Article by Sarah McCrorie
Edited by Grace Kennedy
Awareness of the environmental impact of fast fashion and the need for sustainability is growing faster than ever, with several fashion shows and events in St. Andrews choosing to support sustainable efforts this year. Arguably leading the way in the battle against fast fashion, fourth year Ella Davies founded sustainable fashion company SULKE when she found affordable and unique clothing hard to come by. Sourcing high quality second hand leather, Ella reworks and paints her jackets to create unique outerwear that is environmentally-conscious, fashionable, and affordable. Ella sat down with Haute Magazine to discuss SULKE clothing, her inspirations and thoughts on fast fashion, and her plans for the company in the future.
Tell me about yourself, any fun facts that people don’t know about you, and how SULKE came about?
I’m a fourth-year student, studying Spanish and History of Art. The idea of SULKE actually started in second year, kind of by accident. I couldn’t find any clothes that I really liked and that were affordable but then one day I found a leather jacket in a charity shop, bought it, and since I’ve always been into art, I decided to paint on it and SULKE just kind of grew from there. My friends have been amazing throughout the whole process. They are my number one supporters - they really take an interest in it. Then, it was after the Don’t Walk launch that I wanted to take it more seriously because I genuinely enjoy doing it.
Photo by Reilly Halverson
And do you make everything at your house?
Yeah, so everyone always jokes that behind the scenes of SULKE is a completely different thing because it looks slightly less sleek! It’s just me, painting and designing, normally on the floor of my bedroom - this living room is normally filled with SULKE leather jackets and paints everywhere. It actually works quite well because my flatmates are super into art, so we sort of just sit and paint together.
Photo by Reilly Halverson
So for you, what is SULKE clothing about, and where do you get your inspiration from?
The idea, which developed out of a hobby, was to create clothes but without having to dive into fast fashion. A lot of young people who create brands these days will mass order T-shirts online and create really cool stuff but it’s having a negative effect. SULKE uses what is already there, by re-designing jackets and making them unique. We make it something that people would want to buy even if it was brand new and since it’s older, it tells more of a story. Sustainability is a massive part but also creating something that’s affordable is really important, especially because I’m a student and most of the people I’m selling to are students. I didn’t want to create something that’s completely out of reach but at the same time every jacket has at least eight hours of my time going into it, so it needs to be worthwhile.
And do you source the jackets at local charity shops?
I get my jackets either from local charity shops at home or in St Andrews – there are a lot in St. Andrews and there always seems to be more leather jackets every time I go in. I guess in the future the idea will be to go to bigger markets and mass sell them. When I have more money, I’ll be able to buy them in bulk. My ideas and inspirations for the designs come from everywhere. A lot of the jackets have come from the news and current affairs. I made one aimed at Brexit and there was another overtly political one - the ‘fake news’ jacket, which is covered in political slogans and news headlines: some from serious politicians and then some from The Sun. There was something about "sharks love jazz say Australians scientists", mixing the comedic and actually quite scary things together. Then, on the other side there are ones which are inspired by music or from Art History. My inspiration comes from things I see and like, or even quotes from artists or films. I ask my friends what they like, what they would want, and then I develop ideas from there.
Sustainable fashion and the negative effects of fast fashion is emphasised on the SULKE website and Instagram page. Do you want to talk about your thoughts on sustainability and sustainable fashion?
I weirdly just did a presentation in Spanish this week and was able to talk about sustainable fashion and do a little self-promo as well. I was able to research a lot for that, but for me it’s the fact that the fashion industry is the second biggest pollutant, yet no one seems to be stopping these brands that are producing so much clothing like Boohoo, Zara, H&M. The clothes are emotionless and are just replicas of other clothes. The consumer gains very little from it and it’s very damaging for the environment. The idea with SULKE is that we’re against that. (I say “we” all the time but it’s actually just me). The idea is to create something personal that can empower the individual. We want people to feel great when they wear the jackets. We try to re-use what we already have. I wasn’t aware of this until four years ago, but you can go into a charity shop and buy so much. It already has a story, and it’s just as nice, if not nicer, a fraction of the price, you give money to charity, and we’re not producing more stuff we don’t need. The idea is redesign it, revamp it a little- a lot of the jackets I buy are quite vintage, so putting a bit more of a modern twist on it, I guess?
SS19 Show Season saw an emphasis on gender neutral fashion, like Louis Vuitton SS19. As a unisex brand, is SULKE committed to producing gender neutral fashion or is that just a circumstance of chance?
I think it’s great! When I create my jackets, I never have a gender in mind and it entirely depends on who decides to buy it. If you want to buy it, if you’re interested in it and if it makes you feel good, go for it. That’s the same with what I wear; I’ve never really bought stuff with gender in mind. I was talking about this golf brand the other day with my brother and I said I really wanted to get clothes from there because- what I wear for golf is not stylish. It actually really annoyed me when he said, “Oh, but it’s a men’s brand, they don’t have any women’s clothes’ and I just said, ‘Why does that matter? It’s jumpers and polo-shirts, it doesn’t mean anything!’. Most of the clothes I wear for golf are my dad’s old jumpers anyway. But bringing it back to SULKE, nothing is created with gender in mind.
Photo by Reilly Halverson
SULKE clothing featured in Don’t Walk 2019 - did you want to talk about that experience and the impact that had for SULKE?
The whole thing was awesome, I guess it was kind of by accident. There was a DW launch and one of their designers dropped out, and they very kindly asked ‘Would you be interested in doing this’ and of course I was. It was then at the launch that it felt so surreal because I was sitting having dinner with my friends, and then all these models came on wearing my jackets, which is always a cool feeling, even on a small scale. That went well, and amazingly they asked me back for DW, which was awesome. That’s when I thought I should take this a bit more seriously. I don’t actually know when I officially set up the website and social media, but it was between the launch and the event. I have a couple of friends who do graphic design, so I roped them in for the logo and got to work with them. The girl who did my logo design is at Leeds doing graphic design and she does some amazing work. It was a bit weird because at the time of DW, I had just landed in Rio in Brazil, which was interesting because I was on a semester abroad in Uruguay so I was travelling around a lot. It was unfortunate timing because when I decided to start taking SULKE more seriously, I had just moved half way across the world for six months to study in Montevideo, the capital of Uruguay, which is a very small city but there’s a lot of leather, which is good! But I remember sitting in the back of a taxi and a lot of my friends were sending me videos of the jackets on the catwalk. I’m gutted that I wasn’t there but I am so grateful to have been a part of that. It also gave me the push I needed to put a bit more time into SULKE; I wouldn’t be doing as much as I am now, if it wasn’t for DW.
Don’t Walk and St Andrews Charity Fashion Show are both promoting sustainability again this year, so should we expect to see SULKE return on the catwalk?
Not that I know of! I’ve seen that DW are doing the Rainforest Alliance and it is awesome that FS are targeting fast fashion. It’s the right time; the fashion shows here are huge and are able to raise a lot of awareness, so it’s great to see that they’re supporting these charities. In terms of SULKE getting involved, I have no idea. I haven’t really thought about that to be honest but obviously I would love to! I’m going to hopefully reach out to some other student fashion shows but out of the university is my plan for the near future. I know DW have a couple of in-house designers that remake second hand clothing and they’ve done that for their committee jackets this year, which is cool. If I made any impact on anyone, even if it’s just a thought in someone’s head about sustainability, then that’s even cooler.
Finally, what are your plans for SULKE in the near future? Are there any changes or anything you’ve got planned coming up?
I guess at the moment I’m just trying to grow small but steady. Obviously fourth year makes it a little more complicated because there are job applications and I’m doing a few other things in St Andrews which have taken up a lot of time recently. But in the back of the mind this is always something I’d want to do in the future, and if I get a job next year, I hope to do it on the side. I have got a couple of plans in my head in terms of taking it further outside of St Andrews. This semester I’ve done a number of small things such as collaborations with the North Street Collective exhibition in Edinburgh. I got a couple of sales from those people that live in the US or live elsewhere in Europe, which is really good because it expands SULKE. I also did the TedX talk on Tuesday and I’m really enjoying the process of being involved with friends as they all have their own creative ideas, which you can bounce off of. If you’re helping to create sustainable fashion, you’re doing something you enjoy, and you’re growing a business, then it’s a win-win. The idea is to keep going this year with small stuff, like increasing social media reach. Hopefully in ten years time, I’ll still be around doing this kind of thing on a larger scale but at the minute, I’m just finding the path to get there.
Interview took place 15th November.
Find out more about SULKE Clothing on the website, Instagram page, or Facebook.
Sulke Photoshoot by Haute Team:
Photographer - Erin Turnball
Art Direction - Frances Channer
Art Assistance - Marguerite Knowles
Stylist - Ethan Shapiro and Anastasia Kramer
Models - Hannah Raleigh and Gareth Richardson
Edited - Polina Davidova
Collage
