Responsible fashion can get something of a hard time these days. Despite promising, amongst many, better working conditions and decent wages, many of these brands fail to make a big impression, simply because the quality of their designs often fail to live up to the high expectations of Britain’s fashion force. An exception to this comes n the form of Beautiful Soul, a new label designed by London College of Fashion graduate Nicola Woods and 2009 winner of the Ethical Fashion Forum’s Innovation award in February 2009.

Nicola’s designs incorporate fabrics that have had a past life with sustainable options such as bamboo, peace silk and Organic Jacquard. Beautiful Soul will not conform to ‘throw away fashion’. “I am so passionate about driving responsible fashion forward,” states Nicola. “It fuels me and gets me through all of the hard work.” Beautiful Soul’s current collection, ‘smallprint’ is inspired by Japan’s contemporary culture. A capsule range produced from Japanese vintage kimonos (dating back to the 1940’s) and vintage saris. Although the silhouettes featured within ‘smallprint’ can be reproduced, the fabric contained in each kimono and sari is limited and this allows exclusivity to the wearer. Material remnants feature as trimmings/fastenings, providing a solution to ‘zero’ waste and a strong emphasis is placed on product longevity and garment adjustability, offering a versatility determined by our change in body contours.

These fabrics bring the collection bang up to date. A lot of the detail is focused around the neckline with the use of origami-like folds and exaggerated drapes. Despite using smatterings of floral prints, the colour palette is based around unobtrusive shades, which keeps the focus firmly on the structure of the clothes.

Such was the buzz created by ‘smallprint’ that Nicola was handpicked to exhibit at September’s London Fashion Week as part of Estethica. “It was amazing,” enthuses Nicola. “I had a husky voice from talking so much!” Showcasing S/S10’s collection, ‘Miss Butterfly,’ inspired by Madame Butterfly, Nicola successfully stuck to her original principles and Japanese influences to create a range that is colourful without being overbearing and once again strikes a balance between delicate origami and sharp tailoring. The results are feminine yet beautifully attention grabbing. As with ‘smallprint,’ ‘Miss Butterfly’ is being produced in East London by a registered women’s project and Beautiful Soul aims to provide ongoing training and establish a lasting relationship with their team.

So what’s next for Beautiful Soul? “I have just gained another stockist in London and am in negotiations with a number of boutiques in New York,” comments Nicola, “So I am really, really excited. I have also just been asked to join the Conscious Designers Collective and the ‘smallprint’ collection is currently being showcased in Hong Kong, so it’s really starting to happen.”  

Visit www.beautiful-soul.co.uk for stockiest information.

Beautiful Soul is also promoted by Fashion Capital: www.fashioncapital.co.uk