EMPWRMNT: Nathalie Ballout
Nathalie Ballout is the role model I needed when I was a young girl. A sustainable fashion designer with multiple businesses, the newest of which works to empower female artists around the world and give those a platform who would not usually have the means to showcase their talent. Nathalie aims to educate people through her fashion and takes on the responsibility of showing the younger generation that diversity and creative creation can prevail over fast fashion.
Graduating from the London College of Fashion in 2015, her upcycled pieces have already been seen on multiple runways, in museums, and have been worn by artists such as Dua Lipa. Nathalie’s immense passion for every project she enters into is why her ventures go so far, which is why I knew I had to sit down with her and hear about her latest project, EMPWRMNT.
EMPWRMNT represents Nathalie and her teams first step in the path towards raising the voice of female artisans by casting a light on their stories and beautiful craftsmanship. Before I asked her about the project, I wanted to delve deeper into her background. Nathalie is a London-based Swedish-Lebanese Sustainable Fashion Designer, which I believed would be a mouthful for most people, so I asked her about it.
Interview by DANIELLE FOX
“Yes, I'm a bit of a cocktail- I know! [laughs] My mother is Swedish and my father is Lebanese, but I was raised in Dubai before coming to London in 2012 to follow my passion for art and design. I graduated from The London College of Fashion with a degree in Fashion Textiles in 2015”.
Nathalie has her own brand, The Ballout Studio, that creates up-cycled handcrafted pieces of wearable art. When asked why it was so important to her to use recycled fabrics and materials in her fashion, she said she felt it was her social responsibility to do her part in looking after our beautiful planet.
“With the crazy rise in fast fashion and the throwaway culture in the past 20 years or so, I wanted to make sure I didn’t follow in those footsteps. I wanted to instead make use of the materials that are already very harmful to the earth to produce, so we should really make the most out of them, and are being produced and thrown away in mass. I also wanted to set an example to show other designers that you can make luxury fashion items out of recycled materials- turning trash into treasure really!”
Above: Nathalie Ballout wearing the Triwa X Nathalie Ballout upcycled denim watch, 2020
Designers are under a lot of pressure right now, not only to compete with fast fashion to but also to come out with their greatest collection season after season. When discussing this, Nathalie said that the fashion industry influences almost everyone in the world, directly or indirectly. She said that promoting diversity and individuality is important for her because if she didn’t then she would be justifying monotony, conformity and uniformity. I asked Nathalie what advice she would give to young designers that are just starting out and hoping to make it in this cut-throat industry.
“There’s so much pressure in feeling like you have to know exactly what direction you want to go in when you graduate. If you’re unsure, try to start by figuring out what your big long term “why” is. With that in mind look into your strengths and figure out the best ways in which you can harness them. Try out different paths until you find one you enjoy and that feels right.
If you have a specific dream or goal already set out, then start slowly working towards that without being afraid of failure. We learn from all of our mistakes- mistakes are good, so reflect and enjoy the process. Be realistic with your time frame, as much as we’re used to everything being so fast paced nowadays, success does not come overnight. Try as best as you can to make all your decisions align with your morals and your why. Enjoy the learning process.”
Above: Dua Lipa wears Nathalie Ballout AW18, 2019
Above: ‘Acropora’
Sustainable Thinking, Salvatore Ferragamo Museum, 2019
Above: EMPWRMNT logo, 2021
The profit-driven western fashion system has devalued slow craft and textiles. Nathalie believes that as we look for sustainable solutions through slow fashion and farming knowledge, it’s essential to rebuild the systems and lives of the countries we exploited on our destructive path. EMPWRMNT was created with the goal of supporting movements for social and environmental issues globally, while raising female artisan’s voices.
“EMPWRMNT has been a long time coming really, and I’ve been unknowingly working up to it throughout my career. I’m a lover of traditional crafts and have always been very interested in all the different artisan communities around the world and how they specialise in different crafts. My long term goal has always been to create a recognisable brand that becomes synonymous with supporting movements for social and environmental issues across the globe. I want to use fashion as my creative outlet to not only make wearable art, but to educate people on things that really matter.
I feel that there are so many incredibly talented artisans around the world that just don't get the recognition they deserve because they don’t have the platform to allow them to showcase their wonderful skills. I want to empower these women by sharing their craft and stories with the world in hopes of bringing them more business in the future by showing other designers there are other ways of getting their products produced.”
As Nathalie’s father is Lebanese, starting EMPWRMNT’s story in Lebanon seemed like a no brainer. No matter what hardship the people of Lebanon face they manage to power through, they epitomise resilience. For Nathalie, working with a group of strong artisans based out of her homeland was the perfect place to start. EMPWRMNT’s first project, a collection of sustainable denim handbags, was with Alsama Studio, a group of artisan refugee women in the Bourj al-Barajneh Refugee Camp in Beirut, Lebanon. The Studio currently employs 24 artisans, particularly Syrian and Palestinian refugee women, as well as Lebanese women living below the poverty line. When I asked what it was about these particular women that made her want to collaborate with them, she said it was the immediate connection she felt.
“Being half Lebanese I already had a personal connection to the women of the Alsama Studio, being that they’re based out of a refugee camp in Beirut. One that I’ve driven past many times. A designer friend of mine had been working with them prior and very kindly introduced me. A few minutes into our initial meeting I immediately felt a connection and was in awe of their inspiring journey- women that are really taking their own future into their own hands despite the situations they’ve been dealt. Alongside the obvious being their beautiful craftsmanship of course!”
Above: Artwork by Nathalie Ballout, 2021
EMPWRMNT work primarily with denim and their processes are showcased through a series of mini-documentaries. This ensures that sustainability and transparency are at the heart of every collection. Nathalie said that the most important thing to her is that the pieces become an informative outlet for customers, as well as providing brands with an alternative to sweatshops. She said that being transparent and educating people represents the first step towards holding other brands accountable for the environmental degradation and human rights abuses they cause.
EMPWRMNT strive to create limited items with inherent value and by documenting the process that goes into the creation of each item, they shine light on the artisans that have handcrafted them, in an effort to give them new possibilities for the future.
“I want people to feel empowered and inspired knowing the transparency of who and where their piece has been made, along with feeling proud and grateful that they’ve been able to support these wonderful women artisans. We bear the stories of the people that made our clothes. An important aspect of EMPWRMNT’s mission is preserving tradition. That is why in our collaboration with artisan communities around the world, we seek to highlight the beauty and authenticity of cultural specialisms.”
Left: Nathalie Ballout with the EMPWRMNT x Alsama Studio bag, 2021
With the belief that our struggles do not represent nor define our identities, EMPWRMNT’s long-term goal is to create a recognisable brand that becomes synonymous with supporting movements for social and environmental issues across the globe. With this in mind, I asked Nathalie what was in the pipeline for the future.
“There’s a bright future for EMPWRMNT and we’re working really hard in turning all of our dreams into reality at the moment. Keep an eye out for more exciting collaborations and the continuation of celebrating different artisan communities and empowering women around the world and lots lots more… STAY TUNED!”
If you want to learn more about EMPWRMNT as they continue to empower, educate and inspire, be sure to check out their website for more information and resources. You can also follow their story on founder Nathalie Ballout’s socials.