How to Channel Chanel: Learning about slow fashion and sustainability from the brand's Scottish background

“I want to disassociate fashion from clothes. Clothes are fun, fashion isn't,” Rebecca De Volkovitch, a translator at Chanel, said over the phone last Monday. She called me from the French town of Limoges, after a 6am train home from a Gucci Party in Paris the night before. “At the moment I’m wearing this pink dotty cotton top […] it’s super weird. But isn’t that what clothes are for?” 

Where does St Andrews land on the spectrum between clothes and fashion? With De Volkovitch’s statement in mind, I spoke to Cecily Peacock, a Sustainable Style committee member. “People here are big on trends and following certain aesthetics,” said Peacock, discussing St Andrews fashion shows —  FS, VS, Catwalk, DONT WALK — and their respective styles. Barbours, ballet flats, Longchamps, and wellies — Peacock laughed, noting that where there’s a trend, St Andrews is always there. 

Our fashion trends, however, create serious textile waste; De Volkovitch explained that there are presently enough clothes on the planet to outfit nearly six generations — about 150 years’ worth of clothes. 

“Maybe we need to be more Scottish,” she said, “a little bit like Chanel.” 

Chanel’s interest in Scotland goes back to the 1920s. During an affair with the Duke of Westminster, Gabrielle Chanel “fell madly in love with all the colours and the landscape” of the Highlands, De Volkovitch explained. “She cut her hair off, wore small dresses, minimal-ised everything, and made everything with pockets. The basis of Chanel has always been functionality.” 

Chanel’s real love affair wasn’t with the Duke, but with Scotland. She foraged leaves during long Highland walks and brought them back to her wool dyers, desperate to see the same palettes in her own tweeds and scarves. “Her obsession with fashion began with incredibly natural products,” said De Volkovitch.

Interest in Highland-inspired textiles continued through the rest of the century. “Chanel’s company, Paraffection [“For Affection”] began to buy up artisanal companies in the eighties: shoes, tweeds, woolmakers, pleaters,” De Volkovitch explained. “Our only outline? Of the Land.” 

In 2012, Chanel chose Barrie Knitwear, a wool-making factory located in the Scottish Borders town of Hawick, as the source of all its wool. According to De Volkovitch, the process is still rooted in the land. “Wool is washed in the rivers and waters of Scotland, then combed through and spun and knitted into jumpers.” De Volkovitch expanded further upon Scottish motifs in Chanel knitwear: “Look for the raised stitches in the knitwear, specific to Chanel [Barrie] — and of course, the thistle.” 

Though De Volkovitch is fascinated by Chanel's history, she's more interested in the importance of sustainable fashion than in the storied brand itself.  “It’s about the example set. Scotland is making knitwear that is made to last,” De Volkovitch said. “If you are ever going to make consumer choices, know that it's going to last forever.” 

I asked Peacock further about her perspective on St Andrews style and whether she sees students here making similar sustainable choices. “It's a lot of trends,” Peacock said. “I am always seeing new things. New boots, flats. New Barbours!” Peacock thinks that our experience in St Andrews might be warped. “Dressing neutrally here is really being quite put together,” Peacock laughed. “It’s also a conversation about wealth first, fashion second [...] It's not always a dress to impress, but maybe a dress to fit in.” 

De Volkovitch, however, doesn’t believe that you need a boatload of money to consume consciously or find your sense of style. “It's not about buying Chanel,” she said, “but it's about investing in the clothes you wear in the long term.”  

“Clothes are art, and art is supposed to take time — you can't just buy things as a quick fix,” Peacock explained. Peacock also believes that this mindset does not require deep pockets. 

Sustainable Style, a student society “aiming to reduce fast fashion and promote a more sustainable way of living,” wants to “stop people from consuming so much” in St Andrews. Clothing swaps are a key part of their strategy. Since students can both give to and take from the event, “it’s a compromise” between consumer culture and sustainability. “[It’s] still fashionable, but not so fast.”

Peacock shared her advice on how to make a wardrobe more sustainable: “You want to pick things that will last forever.” She recommended, “picking good quality, well-made things once in a while, rather than buying fifteen things on Vinted or a charity shop in one day.” 

She also suggested that students try to stay local with their purchases. “Buying and wearing Scottish wool at this point in time, when we are living in Scotland, has the least amount of separation [from] the process [of craftsmanship],” she said. “It's also a part of Scottish culture you can take home with you.” De Volkovitch expressed similar advice, sharing that she will always buy Scottish wool because she knows it will last generations. 

Amid the conversations about choosing ‘right,’ dressing ‘well,’ and going ‘slow,’ De Volkovitch stressed that it’s important to not lose sight of your creativity. “If there isn't joy, then what the f*** is there? Clothes are a joy!” For De VoIkovitch, it's not about dressing sensibly or buying from luxury brands, but finding inspiration in the everyday task of putting together an outfit. “Financial means to buy clothes is not joy. Joy is going somewhere and finding a piece that was exactly what you wanted!” 

De Volkovitch demonstrated this joy by listing vintage pieces she'd collected over the years and sharing how she uses them in her daily life: a green-striped Italian dress “perfect for the school run” and a floor-length emerald flannel dress “worn whilst doing the washing” were among her favourites.

As the phone call came to an end, she left me with one last piece of advice: “Young people give too much of a s**t about what anyone thinks. Go with what you love and run with it!” 

Illustration by Sara Watson