Noki and the NESTT (Noki Education of Sustainable Textiles and Technology) return to London Fashion Week to prove sustainability can be vivid, empowering, and liberating. Noki was, is, and always has been, the original anarchist to fashion waste and sustainability issues, born as a reaction to the fast-fashion movement. His upcycled “franken-fashion” collage style gave rise to the Dr Noki moniker – revolutionary then, revolutionary now. As we sleepwalk ever further towards the edge of environmental, economic, and social collapse – Noki’s fearless and uncompromising message and anti-establishment narrative, conceived as a critique on capitalism and challenge to consumerism, has never been more poignant or more powerful.
“This collection, as with all of my work, is about showing how to work within a system and build a legacy that is truly and fundamentally sustainable, and remains so no matter how that system evolves over time” – Noki.
The 22-4-1 Evolutions is a collection of 22 custom builds from a shared source and blueprint. The original 2-4-1 debuted at the NESTT SS23 show, a reveal that showcased 2 looks in 1, and becomes the opening look and inception of the collection that follows. Noki has transformed this concept into a full collection of original creations standing as testament to his desire to re-use, re-purpose, re-imagine, and revolutionize how we view the fashion system. As always, everything seen on the catwalk is crafted from apparel destined for landfill, salvaged, saved, and reborn into dynamic new fashion through signature cut-and-splice clothing-collage and media mash-ups.
Noki defies expectation and all that fashion week traditionally represents. In place of building trends, The NESTT is about building styles which empower the wearer. In place of answers, questions; In place of what, a way of doing; In place of a fashion statement – a movement.
“This isn’t serious fashion – this is freedom. This is making sustainability vivid and fun, enticing and alluring. I want to show to my students at NESTT and those all over the world the endless possibilities of this collage technique. I want to show my audience, and those all over the world, how we can turn things from toxic to positive. That is my legacy” – Noki.
Infamous artist, modern-day Dadaist, and British-based fashion activist Dr. Noki became widely recognised in the mid-90’s for his work waging war against the rise of fast fashion. Ahead of the curve that we now call “circular fashion”, Noki upcycles mass-produced garments, creating logo mash-ups to create one-off streetwear couture styles. Originating from the Shoreditch DIY rave scene, Noki was heavily inspired by Katie Leasen’s Adbusters, founded in 1989 as “a global network of artists, activists, writers, pranksters, students, educators and entrepreneurs who want to advance the new social activist movement of the information age”.
Provocative, playful, pioneering – Dr Noki’s anti-fashion aesthetic is a visual rhetoric for today’s age, the mood of the times, and the voices of tomorrow’s generation.
SHOW CREDITS
Artist / Custom Build Designer: Noki
Creative Director / Stylist: Kim Howells, represented by One Represents
Hair: Nick Irwin using Schwarzkopf Pro
Photography: Chris Yates
Show Production: Vikki Burns
Sound: JBL
Sponsors: Schwarzkopf, Jacka-Lope, The Wheat, Lego, The Captician, Reskinned Clothing,