Avenir Vert's Olivia Donahue Transforms Emotion into Wearable Art

Lace and ruffles and pink, oh my! 

The brick road may be yellow, but for designer Olivia Donahue, the future is green. 

Avenir Vert, Donahue’s collection of handmade sustainable pieces created from vintage and deadstock materials, was born when she was a teenager during the uncertainty of online school. Faced with a period of immense anxiety and the disruption of normalcy, she found comfort in creation, grounding herself in her natural talent of visual expression. 

Amidst gravitation towards faster, newer, more exaggerated trends, Donahue slows down, channeling emotion into design and finding clarity, confidence, and direction. She prefers effortlessly chic trends, favoring minimal makeup and style that speaks for itself without demanding validation.

“I’m not into documenting everything,” says Donahue, “I love elements of mystery and authenticity. Not everybody needs to know everything you’re up to or what you’re thinking, or what something means to you.”

Her workspace perpetuates her focus on authenticity; its layers of half-finished pieces and scattered vintage references are constantly accumulating and evolving. Her process refuses to be restrained by sketching and perfectionism, as she creates through draping and pinning, adjusting endlessly.

Where fast fashion’s attempt to manufacture imagination with a constant conveyor belt of new ideas, new faces, and more results falls short, perhaps re-imagination is the solution. Olivia Donahue’s work is guided by material, both physical and emotional, transforming the nostalgia, detail, and charm of vintage garments and forgotten textiles into wearable art. She sources primarily vintage and pre-loved textiles, repurposing a piece’s appearance while preserving its soul.