Laura Borrmeister, owner and designer at Enchantress
New Zealand designer Laura Borrmeister is blurring the lines between fashion, interior design, and upcycling. Her collection is centred around unique one-of-a-kind garments made from 100% recycled fabric.
Just as her fashion principles are committed to slow fashion made in small batches, the launch and growth of Laura’s Enchantress brand has also been something of a slow burn.
The Christchurch designer started developing her brand when she was just 17. It has taken five years of evolution to officially launch Enchantress, with her website and online collection going live this week.
“I’ve been passionate about giving life to old clothes and fabric from as far back as I can remember,” she says.
“All through my high school years I upcycled old clothes into a newer design and even before that I made clothes for my dolls from a pretty young age.”
Laura’s fascination with the creative and structural elements of design saw her pursue formal studies around her passion. She holds a BDes (Hons) in fashion design from Massey University and has already achieved global recognition at the 2022 Redress Design Awards as the sole New Zealand representative among 30 young sustainable designers from around the world (she was also voted onto the alumni).
“My collection for that featured upcycle secondhand textiles sourced from curtains and swatches.
“It’s heartbreaking to see the damage caused by the wasted fabric that ends up in landfills, and as a fashion designer, I’m committed to delivering a sustainable option to the New Zealand fashion community.”
The bulk of fabric used in Laura’s collections comes from her op-shop foraging, as well as fabric received from interior design company Lisa Hurley Designs.
“It’s pretty satisfying to know that something new is being made from this fabric that would otherwise end up being chopped up for rags or dumped as rubbish.”
Laura is also highly driven to design and make clothes that fit bodies of all shapes – achievable when creating one-off designs.
“We don’t make clothes for you to fit into: we make clothes to fit you,” she says.
“I keep current trends in mind when designing as well as all body types, plus, I place importance around the realisation that women’s bodies change, so I design with this element in mind. My designs can be adjusted with ties and how they fasten or customised to work across fluctuations in weight and shape.
“Fundamentally, I want to help inspire people around the knowledge that it is possible to create new clothes from old clothes and fabric – encouraging more thought around longevity of fashion and recyclability.”
The fabrics Laura uses are sustainably washed with cold water and eco-friendly washing liquids before being transformed into new garments. She also creates a new pattern from scratch for every piece of fabric to avoid waste.
“Everything is handmade with love and care and is completely one-of-a-kind. Our prices reflect the time that goes into the process, but we confidently deliver quality pieces made right here in New Zealand,” she says.
The Enchantress collection delivers an intriguing mix of coats and cropped blazers, corsets, and skirts, as well as upcycled men’s shirts reimagined into a tailored women’s piece with corset and black ribbon features to add shape and definition at the back.
Images supplied.