Eco-designers Vin + Omi to sell runway pieces to the public for first time

Eco-designers Vin + Omi are to sell pieces straight from the runway to the public for the first time in their 24-year history, as part of a new collaboration with the British Heart Foundation that combines sustainability, fashion and health awareness.

The designers will present their latest collection, “JORD: Bring Back Nature”, the day before the official start of London Fashion Week on 17 February.

Ten full looks from the show will then be made available to buy through the British Heart Foundation, with all proceeds going directly to the charity.

The move marks a significant shift for the label, which has traditionally avoided retail to align with their environmental philosophy, instead donating work to museums and galleries.

The decision follows designer Omi suffering two heart attacks and being diagnosed with heart disease, an experience he says prompted a desire to create a project with tangible social impact.

“It was a bit of a shock,” Omi tells the Press Association, “to have two heart attacks consecutively a week after the other […] and then to find out I actually have 60% of my heart damage, and I’m only functioning off 40%.”

The collaboration will see garments sourced from British Heart Foundation charity shops upcycled by Vin + Omi and then gifted back to the charity to sell. The pieces will go live on the charity’s eBay store on 18 February at 1pm, before appearing in selected physical shops.

Vin said the partnership aligns closely with how younger generations already engage with fashion.

“There’s a lot of kids that work with us [they] shop in charity shops, thrift shops and they’re really big on recycling,” he says, “what we wanted to do was look at the way in which we can actually use recycling in a much more contemporary way.”

The collection itself focuses on reconnecting fashion with the natural world, using plant-based textiles, recycled materials and traditional techniques.

Celebrities including restauranteur Dame Prue Leith, journalist Dylan Jones and designer and stylist Jo Wood will walk the catwalk wearing garments made from holly, nettles, butterbur, wood clippings and recycled aluminium.

Vin said the theme reflects concern about society’s growing detachment from nature.

“I think what I was noticing was that we’re getting further and further into technology, further into the internet,” he says, “using more and more screen hours, and we really are losing nature.”

A central feature of the collection is a fabric developed from waste holly clippings sourced from the Sandringham Estate, created as part of Vin + Omi’s ongoing collaboration with King Charles III.

According to the designers, extensive research suggests holly has never previously been turned into a wearable textile.

“We were talking to the head gardener at Sandringham […] and he said, right, let’s try holly,” Vin explains, “we work with whatever they’re throwing away.”

The holly fibre has been woven into two tailored suits, which will be worn on the runway by Dame Prue Leith and Dylan Jones. The garments are dyed using beetroot, marigold and natural mineral oxides, reflecting the designers’ commitment to keeping the process as natural as possible.

Alongside plant-based fabrics, the show will also feature pieces made from recycled aluminium waste as part of a long-running collaboration with the RAF.

Aluminium cans from military bases have been transformed into soft, pliable metal textiles, appearing as dresses on the catwalk.

Vin says working with large institutions is key to the designer’s approach.

“We’re targeting larger and larger institutions […] because we have more of an effect on them,” he says, “it’s about coming in as disruptors and shaking up the way they do things.”

Omi says the collection was deliberately more accessible in silhouette than previous seasons, while still retaining the label’s distinctive edge.

“So a lot of the suits, we went back to traditional tailoring methods and then reworking the fabric again […] to have a little bit more of the Vin + Omi DNA.”

The decision to work with the British Heart Foundation grew directly from Omi’s diagnosis and his belief that the fashion industry does not talk openly enough about health.

“The fashion industry [are] very, very good at not talking about mental health issues or health issues […] it’s almost quite taboo,” he says, when discussing the amount of pieces designers are expected to produce per season.

After being approached by the British Heart Foundation about becoming an ambassador, Omi said he wanted to ensure the partnership went beyond awareness.

“I said, before we announce anything, I want to make sure that Vin and I come up with a project that would benefit research,” he says.

The designers say the initiative will continue beyond this season, with plans already in place to work with UK universities. Under the proposed programme, the British Heart Foundation would donate clothing to universities, students would redesign the pieces as part of their sustainable fashion curricula, and the finished garments would then be sold through the charity’s shops.

The aim, Omi says, is to transform British Heart Foundation stores into destinations for distinctive, one-off fashion pieces rather than places associated with necessity shopping.

Like all Vin + Omi shows, JORD will be entirely eco-focused, down to the smallest details.

Even the shirts worn under tailored suits have been sourced from discarded hotel sheets, washed and naturally dyed.

“So, Prue will be wearing hotel waste,” Vin laughs.