design models.

How do our listeners find these amazing pieces? As you mentioned, there's three different collections specifically at Christopher Raeburn. How do they access or find them? 

Sass Brown: He has a phenomenal online presence. So, it's really easy to track him down. Especially since lockdown, he does lab tours. His lab store is in London, East London, and he does these digital tours. And now that we're beginning to open up again, they will be going back into in-person. He does all sorts of discussions and workshops and interviews that you can access through the website. The website is www.christopherraeburndesign.co.uk. And he's also on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, YouTube, all at Raeburn Design. So, he's really easy to find. 

Joshua Williams: A great example of somebody doing something really different in many different areas. Thank you so much for sharing Sass and we look forward to having you back next month.

Sass Brown: You're very welcome. I look forward to it.