Angelina Jolie has long been a red carpet favourite, winning praise for her Old Hollywood looks and focus on ethical designers.
Now, the actress and activist is launching her own platform for spotlighting the creators and makers behind the clothes we wear, with a focus on sustainable reuse of materials.
While celebrity-backed brands, from fashion and makeup to fragrance and skincare, have boomed in popularity, Jolie seems focused on uplifting the people who make products, rather than make them herself.
The star, who has spent years doing charity and outreach work on behalf of the UN, announced her her brand Atelier Jolie on her Instagram account. Writing on the post, she said: "I'm starting something new today—a collective where everyone can create.
"Atelier Jolie is a place for creative people to collaborate with a skilled and diverse family of expert tailors, pattern makers and artisans from around the world. It stems from my appreciation and deep respect for the many tailors and makers I’ve worked with over the years, a desire to make use of the high-quality vintage material and deadstock fabric already available, and also to be part of a movement to cultivate more self-expression."
Sustainability has been a focus of Jolie's in recent years, and one she's clearly passed onto her family. At the premiere of her Marvel film, Eternals, her daughters Shiloh and Zahara walked the red carpet alongside their mum wearing pieces from her fashion archives. Zahara wore a gilded Elie Saab haute couture gown that Jolie wore to the 2014 Academy Awards ceremony, while Shiloh wore a modified version of the Gabriela Hearst poplin slip.
The atelier seems to be centred on consumers as well, allowing them to collaborate with creators and designers and dictate the brand's output.
"Why then do we covet designer labels?" reads the brand's mission statement on its website. "Why simply buy the design of another person, when you can create yourself?"
Jolie writes that she has worked with tailors to design clothes for years, as well as used them for numerous photo shoots and press events. Although designers are influential in their creations, "it is the tailors who make the difference and who I truly love creating with. And yet, these makers rarely receive the credit and respect they deserve", she writes.
Posting on the official Atelier Jolie Instagram account, Jolie said that the brand wants to "join others in their effort to democratize the fashion industry, allowing the customers to have access to a collective of emerging designers and master artisans".
She added that there will be an online database of makers that consumers can reach out to collaborate with on designs.
The atelier is scheduled to open officially in autumn of this year.
