In September, MYGroup is proud to support Waste Not: Fallout to future – a new exhibition presented by its brands, ReFactory and Exiled, running as part of the official London Design Festival and City Wide: London Fashion Week programmes.
Waste Not, a free exhibition and open to the public 17-21 September at the E20 Lab, Stratford, East London, is a journey through the wreckage of modern consumption and the radical possibility of its reassembly, showcasing designs by ReFactory and Exiled manufactured entirely from waste recovered by MYGroup.
Framed around the dystopia of an era marked by conflict, unrest, division and environmental strain, the exhibition presents waste as yet another manifestation of progress without responsibility – the fallout from a system breaking down.
Visitors will be faced with the raw ‘material truth’ of the materials society and industry discards – a frontline of waste – then witness the often-unseen craft and skill required to deconstruct and reimagine this ‘fallout’ into new products through regenerative design.
In a ‘material reckoning’, the exhibition features the raw design language of ReFactory furniture and homeware alongside the quiet precision of Exiled’s limited-run textiles and accessories. These collections are presented together with one-off pieces by legendary responsible design pioneer, Christopher Raeburn, and multi-disciplinary artist, Katy Mason, alum of the Sarabande Foundation and founder of Trash Club.
Visitors are then offered a glimpse of a future more hopeful still, as Exiled (with MYGroup) presents its work in responsible cotton cultivation, fibre-to-fibre regeneration and fully traceable design through Digital Product Passports.
During the exhibition’s activation, the ReFactory and Exiled team will also be demoing the craft of circular making and regenerative design through workshopping, as well as hosting school, college and university groups. A special evening panel discussion, ‘Is fashion’s future second-hand?’, will also be hosted by ‘The Elephant In My Wardrobe’ founder, Gemma Metheringham, a leading voice against overconsumption and throwaway fashion.
We deal with waste every day – the visible consequences of unchecked consumption enabled by systems designed without thought for where things end up. “Waste Not” puts this failure on display, but also offers a response. Material transformation isn’t just technical, nor fashionable – it’s essential. If we want a different future, we have to start seeing waste differently.
Steve Carrie, Group Director, MYGroup.
The materials in this show were never meant to be used again. That’s what makes them matter. Whether returned stock, scrap metal and wood, or plastic recovered from the ocean, we haven’t disguised what it is or where it came from to create the pieces on show. That’s the point. ‘Waste Not’ shows the frontline of waste, what it takes to work with it – and why we no longer have a choice not to.
Joe Johnson, Creative Workshop Manager, ReFactory.
When fast fashion and production leave little room for thought, care or hope, this exhibition offers space to pause and reflect. Each piece we’ve contributed began with what we had, not what we wished for. We hope visitors will be similarly inspired by this responsible approach to making and appreciate that waste is only waste when we choose to do nothing with it.
Rebecca O’Leary, Textiles Manager, Exiled.
Waste Not: Fallout to future
Monday 17 – Sunday 21 September
11:00-18:00, daily.
The Lab E20, 3–4 East Park Walk, East Village, London, E20 1JB.
Book general admission and special events here.
A Media Private View will take place Tuesday 16 September, 11:00-15:00.
Press and media enquiries:
- For ReFactory, Exiled and MYGroup: Patrick Duckworth, patrick@amped.consulting.
- For Christopher Raeburn and Katy Mason, as well as Media Private View bookings:
Yasmin Jones-Henry, y.jones-henry@raeburndesign.co.uk.
