Alison’s quirky ReFashion Edinburgh show is pretty rubbish! - Kevin Buckle
ReFashion Edinburgh takes place tomorrow at the Biscuit Factory in Leith with an early show, a late show and an After Party. Always popular, it normally sells out on the day so it is best to book in advance.
I first met Alison Harm, the maverick clothes designer, when Avalanche was based in St Mary’s Street while we helped the National Museum of Scotland with their Scottish music exhibition Rip It Up.
Alison’s shop Psychomoda was opposite, so our paths used to cross and when Avalanche moved to the Waverley Market, Alison was one of the people I looked to to help with our vintage clothing racks.
Alison started ReFashion Edinburgh in 2022 as an independent, grassroots sustainable fashion event, designed to combat the environmental damages of fast fashion and I was more than happy to help her with the promotion. The annual showcase now serves as a creative platform for slow, ethical clothing production.
Operating as a demonetized, non-profit collective, the event brings together 10 hand-picked independent designers and dozens of volunteer models, stylists, and technicians.
Each designer is challenged to construct an entire collection using exclusively eco-friendly materials, such as factory textile remnants, kilt workshop scraps, vintage curtains, and antique cloths.
The runway also highlights avant-garde "wearable art" crafted entirely from discarded rubbish to visibly protest consumer waste. Held annually, ReFashion Edinburgh bypasses commercial overheads by donating 100 per cent of its ticket revenue directly to chosen national and local charities.
The chosen charity this year is the Traditional Dance Forum Scotland, which is the only organisation in Scotland dedicated entirely to advocating for all forms of traditional dance.
Founded in 2014, it brings together dancers, choreographers, musicians and educators to celebrate and promote Scotland’s rich diverse dance heritage.
It supports a wide range of styles, from traditional Scottish step dance, céilidh and Highland dancing to the cultural dances of Scotland’s diverse communities.
This year has an interesting selection of designers, from Edinburgh and across Scotland, and also a special guest designer from Italy.
ReFashion Edinburgh designers are selected for their innovative design and adherence to sustainable practice. They may be at any age or stage in their career, undergraduate, emerging, established and iconic.
One of the designers is Fawns Reid of Fabhatrix who of course was a neighbour when Avalanche was in the Grassmarket. Unsurprisingly given the shop’s name, Fawns designs unusual but wearable hats.
Alison’s designs have been seen all over the world, while a couple of years ago she was asked to provide all the staff at the Edinburgh Military Tattoo with a uniform.
Alison is always keen to promote young talent and anybody just starting out would certainly learn a lot by popping in to the shop where she is always happy to give advice.
In others news Sunday also marks one year since Avalanche moved over to the old, empty, Superdry space and thankfully given how much it cost it has been a huge success. More on the celebrations to follow soon.
https://www.refashionedinburgh.co.uk/