Behind the Brand with ELWIN
We caught up Deanne, founder of our latest brand arrival ELWIN to learn more about how they work..
Please can you introduce yourself and your role at ELWIN?
I am a fashion designer and passionate advocate for sustainable fashion and British manufacturing. I’m the founder of ELWIN, an independent clothing and knitwear brand. I studied womenswear fashion at Central St Martins in London and have worked in luxury fashion and marketing over the last 20 years. My role at ELWIN
covers everything from design, development and managing production to marketing and social media. I am happiest when in the studio surrounded by fabric, working on my designs. I grew up in Dorset by the sea and when I’m not in the studio I like to be out in nature, either swimming outdoors or in a field walking my spaniel.
Tell us about how the brand came about - what was the inspiration?
My main goal was to try and show that fashion can have a positive impact on community and the environment. To be part of the change that is needed in the fashion industry. By creating ELWIN, I hope to show that being considerate and respectful of people and planet can be desirable and a strength. I have deep love and respect for craftsmanship and heritage, the art of making. As a designer, I am inspired by modern architecture and design. Our design ethos is to combine modern design with heritage techniques and traditional materials.
I am also fascinated by worn clothes that have lasted for years. I love the stories that these clothes can tell. I tend to find things I like and wear them on repeat for years. I try to create those favourite items that you can wear everyday, versatile clothes and knitwear which are well made and designed to last. I think it’s important that
clothes make you feel good when you wear them, that they give you confidence. And that they also have a point of view.
Sustainably sourced fabrics are at the heart of ELWIN - why do you choose to work with these fabrics?
As a maker, it is important to me to work in a circular way that minimises harm to the planet, avoiding plastic and synthetics and being conscious of our impact.
We source as much as we can from existing materials, using deadstock or surplus fabric for much of the collection. These circular fabrics are better for the environment than new fabric as they already exist, so have zero resource consumption, zero emissions and prevent fabric being disposed of in landfill.
Where we source new fabrics, we use natural, biodegradable materials. Our cottons are hand-loomed in India, supporting small artisan communities. We use wool for our knitwear as it is a regenerative, biodegradable and sustainable fibre. Wool actually
releases nutrients back into the earth as it decomposes. It’s a wonder material that is breathable, temperature regulating and odour resistant. Through working with British wool, I wanted to make a connection between our clothes and where they come from.
Our swingtags are made from recycled disposable paper coffee cups and all of our packaging is recycled, recyclable or biodegradable.
Where are your pieces produced, can you tell us a bit about the process?
One of the key aims when starting ELWIN was that the business should have a positive impact on our community. So it was important to make everything in the UK and to keep it as local as possible. Most of our collection is made within a 5 mile radius of our East London studio. Our knitwear manufacturer is just down the
road and our pattern cutter and seamstresses are also all local.
As a purpose driven business, I wanted to find a manufacturing partner that shared our aims. We work with a social manufacturing unit called Making For Change who are part of London College of Fashion. They offer skills based training to women to encourage positive life changes.
There are other benefits to working locally, it reduces travel miles as we don’t have to ship samples around the world and enables us to work closely in person with our manufacturers. It means we have full oversight of how our pieces are made and we personally know everyone involved.
Can you describe the ELWIN woman?
One thing I have discovered is that there isn’t a specific ELWIN woman! We have customers of all ages who have very different styles, even a mother and daughter who wear the same items but in their own ways. One thing that they do have in common is a strong sense of their own personal style, and an appreciation for the
quality and cut of their clothes. The ELWIN woman is someone who is looking for good design but with a more responsible approach to fashion.
What are the best and worst parts about running sustainable brand?
It can be challenging to disrupt the status quo and want to do things differently, there can be resistance to changing practice. And you have to do a lot of research into everything to find better materials, or better ways of doing things. One of the best things is working with British manufacturers, there is so much skill and potential
here.
The best part is all the lovely customer feedback, when you get emails saying how happy someone is, how they appreciate the details of the design, the joy they are getting from wearing the clothes. That’s what it’s all about really.
Hopes and dreams for 2025 for ELWIN?
I’d like to see us grow and expand this year, with more events so that people can experience the clothes in person. My dream is to have a bigger studio so we can move more of our production in house and employ and train local people.