Under her “Trash Couture” label, Ann Wiberg has been producing sustainable, handmade fashion for over a decade. But it’s more than just a label—the trendsetting designer applies Trash Couture’s idiosyncratic philosophy to her private life as well.

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If you ask Ann Wiberg about her fashion design, you’re likely to get an annoying answer: “I don’t do fashion,” she says with disgust, “I design baroque universes with powerful DNA!”
To understand this, you have to go back a few years. Danish fashion designer Ann Wiberg was virtually born into the world of fashion, but after a successful career in her homeland, she was burned out on the ready-to-wear fashion scene.

“Every woman is unique, and we’re tired of looking like everyone else,” she says. The collections all resembled one another, in a way, a metaphor for the situation in fashion at the beginning of the millennium: 10,000 tops that all look the same aren’t inspiring to anyone, and she felt that people were demanding something new.

So, in 2003, she dropped everything and moved to Paris. “I was looking to create and express myself in an artistic way,” she explains. In the hometown of the world’s most established fashion houses, she fell in love with the quality and tradition of haute couture. But instead of joining one of the major luxury labels like Dior or Chanel, she followed her inner drive: “my mission was to create unique fashion pieces that are handmade with care, but still affordable.” [/column] [/row]

In order to guarantee the uniqueness of her new clothing line, which she called “Trash Couture,” she searched for particularly unusual materials. She struck gold in the couture houses. From their voluminous collections, she took unused rolls of glittering sequined fabric, the finest lace, and iridescent beads. They combined these exclusive materials with organic cotton fabric and finds from flea markets.

You can describe my concept best as “future vintage,” says Wiberg, “you can wear my pieces today or in 20 years, they’ll never be out of fashion.

Upcycling is the new recycling

With great artistry, seamstresses in her Paris studio combine the diverse fabrics according to old haute couture traditions. Her newly-created “baroque universe” took the fashion world by storm and the first customers with the same renowned department stores were Berdorf Goodman, Saks Fifth Avenue, 10 Corso Como, and Harvey Nichols. Now she sells her creations in Los Angeles, Paris, Hong Kong, and Moscow—even being featured in shows like Desperate Housewives and True Blood.

Today, you’ll probably find her creations in the “upcycling” segment (i.e. products created from old, recycled, and new materials). This practice, though it now has a firm place in the eco-fashion cosmos, was completely new only a decade ago. “Back then, no one was using the term ‘sustainable’ at all,” the designer recalls, “only much later did I realize that Trash Couture is the only label that makes couture collections in a sustainable manner.”

[row] [column size=”1/2″]Ann Wiberg is an unusual character, one who not only has her own path, but also her own view of the world. When asked about her age, she replies, “I am between 20 and 80 years old, all at the same time.”

Age is not important and a woman should never be asked. The important thing is that you’re healthy and happy.

And, the designer has surely achieved both by doing what many only dream of: “I just follow my energy and my dreams,” she says. What does this mean? “I live by the sea and start each day with a swim,” she explains. She listens to pleasant music and lets it inspire her.
Sometimes, she works on ten garments at once, but in the afternoon, when the energy lulls, she prefers to play with her kids, jog or walk with the dog in the nearby forest. “I try to experience the day as a natural flow. And also, I’ve learned to say ‘no’ to things that don’t feel right.”

For example, saying ‘no’ to mass production. But to her, even the new ecological fashion scene still leaves a lot to be desired. “Politicians need to define clearer rules, so far it’s a jungle, and the consumer can’t make sense of it,” she says, with outrage ringing in her voice.

However, there is one way to be sustainable she adds: “Buy less!”

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