MELBOURNE - This collection landed Luisa a spot as a finalist in the students' section of last year’s Melbourne Fashion Week, and it evokes a delicate world of the past, but also explosive innovation, especially considering that the designer exclusively used fabrics sourced from used clothing, materials she has collected over time and lace tablecloths that were carefully preserved in her family’s closets.
"It’s a decision I made during lockdown, when I was creating the final collection for my diploma of fashion design. I could have bought fabric online, but I realised that there is so much fabric in the world, that it seemed frankly impossible to imagine not using what I had available", comments Marrollo, who at 26 is very determined to help make the fashion industry more sustainable.
With her father hailing from Abruzzo and her mother from Puglia, her family’s Italian origins were extremely formative to Luisa as a designer, with her chosen materials of embroidery and lace recalling a childhood spent watching her grandmothers, learning to sew and knit.
"The habit of striving to use what you have at your disposal I owe to my family; we have always done it at home", comments Marrollo who, not having a professional sewing machine, and wholly advocating for the idea of slow fashion, sews everything meticulously by hand.
"I’ve always been creative: since I was a child I’ve worked on knitting and crocheting, having fun creating my own pieces. I went from cake decoration to pottery, which my dad taught me, as he is a potter” adds Marrollo. “For me it was about figuring out which direction I should channel all my creativity into, and then I realised that all of my knowledge could serve me in becoming a fashion designer".
This model poses in one of Luisa Marrollo's designs
Luisa Marrollo explains that her creative process begins with the material; often a single remnant of special fabric or an embroidery are enough for her to imagine a shape, letting herself be guided and inspired by the fabric.
Her dual passions for recycling and fashion led Luisa to an important collaboration with Future From Waste Lab, a workshop dedicated to upcycling, in which used clothing is repurposed into new items. The garments are crafted by Australian designers who take residency in the workshop’s studio for six weeks while creating their collection.
"We have a partnership with a company that recycles used clothes, turning them into fibers to be used in construction and furniture. From them, we recover clothes which, after being washed, are cut and sewn, becoming unique pieces, original and inimitable", explains Marrollo.
The workshop is a great way for designers to understand that it is in fact possible to draw upon used clothes to craft an entirely new collection.
The road to making the fashion industry more sustainable is still long: "I believe that the fashion industry is still far from changing course; if it is true that not everything can be made with recycled material, however, it is important that designers become more creative and have access to used fabrics that they can use in their collections”, stresses Marrollo, “I also think it will take a long time before consumers understand the value of slow fashion and the reason for the significant price difference between an upcyclyed garment and one from a department store".
In the meantime, the designer continues to dream up her creations: her next piece will be a blouse made using lace tablecloths donated by her elderly neighbor, but she is also envisioning ways of combining fashion with ceramics, perhaps planning a return to her Dad’s workshop.
