On April 21, Sad Mag writ­ers Jes­sica Rus­sell and Farah Tozy went on assign­ment for Van­cou­ver’s Eco-Fashion Week with the intent of dis­cov­er­ing how fash­ion—that most of ephemeral and waste­ful of pur­suits—jus­ti­fies its involve­ment in the eco-friendly scene. How do lux­ury and con­sumerism co-exist with fru­gal­ity and restraint? Over the fol­low­ing days, Jess and Farah dis­cov­ered quite a lot that is new (most of it vin­tage!) in fash­ion and the green move­ment. Part 2 of 3. {Read their first dispatch here.}

After an unbelievable runway show, Jess and Farah caught up with Vancouver eco-designer Kim Cathers. Cathers is a designer and vintage shop owner, a finalist on Project Runway and, excitingly, an advocate for environmentally friendly fashion. In the showrooms, Cathers chatted about her Fall/Winter collection, kdon, which is her second 68 pound challenge sponsored by Value Village. The 68lb challenge partnered up with Value Village to push Cathers to take risks beyond her comfort zone and make thirty pieces for a collection out of second-hand clothing.

KIM CATHERS and 68lbs OF CHIC BRILLIANCE // Eco-Fashion Week // P.2

Jess and Farah here! It is hard to sit still after Kim Cathers’ incredible show. We just watched as Cathers debuted one stunning look after another. Our favorite pieces included a shirt made of men’s blazers, a belted dress made entirely out of pants (the back pockets intentionally visible) and a collaged skirt made of the linings of men’s suits.

Cathers is fearless with her designs and on the runway, and her upbeat personality shone through when she danced down the runway to Disturbia. She was thrilled with how the show unfolded, especially how the balloons looked in the finale, and was eager to let us in on some of her guilty pleasures, unforgettable moments and insight on how we can ALL be more eco-friendly.

Jess + Farah: We were surprised to discover that sixty-eight pounds is the amount of clothing each person throws away every year, do you think that a project like The 68lb Challenge will inspire others to be more eco-friendly?

Kim Cathers: I think that the stylists that showed before me [the Thrift Chic Challenge] show what you can do on your own. You can find pieces and put them together to make beautiful outfits without having any sewing skills. I think what I’m doing is showing that if you want to take it one step further…you can. A lot of the stuff I made was really simple, it may have looked really complicated but it wasn’t. I would cut one thing and put an elastic on it. A lot of it was deconstructed and made couture style. So I do the whole range of you could do that on your own or you could buy it from me. But I am hoping that by showing these kinds of styles it encourages people to see the different possibilities in what is discarded.

J+F: What was your budget for this project?

KC: Value Village allowed me this amazing privilege. I got to go during morning maintenance, which is when they take everything off the racks that has been there for three weeks, and I was able to look through the clothes and get stuff for free. The challenge was that not everything I wanted was being discarded that day. So they gave me five hundred dollars to supplement the collection. I spent most of the money on shoes and belts and some suits that I really loved that weren’t being thrown away any time soon. But for the most part it was all free. And when it gets taken off the rack it is literally going to be discarded, sent away, and never used again. So me and Myriam [founder of Eco-fashion week] have gone in the mornings at 3am to morning maintenance and it’s so fun and nobody gets to do that! It’s a huge privilege for me to be able to work with them. Value Village gave me free reign so I decided to put the challenge on myself this year to only use sweaters and men’s suits. I wanted to showcase all the things that could be made from a very small amount of material.

J+F: We loved your runway walk and we read that Disturbia is your favourite song. What is it about this song that you love so much?

KC: I will tell you a little secret.  This collection was built with hundreds of hours of Disturbia on repeat. I found that my most productive time was between 12am and 5am, and I would put on my headphones and play it on repeat for five hours. And I figured out why it worked for me. It’s because I love the song and I know it off by heart and so my mind was able to not think about the music but to feel happy while it was playing and concentrate on creativity and sewing. I found that when I would try to listen to different mixes or a song came on that I didn’t know the beat would mess me up. But I just know that the song is my go-to song. So it was totally fitting that the finale song was Disturbia.

J+F: How did your experience on Project Runway prepare you for this?

KC: I think that working in a time crunch with limited materials set the precedent for being able to produce something creative and that was my vision. The pressure on that show was crazy and here no one is after me every day with deadlines. But I know it’s there. And I don’t want to be the guy that shows up to the runway with no clothes or everything is shitty, so I put the pressure on myself and I was able to do that because of having that experience before.

J+F: What was the most memorable article of clothing that you found while looking through the clothing at Value Village and what is your favourite piece that you found?

KC: That is a HARD question. I’ve been shopping at Value Village since I was fifteen so I have found a whole host of things. Last season I found a beautiful peach coloured crinoline and I have a costume trunk at home full of tutus, sparkly things and masks and so I always collect things for that. So finding the crinoline for that was amazing. I am a huge thriftier, I love thrift shopping. I found these leather leggings, and these shoes both from value village. I didn’t touch them at all I didn’t do anything to them, no sewing. I found them when I was looking for the show and then I was like nope… I’m going to keep them. And all the shoes in the show were from Value Village as well, the boots, heels, everything. And everything I found was from the Value Village on Victoria and [the one on] 48th and Hastings. Last season when I did the show shoes were kind of an issue, it was a spring summer collection and I’m really fussy about shoes, so finding strappy summer shoes was tough. But this season I found all of them, it was awesome!

J+F: In the words of Macklemore: can someone step into a thrift shop with $20 and find an entire outfit?

KC: You can. You can get a whole outfit for $20. If you have a certain aesthetic you are trying to achieve and you have very specific guidelines of what you want to buy maybe not. Maybe the pants you want are $15 and the jackets is $20. But you can get a cool outfit for $20 that you would like. But if you are going to be all fashionista and diva about it maybe not, you might have to spend $50. But still you’re saving money regardless.

{all images c/o Jessica Russell and Farah Tozy}