Shop at Bluebird launches pop-up with Rêve En Vert and ethical labels

By

Sandra Halliday

Published
Oct 12, 2017

The Shop at Bluebird on London’s King’s Road held a launch event for its key autumn pop-up on Thursday evening with the concept boutique hosting a three-week partnership with sustainable luxury fashion e-commerce platform Rêve En Vert. 

The store has earned a reputation for some interesting temporary specials in recent years and the latest, called Stories, aims to bring to life the “incredible journeys” behind 11 brands, focusing in particular on their eco-driven thinking. 

That means it is offering everything from up-cycled leather jackets and accessories to activewear made from eucalyptus and responsibly grown beechwood trees, with prices ranging from 340 to £650.

And as well as the products for sale, the pop-up offers customers a chance to “discover new brands and learn more about the history of the garments they are buying.”

In fact, Rêve En Vert is on a mission to “combat the throwaway culture of the fashion industry” and is big on educating shoppers about the products it sells. Founders Cora Hilts and Natasha Tucker are keen to share the message about brands that have embraced “new ways to manufacture and source unique materials to limit fashion’s footprint.” 

So what about those 11 brands? Well, one of them is from Rêve En Vert itself with the debut of Rev by Rêve En Vert. It’s a capsule collection of sustainable core pieces, made from off-cuts of designer fabrics that have been up-cycled into a “one-of-a-kind collection”. All of the pieces have been made locally in an “ethical factory” in East London. 

The other 10 designers all have strong stories behind them, continuing The Shop’s traditional of showcasing interesting and up-and-coming brands to give customer a sense of discovery once in-store. 

The brands include Bree Layne, with a collection is made entirely from dead stock and pre-existing materials that includes a range of sleek separates as well as monochrome statement pieces. 

Sway NYC uses 100% excess materials and vintage pieces to produce completely new leather jackets and bags, while Von Holzhausen offers a selection of ethically-sourced leather bags with designs created from by-products of the food industry. 

Cosi is the brainchild of former fashion director Elaine Briggs and is built around ethical throws and shawls, while Maiyet partners with global artisans to incorporate handcrafted details and unexpected fabric techniques into its collections. 

Mara Hoffman’s vibrant prints and tailoring are all made using environmentally friendly fabrics, including packaging and labels that are 80% post-consumer waste, and Vyayama provides a natural alternative to synthetic yoga wear with Tencel-based fabrics sourced from that sustainably farmed eucalyptus. 

Fonnesbech is offering workwear pieces that have the Scandi style of the designers’ native Copenhagen with an ethical edge and Woron has a range of ethical lingerie.

Then there’s ELV Denim (ELV stands for east London Vintage) that takes old denim stock and transforms it into new pieces. Next Thursday (October 19) it will host a ‘Made to Measure’ evening where customers can “mix and match their favourite vintage jean fabrics to create a one-of-a-kind, tailored-to-their-size, product.” Designed and ordered in store, the product will take a week to arrive with the customer. 

Claire Miles, Head of The Shop at Bluebird, said each of the brands that Rêve En Vert has curated into Stories “offers a completely unique take on eco-fashion without sacrificing design or vision. We always seek brands that have a great narrative and history to share with our customers.”