Ecco Leather is a creative division of Ecco, the group and brand of Danish origins specializing in footwear and focused on experimentation in sustainability and on improving the leather processing industry.
Ecco Leather works with various luxury brands in different categories, from technology to high fashion, and has recently given birth to At.Kollektive, a new avant-garde fashion project focused on design and impeccable quality of materials.
The new At.Kollektive project debuted in Paris during the latest haute couture and men's fashion shows and brings together the creations of a group of distinctive voices in the contemporary fashion scene - Natacha Ramsay-Lévi, Isaac Reina, Kostas Murkudis and Bianca Saunders - to offer meticulously created collections that include accessories, ready-to-wear and design objects.
At.Kollektive was born out of the company's desire to challenge existing systems to achieve better, more innovative and sustainable productions, showing a new direction to the leather goods industry.
The designers involved in the project are personalities who have collaborated with major brands. For example, Isaac Reina worked closely with Hermès, while Kostas Murkudis worked with Helmut Lang. Bianca Saunders is a rising star in London men's fashion, having recently won the prestigious Andam Award, while, with this project, Natacha Ramsay-Levi created her first collection after leaving her role as creative director of Chloé.
The focus on limiting collections to a small series of pieces avoids waste. The project offers shoulder bags, tote bags, clutches, sneakers, sandals, boots, loafers, lounge chairs, stools, jewelry, and tableware and is offered at prices ranging between €245 and €9,500.
The same group of designers who were involved in the first edition of the project will continue their collaboration also for the following season. After two seasons, a new collective of collaborators will be invited to take the place of the predecessors, in turn offering new visions and ideas.
Through this rotation, the brand aims to avoid the risk of becoming static or repetitive, although the project wants to be an example of balance between innovation and longevity.
Also within the collection is E-Research, a fifth series of special objects inspired by the Ecco archive and made from some of Ecco Leather's most innovative materials.
At.Kollektive's presentation also wants to continually evolve. For this reason, from season to season, a new architect will propose a way to display the objects within each collection, creating his or her own installation with the same leathers used in the designers' creations.
"Ecco Leather is innovation and invention. With At.Kollektive, we wanted to invite designers to enjoy the process of learning and experimentation and to create a collection that did not follow pressing rhythms, capable of provoking dialogue and research, rather than immediacy or pure economic results," commented Panos Mytaros, CEO, Ecco Group.
READ ALSO:
