Nils Hauser
“SUSTAINABILITY TO ME MEANS FINDING WAYS TO MEET THE NEEDS OF THE PRESENT WITHOUT COMPROMISING THE ABILITY OF FUTURE GENERATIONS TO MEET THEIR OWN NEEDS. CREATING BEAUTIFUL CLOTHES SHOULD NOT HAVE TO COME WITH THE DOWNSIDE OF POLLUTING THE PLANET.”
– NILS HAUSER
Imagine arriving at a city once destroyed and now mysteriously rebuilt, to discover the sinister secrets buried in the rubble of the past. You meet some characters wearing unique garments. These are the creations of designer Nils Hauser, who envisions this fictional lost city.
“I always had a love for old objects with patina and history. When thinking about fashion, it never occurred to me to use new fabrics,” shares the designer, who holds a degree in International Fashion Design from the Fashion Design Institut (FDI), Germany.
Nils’ Redress Design Award collection, ‘Ex Voto’, was inspired by old city maps and city planning, the novel Das Schloss (The Castle) by Franz Kafka, and the process of rebuilding and restoration. His designs include a range of multifunctional garments, including a versatile vest that can be worn in four different ways and a collar that can be folded up into a mask, allowing the wearer to discover the garments for themselves, leading to a joy that will empower them to keep them longer.
For this collection, Nils upcycles unique found materials, including sofa upholstery fabric rescued from a vintage furniture store and nylon from an old family tent. He is particularly enamoured with beautifully aged fabrics and the potential for resurrecting old, damaged fabrics into something special.
The designer addresses low-impact materials and processes by using water-based printing paint on his garments, and burning the fabrics to minimise the release of microplastics while washing. He makes an effort to reduce cutting waste, and when there is any, he uses it for lining or keeps it for future use as filling material.
“Nearly every woven or knitted product is cleanable, repairable, or reusable,” Nils shares. “With enough care, everything can transform into something beautiful.”
