The sustainable dystopia according to Rombaut

Founded in 2013, Rombaut is a brand specialized in the creation of vegan footwear, that is, produced without the use of animal-derived materials, whose philosophy is aimed at the concept of sustainability in fashion. Combining avant-garde aesthetic with a strong social and environmental vocation, Rombaut is a pioneer in the fight for a more responsible and sustainable fashion industry, whose value lies both in the design of the products as well as in the craftsmanship of his limited edition shoes and in the technical research of eco-friendly materials. Interviewed by Esquire a few years ago, Mats Rombaut, founder of the brand, talked about some of the innovative materials he used:

“Cotton coated with rubber and vegan leather, but I also use derivatives from coconut, fig, I use potato starch and pineapple, especially in summer”.

Another creative area in which the brand stands out is that of advertising campaigns, which explore different themes and moods such as climate change anxiety or, as in the case of the SS20 campaign, entitled The Cure, the medical environment in its most dystopian nuances. The themes of the campaign, dedicated to science and innovation and to individuals who thanks to their study and their commitment make possible changes, are reflected in the products themselves of the brand, which for this season are inspired by the form of orthopedic footwear by declining them in the light and aseptic colors of the medical world, especially a nuance called "surgical green". 

With its environmentalist message and aggressive aesthetic, appreciated by celebrities such as Lil Nas X and Gigi Hadid, Rombaut joins in the strand of dystopian fashion – that kind of fashion design, that is, that by rereading the iconography of dystopias and futuristic aesthetics and post-apocalyptic tries to provide through his creations a critical point of view on society. One of the most recent and famous examples of dystopian fashion was Balenciaga's FW20 collection designed by Demna Gvasalia, whose runway show was submerged to symbolize the impending environmental catastrophe that would hit the "front row" of fashion. 

Rombaut's SS20 collection is already available on the brand's official website.