FEATURE: LAKES
What it means to be a Canadian or a British or an American nowadays has to go beyond being merely focused on the past and has more to do with what we can do as privileged, often white voices to better the common lot. And yet across Western societies this is not what kids are brought up to think about. Rather, the school curriculum focuses on how we settlers changed native nations for the “best” and less so on the things we’ve taken away from them, which, in a nutshell, was their home (not to mention their lives). There’s hope though: for many Canadians this year national day celebrations were uncelebrated to make way for a fluff-free Fuck Canada Day campaign, one that would aim for something more meaningful than wearing temporary tattoos of red maple leaves for a day and instead be a moment of reckoning on whether enough is being done to save what remains of unsettled territories /
In his own way and, for several reasons, the French-Canadian, now Londoner designer Jean-Loup Leblanc Roy has come to this realisation, too. For about four years he’s run St-Henri Library, an ode-to-French-Canadianness fashion label with which he’s made his London Fashion Week Men’s debut. After holding a showcase presentation in summer 2020, Jean-Loup decided to take some time off to think things through… which of course ended lasting longer than expected when lockdown hit. “It was a slap in the face and made me and everyone else realise that not only was it alright to have a break, it wasn’t okay not to have any. It’s been a moment to reconsider what my priorities as a designer were,” he says.
This brought him to put St-Henri on hold and to start a new project altogether, namely Lakes. “With Lakes I aim to create a conversational platform and community with other creators and makers and, in a subtle way, to open a dialogue on the preservation of freshwater bodies,” Jean-Loup says.
We’re seeing it in our oceans already, but lakes in Canada and elsewhere are just as bound to become more polluted if action is not taken to slow down mass agriculture or urban development etc. The blue-green algae bloom, for one thing, has become all too common in recent years and is still growing fast as climate change enlivens it — which ultimately means fewer lakes, rivers and other ground waters to swim in, forget drinking from it, as it’s the poisonous kind. “I was brought up by a lake and summer after summer it became increasingly sketchy to swim in it. Those are part of the real wonders of the Canadian territory, and through the label’s collections I hope to raise attention to their threat.”
When someone buys an item from Lakes, they will at the same time make a small donation to charities devoted to freshwater conservation in both Canada and the UK as five percent of the brand’s profits made from each sale goes towards that commitment. And while it may look like a small step, at the least it starts a much needed conversation. Which, really, is the designer’s aim. “I’m a product guy at heart, that’s what brought me to fashion. But we all know how there’s too much stuff that’s being made... yet what we’re seeing now is ideas becoming more sought after than the mere products themselves. And actually this is what I like most, to tell stories.”
With Woods, his first collection for his new brand, Jean-Loup’s defining aesthetic is still recognisable, but yet it looks different, more like a futuristic take on utilitarian fashion. The clothes’ shapes and functionality are reminiscent of sturdy outerwear and workwear staple brands like Carhartt or Big Bill, and look tailored all the same. The whole thing taps into an idea of utilitarianism that’s somewhat glitchy; with a quintessential seam of Americana, the quilt, reinterpreted with OG computer graphic patterns; a very structural, three-dimensional neoprene neck warmer; and a pair of gloves allusive to industrial safety-uniforms. There’s an element of modularity to the collection, too, as shirts have detachable forearm sleeves, and trousers can be stylised in either straight or bootcut legs. In an attempt to renew the relevancy of the already existing pieces, attachable patches may be released in the near future.
Quite possibly, Jean-Loup’s growing forward-thinking approach to making fashion has to do with the role he currently occupies in the creative direction department at Selfridges. At work he’s being asked to come up with alternatives to business as usual, and it can be sensed in what he does after clocking out.
“I'm aware that skipping seasons or ignoring the markets might be a cashflow problem for a lot of designers, but I wonder if part of the solution wouldn’t lie in a diversification of income. Besides products, brands could offer services, workshops and experiences between collections to keep a steady cashflow,” Jean-Loup says. “This is the problem the fashion industry has. And if anything, I would like to challenge that.”
