Come down to Earth

I, Moon, want to tell you that I came down to Earth.

While I was there, I explored different territories and I found, on an island, a couple who caught my attention because of the clothes that they were wearing. It was different.

I approached them and they told me their story. They spoke to me about the things that caught my attention: their clothes. They told me they were made of durable, sturdy materials. They came from nature; some of them were made of wool from animals that they protected.

Then I saw the sheep, goats and alpacas that they were telling me about and I could notice that everything was true: they were happy.

Then they piqued my curiosity even more. I went to their workshops, where I met a few —and very experienced— artisans weaving and embroidering slowly and carefully to bring to life the ideas that the couple had shared with them. They were also satisfied to do their work, under conditions that they described as fair and beneficial to them.

Then the couple pointed to one of the buttons on the clothes that they were wearing. They told me about Switzerland, the place where they recycled the brass to make those little details.

They also showed me their t-shirts and told me about a family that was in charge of making them, with organic cotton.

They kindly gave me one of their clothes, put it in a bag that, they told me, was made of plants, so it would not harm the planet.

Then I returned to my orbit. I told the Earth about my journet and, after listening to me, she breathed.

Today, I want to tell you more about them. They call themselves Sono, and I am sure that their clothes are the alternative for us to be more loving and aware of our home, Earth.

Process

“They are pieces for a lifetime”, says designer Simon Homes, in an interview from London, when asked about the garments that create Loona’s Collaboration Six, called simply Autumn-Winter 21, which have been designed by Sono, brand that he runs together with German designer Stephanie Oberg, who has been his partner for almost two decades.

Sono’s formal history begins in 2004, as a project conceived by Stephanie, a designer who “graduated” from brands such as Kostas Murkudis and Cacharel, as a sustainable fashion proposal. Two years ago, Simon decided to join her, to unleash his wildest ecological dreams. “I always tried to completely change the brands where I worked, to make them more sustainable. Sometimes you can… sometimes you can’t,” says Simon, whose path through the fashion industry encompasses such renowned firms as Lemaire, Paul Smith and The Row.

It was then that he asked Stephanie a decisive question: “What if we make our own brand?” By then she already had Sono, so they decided to build together from what was already done.

In Sono, the couple has found a way to do things their own way, that is, with a responsible and conscious approach towards the environment and the people. And that, in an industry like fashion, which Simon points out as the most polluting today, after oil refining, is to say a lot. “We are very strict when choosing who we work with. We decided that if we were going to make our own brand it would be straightforward:  carbon neutral, sustainable energy… things like that ”.

The list of those actions is longer. His garments, for example, are made in London or in the Loire Valley, in France, places close to the designers’ studio. Furthermore, they are made by a few seamstresses —which ensures fair working conditions for them. Spinning techniques avoid all chemicals and use 100 percent renewable energy in the process. The materials follow the same approach: the wool they use is organic and they ensure that the sheep, goats and alpacas from which it comes are cared for in the most humane and responsible way.

This vision made it natural for Sono to have a participation within Loona. “It was a conversational collaboration,” explains Simon. On this occasion, our founder, Sharon Drijanski, has selected some pieces from Sono’s Autumn-Winter 2021 collection that, in her words, “convey a relaxed mood, simple but sophisticated”, such as vests, pants or shirts, which combine perfectly with each other.

This capsule collection —which also marks the first time that the firm’s creations are available in Mexico— will have a detail that will give it a special and personal touch: each garment bears the Loona logo on a small label.

When talking about the inspiration for this collection, Simon shows that the interest of making things different in the industry manifests from that early stage of the creative process: “Our collections are not about a ‘mega thematic’ concept; we create from what we feel we want to wear over the winter. Inspiration has much more to do with the way you wear the pieces and the way they work in your wardrobe,” he explains and continues talking about the final mission of his garments: “We want to make pieces that people love, that people feel really passionate about using and wanting to keep. Unfortunately people have the urge to want a new look over and over, and over. The planet couldn’t cope with that even when there were only two seasons a year. Now there are thousands of collections. I think this ‘refresh culture’ is really harmful and people think that they will need a new look and another and another and another… This ‘attention span’ has become so damaging that we have to look the other way.”

Fortunately, in the pieces of Loona’s Collaboration Six Simon sees a solution: “True sustainability comes when you buy something and it lasts for a lifetime. That’s our goal and it is what happens with these pieces: they are simple, with subtle colors, they work very well together and will also work with those from the last season and the next to come. We want to build on this idea every season: understand them as if they were bricks that are placed on top of each other.”