launch Issue

Designer profile
Odette Steel and Nelly Rose’s
Adventure of
Modest Fashion
Odette Steel and Nelly Rose
- both are graduated from
London College of Fashion.
The two women has made a
breakthrough by showcasing
their first modest fashion creations
both on Jakarta Fashion Week and London Fashion
Week 2016 which caught lots media attention. Odette
and Nelly tells all!
WrItten by MalIka photos by Odette and Nelly
What inspired you to launch a career in
the fashion world?
Nelly: I always knew that I wanted to work internationally
in ethical fashion – discovering the story and sharing rather
than just sourcing. I think fashion is one of the most powerful
tools of change. I love being able to create something which
has a visual impact and is attractive, yet also thought
provoking and advocating a positive change in some way.
Odette: Mainly because it is something that I enjoy. I
think that in order for something to inspire you it needs to
make you happy, it needs to excite your senses and fulfil your
soul. For me everything that is Textiles does this... colour,
texture, technique etc. Within these things there is always
something from the past to influence and something in the
present to discover.....therefore creating an endless stimulus!
That to me is exciting because I know I will never be bored
doing what I do.
Tell us about how the partnership with
Indonesian Designer Dian Pelangi began?
Nelly: Upon graduating London College of Fashion, I had
always wanted to work internationally in sustainable fashion.
So when the opportunity came up to work with Dian and
the British Council, I jumped at the chance. Odette and I
had always shared this throughout studying together so it
was amazing to take on our first
collection in the industry together.
Odette: Having a keen interest already in Indonesian
textiles, I based my Final Major Project heavily on how their
traditional crafts interested me. Apart from the textiles
being absolutely beautiful, the crafts acknowledge the point
of sustainability in showing that this has not only to do
with energy consumption and recycling but also the human
involvement in the production of goods. This approach
encourages an investment into the skills of craftspeople by
strengthening the hand rendered pursuit to production.
Myself and Nelly are advocators of this and this is why we
were drawn to the project.
Your collection was one of the most
anticipated shows during both Jakarta
and London Fashion Week 16. What was
your experience and how did they both
differed?
Odette: The journey to, Jakarta Fashion Week was
challenging because essentially we were two fashion textiles
graduates, flying halfway across the world to design and
produce a 24 look collection in the space of 2 months for a
culture and market that we knew little about and had both
never experienced. There were many things that we had to
learn culturally first to truly understand the customer. But
44 Cover Magazine