Eleanor Dorrien-Smith is the name behind Partimi, the label that is fashioning our eco-future – think delicate, feminine pieces with a distinct contemporary edge. After graduating in BA (Hons) Fashion and Print at Central Saint Martins back in 2008, she has worked with Eley Kishimoto, Mary Katrantzou and John Galliano, and gone on to design diffusion lines for US store Anthropologie. Her eco-fashion credentials are impeccable: winning a prize at the Fashioning the Future Awards, and working with the Centre for Sustainable Fashion, Environmental Justice Foundation and ESTETHICA at London Fashion Week.
This has included hosting a pop-up shop in Covent Garden, with the likes of Lily Cole and Johnny Depp as supporters, talking to current CSM students on sustainable fashion, designing a T-shirt collection based around the damage created by oil spills, as well as launching Partimi’s first ready to wear collection last season.
How did you come up with the name for the label?
“Parti” is a mantra that was drilled into me from a young age, its used in architecture, and my mother and grandfather are both architects. It is used to describe the starting point of an idea.”
Were you always interested in sustainable fashion?
“It was something I would always do without thinking about it. I recycled fabrics I found in dumpsters, donated to Greenpeace, and was attracted to the idea of organic fabrics. I was fascinated with the new and interesting, but I didn’t want to turn my back on the harmful things either, so I thought why not just try and fix the problem?”
Do you think there is a negative stigma that surrounds sustainable fashion?
“Originally it was just a bit un-cool, but from experience it’s becoming a bit of a cliché now with designers using the sustainable tag to market themselves. I have tried to concentrate on wearable and well thought-out design.”
Has your childhood influenced your work?
“I am half American, half English so it’s a fun mix actually, and both have included eccentric relatives! In the 50s my American family were super cool and into art and architecture; they were extremely modern. Then, on the British side, everything was either aristocratic, or hippy related.”
What is the inspiration behind your Autumn/ Winter 11 collection?
“It’s all based around a garden which I have grown up in. My family and I were filming a short film for the Spring/ Summer 11 collection and I just noticed the textures and the feel of the place. We were a family unit making this film in a place filled with memories, and I had a moment of nostalgia. I photographed some moss on a bench and used old family photographs of relatives playing there, and blew up stills from the film and reprinted them onto the pieces to bring the atmosphere of the garden into the collection.”
How would you describe Partimi’s signature look?
“It’s all very soft and comfortable. I want to say ‘fits like a glove’, but it’s not that tight. It is luxurious and cared for and I make very flattering shapes. I really like working with the body, shapes and beautiful fabrics.”
Where do you see the future of Partimi?
“At the moment Partimi is still very small – the catwalk, for example, is something that will happen in a few seasons’ time. I do really want to start to push and make Partimi a multi-label brand though with a retail space that has visiting designers and collaborators sympathetic to our style.”
Where can we pick up one of your pieces?
“Youngbritishdesigners.com, a new Broadway market boutique called 69b, and Anthropologie. I have also recently added online store Magic Number Three and members only boutique Rous Island to my client list.”
Words: Faye Craig
www.phoenixmag.co.uk
