IMPACT DESIGN HUB 2021 HONOREE
About Designer
London-based Brazilian designer Joao Maraschin graduated from London College of Fashion with a Masters in Womenswear.
In London, Joao worked for Wales Bonner and JWAnderson before launching his business. His debut collection “Foreigner Traveller” was presented at the Positive Fashion Initiative exhibition organised by the British Fashion Council during LFW in February 2020. Sara Maino, Head of Vogue Talents, invited Maraschin to be part of the “A New Awareness” exhibition in September 2020 during MFW.
The designer also participated in the Sustainable Fashion Accelerator by The Trampery and the Creative Business Accelerator by UAL and Google Start-ups. Joao undertook a three-month course in luxury and sustainability delivered by Kering and Centre Sustainable Fashion as well as wide press recognition for his commitment to people and environment. He won the Drapers Sustainability 2021 Graduate Award and was awarded a Art&Environment Residency at Thread Senegal in partnership with Anni and Joseph Albers Foundation.
Joao Maraschin.
Impact Design in Materials · Process · Planet · People
At Joao Maraschin, sustainability is where we begin every collection. We believe it is absolutely not negotiable and it is at the core of each and every decision we make. Our design approach is collaborative, making sure we give real voice to everyone we work with. The decision-making process happens horizontally and it offers direct input from the artisans. The development is very intuitive and it is focused around the social projects with sustaining long-term and secure partnerships with our supply chain. We work consistently to a waste-free future by applying closed-loop systems as well as recycling and upcyling materials (ex: our rubber crochet, recycled silk, repurposed straw, use of selvedges waste from cotton mills). We know closely everyone in our supply chain, from mills to artisans, in order to guarantee full transparency. We have also implemented a QR code in all of our products as well as a microchip that operates with blockchain, mapping out the product journey.
Through engaging with communities of older artisan practitioners in socially marginalised conditions in Brazil, UK and Senegal, we give renewed value to their practices and support positive change. We set up a long-term goal to work together in protecting their skills and restoring the communities they belong to by creating few small hubs of practice fully supported by our brand - we can already see an improvement on their livelihoods since we started working together, two years ago. The ethos is based on working with new innovative and sustainable discoveries in materials such as leaf and apple leather, looking at circularity, waste, repurposing and human centred design. The brand also celebrates ageing and puts older women at the heart of development, bringing such underrepresented demographic to the forefront.
We are also redesigning society by manufacturing with the “Making for Change” project, a social enterprise that legally employs imprisoned women and helps reintegration into society. We have recently engaged with the project Mending For Good to expand our network of artisans and the way we repurpose waste. We participate in educational projects in partnership with London Councils through a project called “Leaders in Community”, to inspire younger generations and the preservation of skill. My brand is a call to action to connect fashion with nature, people and long term healthy futures. More than to create awareness, I want to effectively foster change and guarantee a better present and future for everyone I work with. I want to encourage social sustainability, community building through collaboration and the creation of shared value and emotional ownership to make garments last. We operate a hybrid business model selling direct to consumer via our website as well as have stockists in Europe and Brazil.
