Natalie Berry speaks to New York-based designer, climber and upcycling pioneer Nicole McLaughlin about how climbing inspires her work, sustainability in outdoor fashion and how to get creative with what you already have in your gear cupboard...
When Nicole McLaughlin misjudged a jump and fell onto her arm at her local bouldering gym in New York City, she quite literally took her recovery into her own hands: she stitched together a colourful patchwork of old The North Face jacket offcuts to form a sling. This creation is exemplar of McLaughlin's approach to design work. She blends functionality with fashion and sustainability in a fun and experimental way, often sourcing second-hand materials from outdoor clothing and climbing gear. Shoes made with chalkbags, skirts stitched from fleeces, bras built from bumbags—not to mention Haribo shorts and a cereal packet puffer vest. Yes, you read that right.
© Nicole McLaughlin
"That was a bummer, I was pretty sad about it," McLaughlin laughs in a video call, remembering her bouldering mishap. "The boulder wasn't even too bad. There was a huge reach and I thought that if I jumped, I'd get the hold! No—I caught it with one arm and swung out before landing badly. It inspired a sling project, at least. I'm better now, and ready to climb!"
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McLaughlin (27) and her custom designs have featured in global fashion media including Vogue, High Snobiety and Hypebeast amongst others, and her work is attracting major partnerships with brands such as Reebok, Adidas, Fila and Prada. What started out as a hobby to occupy her time and hands following her working day as a graphic designer for Reebok has now—just two years after first posting a bespoke L.L. Bean slipper on Instagram—become her full-time occupation. "At Reebok, I was introduced to product and from there the world was opened up to me. I started to see how clothing and footwear was made," she explains. "I got into materials and second-hand items, that's where my upcycling journey started. It's been a crazy couple of years just learning and trying everything!" Today, McLaughlin trawls resell apps such as eBay, Depop and Poshmark to find her fabrics and transforms them into wearable, or sometimes downright whimsical, designs.
Although McLaughlin's 480K followers on Instagram might be aware of her tendency to plump for outdoorsy and sporty materials to work with, her personal interest in climbing is kept relatively low-key. A brief flash of a climbing wall in a Story and a wince-worthy, split-second clip of her fateful fall are the only clues suggesting that McLaughlin isn't just another designer in the fashion world grasping at our sport's aesthetic, but rather she's a keen climber herself—and climbing has greatly influenced her work. "People don't know that side of me," she says. Nonetheless, a wooden chair adorned with chalked climbing holds and a sneak-preview prototype of a Croc featuring a chalkbag bootie and brush are enough to make it clear to the climbing community that she's a bona fide boulderer.
"I followed Nicole McLaughlin before I even realised that she climbed," GB pro climber and skilled craftsman himself, Jim Pope, shared in a message. "From sewing and making a few things myself, I really appreciate the time and skill going into each piece, as well as the creativity in upcycling random products and clothing to make what she does."
Although she didn't climb in her youth, McLaughlin was nonetheless active and outdoorsy. "I was always pretty fearless when snowboarding and doing other sports outside," McLaughlin explains. "It was only about four years ago that I started to climb and I loved it for the challenge and self-fulfilment it gave me. Climbing has been such a huge part of my life and it's also influenced a lot of my design decisions." Since moving from Boston—where she would hike and climb near Maine and Vermont—to New York, McLaughlin's outdoor forays have become more limited. When she's not in her Brooklyn-based studio, she can be found at the indoor bouldering wall or in NYC's famous Central Park boulders."It's a really nice pocket of nature in the midst of complete chaos, which I love," she explains. "It's so much fun, it's a nice community and we hang out and climb. I'm taking the time to get good at bouldering before trying anything more challenging!"
While McLaughlin's designs featuring popular outdoor brands such as The North Face, Arc'teryx and Patagonia will appeal to climbers and the fashion-conscious, it's primarily her zanier wearable creations involving foodstuffs, household objects and her complete subversion of these objects' original purpose that have made her a viral Instagram artist. "I love to make things that are so crazy, like too hyperfunctional, so much so that probably in theory it wouldn't work." she says. "There are definitely some pieces I make knowing it will only last for the photo and it's just to get you thinking. I hope to inspire other designers to make something more functional and at least give them inspiration for materials or colours. That's what I consider when I make those wild projects, but I try to have a balance."
The fragments of fleeces, offcuts of Gore-Tex and haberdashery of zips, cord and carabiners are both familiar and ideal materials for McLaughlin. "I love technical garments and any type of sportswear or gear because of the practical and utilitarian aspect of it," she says. "It's important to me to have functional clothing, so that's why I tend to use these items to make hyperfunctional projects. Some of those materials aren't usually used for clothing or footwear, so in creating those pieces you see a whole other world—puffer or Ripstop on slippers or items that you don't expect to see them on."
But it's not just outdoor clothing that McLaughlin works into her creations. "I actually use chalkbags quite a lot in projects," she says. "Climbing inspired my upcoming Crocs because I use the chalkbag as a bootie within them!" In many of McLaughlin's projects, climbing gear quite literally makes up the bells and whistles. "I made a shoe last year using a Fila outdoor bag with a compass and a whistle, so I was really channelling the survivor vibe, which you definitely see in a lot of my projects," she says. The bold aesthetic of climbing hardware is an added bonus for McLaughlin. "The colours are always so bright and I love using it because everything I make with it pops out," she adds.
McLaughlin sources most materials second-hand, especially jackets. "There's just so much to work with on a jacket!" she enthuses. In a world where fast fashion is trending and there are currently enough garments in existence to clothe the next six generations of the human race, McLaughlin's focus on reducing, reusing and recycling items is a refreshing and worthy cause. Given the complexity of recycling textiles, reselling, upcycling and repurposing are becoming increasingly popular, helped by current initiatives such as Oxfam's Second Hand September.
"I try to design smart and think about the details of the functionality and aesthetics," McLaughlin explains, "but I'd say sustainability and upcycling are definitely at the forefront because there are so many existing materials that we can take from—we don't need to create anything new, there's already so much." It's a mindset that McLaughlin has recognised within the climbing industry. "You really work with what you have and climbers are like: 'This is my climbing outfit.' You patch it up if it gets old—I love that!" she says. "Historically, 'dirtbag' climbers lived in vans and their lives were dedicated to climbing and generally being resourceful." But that's not to say that modern climbers haven't been roped-in to the fast fashion and consumerism craze. "There's definitely a new wave of climbers, too," McLaughlin admits. "I love Arc'teryx and having the newest stuff—it can be an expensive sport! But I try to focus on what I really need and make it work using second hand stuff. I don't tend to buy my shoes second hand, but everything else I'm OK with!" she adds.
Through her work within the hustle and bustle of the fashion industry, McLaughlin remarks that outdoor companies are leading the way in sustainable fashion. "I definitely see them as being a pioneer when it comes to sustainability," she says. "Patagonia and The North Face both have take-back programmes for reuse—they'll patch it up if there's a hole or if it's too damaged they'll break it down and find another use for it. I think they're setting such a good example for the rest of the fashion space. It's the mindset that everyone should have—just because it has a stain or a hole doesn't mean it's trash." In the US, some retailers resell second-hand items, McLaughlin says. "I see pre-loved clothing and equipment on REI—sleeping bags, tents, etc.—things that could be made with recyclable materials and patched up. There's so much more to be done, but this space has made a great start."
The influence of outdoor brands and the adventure aesthetic on high street and designer fashion isn't limited to sustainability, however. In recent years, the increasing emergence of climbing-related clothing and accessories in the collections of high-end fashion houses and the adoption of technical clothing more suited to high summits than the high street is noticeable. Louis Vuitton chalkbags have a price tag of £1,020 (or £1,300 in black). Ralph Lauren stamp 'CLIMB' and 'ALPINE' on retro pieces. Prada dabbles in technical fabrics. Elsewhere, 18 karat gold diamond-encrusted carabiners sell for $18,000. In streetwear, the trend even has a term: gorpcore, while a broader word to describe a general dressing-down in work and play has resulted in the portmanteau athleisure.
For McLaughlin, the overlap between her work and this trend was a happy accident; she didn't intentionally jump on this fashion bandwagon, rather it's always been a part of her life. "The fashion space has definitely picked up on this trend! I see it on mood boards," she reveals. "I've always had it in my life as a functional element, so it's the vibe, the colours they're gravitating towards and once they use those carabiners for the functionality they're like, 'Oh that makes sense!'. For some people it's just the way that they dress. It's not a trend to them."
The obsession might also hinge on an aspiration to present an adventurous, or environmentally-conscious persona, McLaughlin posits. "Everyone wants to be that outdoorsy, at-one-with-nature person—especially if you're in a city and you don't have access to the outdoors," she says. "I hope it encourages people to get outside, rather than just jumping on the trend for a fashion statement!"
A clear pattern throughout McLaughlin's collection is logo repetition: she doesn't shy away from placing brands front and centre, or sometimes all over. "It partly comes from previously being a graphic designer," she explains. "I definitely gravitate towards brand identity and logo placement, but it's more about nostalgia. The outdoor brands that I choose—Patagonia or Columbia or The North Face - those are the brands that my mom would dress me in as a kid, so I like to tap into that nostalgia for things that we've had strong experiences with. I pick brands that I have some connection with and I assume that someone else might feel that, too."
Not all of McLaughlin's work is clothing or footwear-focused. As the daughter of an interior designer, she has a keen eye for her surroundings and draws inspiration for furniture designs, too. Enter the climbing hold chair, complete with a smattering of chalk, the product of an unusual restaurant encounter. "I was at a restaurant and the owner was into climbing," McLaughlin remembers. "It was a very fancy restaurant and there was a bouldering wall at the bar. I thought it was so funny—it was integrated into this space where you're hanging out having a drink and a conversation. I thought about the wooden chair and the wall and I was like...'Why not just put holds on the chair!' It just spoke to me and it was right in front of my face."
It might not rank amongst the most practical items of McLaughlin's work, but the chair was enough to attract almost 30,000 likes and got people talking. "Of course, as with everything I make, I had to try it out and see how would it feel if I sat on it," she laughs. "It felt more like a massage chair—it would get a knot out of your back!"
McLaughlin's upcoming first official footwear collaboration with Crocs will be a major career highpoint and one which climbers might have their eye on. "I'm excited as they have lots of features and each one is unique," McLaughlin says as she holds up a prototype to the camera. "It has a light, a pocket—I tried to consider how much I could add that's functional. The other shoe has different items on it as well."
While McLaughlin clearly has a knack for repurposing technical materials and accessories, she is equally adept at recognising material properties of more mundane, everyday objects and incorporating them into a functional item. "When I made the oven mitt jacket I was thinking: 'Oh it would be flame retardant!' and 'It'd be pretty warm!'" she explains. "It took a while to make because I had to collect all the used oven mitts. Once people are done with them, they throw them away. I think about a material and ask: if it was taken out of the original context and put in something else, would it function? It definitely kept me warm." Some creations are more ephemeral in nature. "There are things I've done in paper that'll last a short while maybe, but if you seriously wore them..." McLaughlin trails off as she looks out the window at the rain and wind battering her Brooklyn studio. "On a day like today....nope!"
Food in all its forms has featured in some of McLaughlin's most appetising designs. Her waffle vest, popcorn gilet, cupcake sandal, sushi shoe (shoeshi) and croissant bra have all turned heads. "I often use snacks and foodstuffs," she says. "I try to make it something functional—grab a gummy bear on the go, or whatever it is."
McLaughlin's experimentation with climbing gear still has room to grow. Harnesses are her next adventure. "I've been looking at a tonne on eBay, they're really interesting," she says. "I want to use them on a bag. They have so many ideal places to put clips on, so taking ten or twenty and sewing them together to have so many loops would be fun. They come in all colours and the materials and attachments are perfect for me."
As a designer, McLaughlin is constantly thinking about improving and upgrading existing items. Having successfully dabbled in footwear—from sneakers to slippers to Crocs—climbing shoes, McLaughlin reveals, are something she'd like to rework. "I've been talking with a couple of companies to see if we could revolutionise the climbing shoe," she says. "It's a really interesting process because with a traditional shoe there is a last, so the shape of the shoe is created based on that, but in a climbing shoe it's actually inverted—that's how you get the pointed toe to have better grip. Of course, there's also the rubber type to consider."
McLaughlin knows that the climbing shoe has made it to its current form because of these needs, but she often feels there are things that could be improved upon. "When I'm climbing, I ask myself if there's something about the gear that could work better," she says. "I think: 'Oh, if it had another pull tab on the side, that could make it easier!' I love to ask friends too, 'What's your biggest issue with the gear you use?' It tends to be shoe tightness, but it's really what you need. I'm definitely open to improving designs and talking to brands."
Slippers feature prominently in McLaughlin's portfolio and climbing was once more a catalyst for creation. "After climbing, I want to put on something that's comfy, so the slippers came from having so many as they're my go-to after climbing," she explains. "I'm like, I'm not putting sneakers on now! I was inspired by The North Face's Thermoball slipper. Comfiness and leisure have inspired a lot of my work."
With her sizeable social media platform, McLaughlin aims to do more than just simply accumulate likes and promote her work. She regularly auctions bespoke pieces for charitable causes, one of which raised over $18,000 in a couple of days. "I have a perfect opportunity to reach different people—it's not just designers, it's not just climbers," she says. "There are so many people who see my work and I try to use that to share things that I'm passionate about." McLaughlin places special emphasis on the deaf community and getting people outdoors. "People love the items that use outdoor materials in my auctions. I love that it gives me an opportunity to get products in people's hands because I'm not a factory, I'm not making tonnes of stuff, so it's just a nice feeling to share these pieces and raise awareness and money for organisations," she explains.
Having no formal training, McLaughlin was a self-professed newbie when it came to garment assembly and seamstress skills for creating her first items just a few years ago. "I started by just hot-gluing and stapling clothes together," she says. "I would hand sew garments until I learned to use machines, which really cut my time in half! It was just trial and error, getting advice and opinions from people." Today, McLaughlin runs workshops teaching design and construction skills to budding upcyclers. "Being mindful of the things that you own and finding ways to give them longevity is key," she says. "You don't have to be a designer or be able to sew perfectly to find another use—there are so many unique ways that you can use these items that you probably already have right next to you! That's what I do in my workshops, teach people skills to show them 'You can do this too, this is possible!'"
Learning to look at objects from new perspectives comes with practice, McLaughlin explains. "The more you do it, the more you start to see things differently," she says. "The more you use items in your closet that you otherwise might donate or throw away, you can look at them in a different way and think 'OK, this jacket could be a bag, it could be a shoe, or it could be x number of things and you really start to see the beauty in those ideas."
With COVID-19 stitching-up some work and climbing plans so far this year, McLaughlin is looking forward to upcoming collaborations, installations and workshops. A home climbing wall is also in the pipeline, and maybe a climbing holiday. "I'm definitely trying to arrange a rock trip, obviously," she says. "All the gyms have been closed here, but I'm in the process of getting a home board in the works. I'm trying to get a board that can be deconstructed, put up and put down as and when to continue building strength, because with my injury and then with the coronavirus I've been out for quite a while!"
Given her talent and passion for both designing and climbing, there's space yet for more crossover between the two in McLaughlin's work. If nothing else, her approach to repurposing old rope, dusty chalkbags and duct-taped down jackets might spark some more considered purchases and interesting creations from the climbing community. After all, it's Second Hand September, and The Great British Sewing Bee is inspiring people to pick up needle and thread. Why not get scavenging for scraps and see if you can turn old climbing rags into riches?
UKC Articles and Gear Reviews by Natalie Berry UKC
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Comments
Is this article 203 days early? Or, 162 days late?
At least it's better than an article about #vanlife
Incoming... middle aged men explaining why all this is bollocks.
And there's me thinking an upcycling icon was Alberto Contador
It may be that the article has done her a disservice then because she herself says "It's really important to me to have functional clothing, so that's why I tend to use these items to make hyperfunctional projects" and yet not a single thing shown is useable nevermind an improvement in functionality of the item on which it is based