From jogging outfits to summer dresses, Lea Baecker has stitched together most of her wardrobe herself from inside her London flat, part of a burgeoning number of young amateur seamstresses.
Like many others in the growing horde of sew-it-yourself enthusiasts, she has grown increasingly disillusioned with the retail clothing industry, viewing it as too destructive.
“My main motivation was not having to buy ready-to-wear clothes anymore, because I didn’t want to support fast fashion,” 29-year-old Baecker said, referring to clothes made and sold cheaply to be thrown away after minimal use.
The doctoral student in neuroscience only started sewing in 2018, beginning