NYFW: Stacey Bendet Teams Up With “Zero Waste Daniel” And Redefines Vintage Clothing

This past Monday, nearing the end of New York’s most trail-blazing and creative week, Stacey Bendet’s alice + olivia presented its Fall/Winter 2020 collection at Highline Stages in Chelsea.

Inspired by the common globetrotter, Stacey conceptualizes modern renaissance as she highlights unique prints, fabric, and artwork from across the world.

“What’s old is right again: we ought to take time to appreciate the beauty of what’s here, and make it new,” Bendet says.

Her picturesque vintage collection was modeled days ago surrounded in an old-world fashioned setting, complimented with master paintings and pearl hardware details. Tapestry patterns, intricate embroidery, and billowy sleeves defined Bendet’s dramatic collection entangled with an appealing touch of faux-crocs to help modernize the compilation.

A rising household name since 2002, Stacey Bendet has created a brand for women all over the world to express their flirty and sophisticated inner selves. Admired celebrities have all shown off Stacey Bendet apparel including Meghan Markle, Michelle Obama, Beyoncé, Gwyneth Paltrow, Gigi Hadid, and Jessica Alba.

Collaborating with Bendet this year, was up-and-comer designer Daniel Silverstein of Zero Waste Daniel. Amidst the climate crisis our world seems to be experiencing, Zero Waste Daniel exemplifies the much-needed practice of sustainability by creating fashion from purely recycled fabrics.

A new approach to fashion, Zero Waste Daniel has made headlines to end waste culture.

Check you these interviews with Stacey Bendet and new designer Daniel Silverstein:

The Knockturnal: Tell me about the vision for this season.

Stacey Bendet: So, the theme for this season was globetrotter. I wanted a woman who was fierce, and strong, and bold, and worldly. And I wanted the clothes to feel like they had come from all different parts of the world. And, I think it’s partially this moment of time of wanting the world to feel more like one. And also, I was really actually inspired while I’ve been designing a new apartment. I was pulling inspiration from all over the world. I wanted these like Turkish carpets, and fabrics from Istanbul, and vintage furniture, and this, sort of ___ nomadic feel. And a lot of that texture and a lot of those prints and fabrics inspired the things in the collection.

The Knockturnal: Speaking of globetrotting, where are some of your personal favorite places to travel?

Stacey Bendet: I love Hong Kong, I love Paris, I love Istanbul. And then I love just going with my kids to Malibu and being at the beach. So, I love traveling everywhere.

The Knockturnal: You also have this special collaboration this season that has a sustainability goal. Can you speak a little bit about that?

Stacey Bendet: Yeah. So, I was so inspired by the work that Zero Waste Daniel was doing so I offered him all of our excess fabric from samples, and scraps, and cutting. And, he’s doing a collaboration with us where he takes our jeans and t-shirts and adds, what would’ve been wasted fabric, elements to them to really create his own art. But, in truth, what I’m really inspired by is just what he’s teaching us as a brand and as a company just all the ways to be more sustainable.

The Knockturnal: So, tell me, how did your collaboration first come about?

Daniel Silverstein: Stacey read a piece about me in the New York Times and instantly reached out and is a champion of sustainable practices and wants to do everything she can to make her line as sustainable as possible.

The Knockturnal: And tell me about what we’re doing here today at the event.

Daniel Silverstein: Today, we’re celebrating a new season and also highlighting the potential of scrap material and off-cuts and dead stock being reimagined as something that’s relevant for a brand-new season. So, my collaboration features dead stock pieces from past seasons as well as scraps from this current season, collaborating together with whimsical designs and cut-outs referential of the season’s prints to use everything we already have and create new, exciting fashion.

The Knockturnal: Tell me how did you get into this space and where did your passion come from for it?

Daniel Silverstein: I think I started in this space accidentally as a kid, I used to work with scrap material almost like a toy. I would make doll clothes, and change purses, and tote bags and when I realized as a professional that that same scrap material that I was just used to playing in, was being thrown out from mass retailers around the world. I knew there was a huge amount of potential to do something with it on an industrial scale. And, I began experimenting and designing with waste materials.

The Knockturnal: And, where can people currently find your goods and services?

Daniel Silverstein: Right now, I’m exclusively at “zerowastedaniel.com” and at my retail store, it’s our headquarters and our production headquarters as well so we make and sell right out of the store in South Williamsburg, Brooklyn. It’s just called Zero Waste Daniel.

The Knockturnal: And what are you looking for forward to doing more in the future?

Daniel Silverstein: In the future, I’m looking forward to doing two things. One is continuing exciting practices like these and bringing zero waste practices and up-cycling to more mainstream brands and mass retailers. I’m also looking forward to inspiring a future generation of designers to change the way we think about design and eliminate waste.

The Knockturnal: Thank you so much.

The presentation was sponsored by The Glenlivet (which provided a popular Hot Toddy Cart), TRESemme, Maybelline, KISS Products and skyn ICELAND.

Instagram handles:

Stacey Bendet: @aliceandolivia

Daniel Silverstein: @zerowastedaniel