The designer’s debut London Fashion Week presentation featured pieces made from recycled denim jeans and jackets. Steinmetz’s specialty is using artisanal techniques to create everyday clothing, and her current obsession is denim.
Among the standouts was a denim-look jacket-and-trouser combo that was created using the Japanese shibori technique. The fabric was hand-painted before being knotted and then steamed into 3-D shapes on its surface. Other pieces were handwoven from heat-fused denim yarns or embellished with recycled denim fringe.
While Steinmetz’s highly conceptual showpieces may be closer to art than fashion, they are brave, undeniably beautiful and completely unique, leading to a cult following, with the slightly more mainstream pieces being stocked at Opening Ceremony.