Fashion is never just about clothes; it’s about identity, agency, and how we navigate the world. Fashion can be a powerful tool for transformation, where upcycling, natural dyeing, and community-driven design become acts of resistance. By working with materials that would otherwise be discarded, you're not just creating garments, you’re reimagining the very systems that produce waste and inequality. Through sustainable fashion, we have the power to rewrite stories, reclaim space, and take collective action to create a more just and meaningful future.
In this feature, Natasha Mays shares her journey into sustainable fashion, where creativity meets activism, and fashion becomes a force for social and environmental change.
Standing inside London College of Fashion (LCF), UAL, where my work is now being exhibited as part of the Fashioning Frequencies exhibition, I can’t help but feel like I’ve come full circle.
18 years ago, I didn’t apply here for my undergraduate degree, not because I didn’t want to, but because I didn’t believe I was good enough. That lack of confidence held me back, but life has a way of looping back when you least expect it. In 2022, I completed a master’s degree in MA Fashion Futures here at LCF. In 2023, I started working at Centre for Sustainable Fashion, and now, I’m exhibiting work in the very space I once felt unworthy of, plus it’s happening in Stratford - my hometown. It’s more than an exhibition for me. It’s healing. It’s growth. It’s a bucket list moment.
Over the past 15 years, I’ve worked across higher education in areas spanning Equality, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI), Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR), research, and sustainability. Those experiences - professional, personal, and educational - have deeply shaped the lens I bring to my work as a Youth Community Arts Practitioner. I carry an intersectional, critical eye into every creative space I co-create with young people, and most importantly, I bring care.
I’ve always been drawn to methods like upcycling and natural dyeing. These aren’t just craft choices - they’re acts of resistance. They challenge the disposability culture of fast fashion and speak directly to the four agendas of sustainability: economic, social, cultural, and environmental.
When I use post-consumer waste or plant-based dyes, I’m not just making garments. I’m telling stories. I’m adding value to what’s been discarded, transforming it into something meaningful. For me, sustainability is about more than materials - it’s about connection. To the land, the past and each other.
My creative process is entirely materials-led. I work with what I have what’s been thrown away or overlooked, that’s where the magic lies. It’s not always easy, but it’s honest and it means each piece is unique, rooted in care for the environment and the stories these materials carry.
When I work with young people, I’m not just teaching fashion techniques. I’m opening doors to self-expression, agency, and new futures. My workshops blend theory and practice, and we’ll talk about sustainability, power, and identity, and then get our hands dirty with dye baths and discarded fabrics. It’s in these spaces that real transformation happens.
As someone navigating the creative world as a single parent on Universal Credit, I know how vital accessibility is. Sustainability should not be exclusive. It cannot be ethical if it is only available to the privileged. So, I build my practice around that belief, fashion as survival, as storytelling, as empowerment.
My work explores identity and agency. It reflects the tension of wanting to care for the planet while living within the limitations of our economic system. Through this lens, sustainability becomes personal and political.
Being part of Fashioning Frequencies has allowed me to fully explore the power of fashion as memory, resistance, and future-making. Every garment I’ve created for this exhibition holds layers, stories of those who donated the fabric, the care poured into each stitch, and my own narrative as a Black woman reimagining what fashion can be.
I want visitors to feel something when they see my work. A spark. A memory. A question. Maybe even a shift in perspective. I want them to reflect on their relationship with clothing, not just what they wear, but why, how often, and at what cost. I hope they walk away with a sense that fashion can be joyful, radical, and restorative.
Collaboration is the heartbeat of my practice. Whether I’m working with young people in east London or fellow artists across fashion and dance, I believe in the power of shared values and co-creation. I’ve been lucky to grow a strong network over two decades in this community, and that’s made the work not just possible, but joyful.
The models in my exhibition film are all creatives I admire, people whose energy and ethos align with the spirit of my garments. For me, it’s not just about the final product, but the process. Building something meaningful together. That’s the legacy I want to leave behind.
Cultural heritage and intergenerational wisdom thread through everything I do. Whether it's techniques passed down through family or knowledge exchanged in community spaces, I carry those voices with me. They guide my hands when I dye fabric, when I choose materials, when I speak to young people about their power and potential.
I hope that Fashioning Frequencies invites viewers to imagine new possibilities where fashion is more than surface, where clothing can be an archive, an act of defiance, and a seed of change.
We don’t have to accept the status quo. We can wear our values. We can mend, reuse, reimagine, and in doing so, we can build futures that honour both people and the planet.
Fashioning Frequencies is open until 21 June 2025 at LCF’s East Bank campus.