My Current Favourite Fashion Brand

Nigel Xavier

When asked what my current favourite brand is I had to think. I feel like because the industry is so dynamic and trends come and go, my favourites constantly change. I thought about Erdem, Gaurav Gupta and BODE. I love these brands for different reasons but currently I am a huge fan of Nigel Xavier.

I first discovered Nigel’s work through season 2 of the Netflix fashion competition show called Next in Fashion, presented by Tan France and Gigi Hadid where he won $200,000 and the opportunity to launch a collection on Rent the Runway. I immediately connected with his work due to its sustainable and innovative nature.

Nigel re-works pre-existing garments and plays on textile manipulation and patchworking using a variety of different materials such as denim as well as experimenting with extreme proportions which I admire. The androgynous and subversive nature of Nigel’s work is also what attracts me, as someone who will shop in any section regardless of gender. What really stood out to me is Nigel’s archive collection which was as he described, ‘an accumulation of pieces I made since 2016 until now leading up to the shows release.’ This ranged from intricate crochet garments to re-worked denim and much more. 

I felt strongly inspired by Nigel’s story when he explained his upbringing and the fact that he grew up with little money, therefore leading him to demonstrate his creativeness in re-working his wardrobe. I feel as though this is an important message that our generation needs to hear. We get so caught up in the world of fast fashion and a vast amount of people have adopted a ‘wear-it-once’ mentality which is inevitably harming the planet. The more designers and brands we have promoting ideologies of sustainability whilst also being ‘trendy’ and what is seen as ‘stylish’ to consumers, the more educated and open-minded we become and therefore leading us to make progressive and impactful changes.