Vanessa Barboni Hallik, Founder of Another Tomorrow, is transforming the fashion landscape with her 100 percent plastic-free leather alternative garments.
Vanessa Barboni Hallik, founder of Another Tomorrow did not see herself in fashion. Rather, fashion came to her as a natural way of actualizing her personal passion for the environment and desire to create a positive impact on her surroundings. Since the brand’s inception, Barboni Hallik has done just that, designing a vast range of sustainable garments that are as fashionable as they are environmentally conscious.
On March 25, Barboni Hallik welcomed guests into the brand’s Soho location for an intimate conversation on sustainability and an introduction to Another Tomorrow’s new, completely plastic free, leather alternative jacket and skirt. The esteemed designer spoke with Beth Novogratz, Founder and President of Species Unite, a nonprofit platform dedicated to animal welfare and bringing together industry visionaries to promote non-animal products.
“I come from the place of we have other viable options so let’s push those other viable options forward. I couldn’t have my daily energy and money go to things that require animals to die.”
Vanessa Barboni Hallik, Founder Another Tomorrow.
“For me on some level this is personal,” Barboni Hallik said. “I come from the place of we have other viable options so let’s push those other viable options forward. I couldn’t have my daily energy and money go to things that require animals to die.” Barboni Hallik has stuck to this sentiment and further elaborated on the actions she is taking to support this choice through Another Tomorrow during the discussion.
The conversation was set in a space on Wooster Street that truly embodies Barboni Hallik’s spirit: chic, luxurious, carefully curated and aesthetically pleasing. Art pieces chosen by Barboni Hallik and her artist mother lined the walls and racks of Another Tomorrow’s latest collections were neatly organized to spotlight the garments’ vivid colors and meticulous silhouettes. At the back of the room sat rows of fold-up chairs leading to an elegant lounge area made up of cream colored couches and a coffee table boasting books and a sweet smelling candle. Here, Barboni Hallik and Novogratz stood to discuss the importance of sustainability in fashion and the conscious moves Another Tomorrow is making to promote a more environmentally friendly future.
Of these intentional choices, the one that took centerstage on this cool March evening was the launch of Another Tomorrow’s bio-leather collaboration with Mirum. The line was three years in the making and a result of countless tests, immense research and a vision of leather alternative pieces that feel and look like their non-sustainable counterpart.
“In the initial stages the material was really thick. It kind of felt more like a tire,” Barboni Hallik joked during the conversation. However, the founder was determined and after an extensive amount of work and collaboration with her team, she produced a sleek and thin fabric made up of completely biodegradable materials.
The collaboration was hung at the front of the store, visible through the space’s wide glass windows. The new garments are made up of an assortment of biowaste from rubber to silica, clay and olive wax. All of these materials were sourced by Natural Fiber Welding, a research project development located in Illinois. It is these components that allow the pieces to be entirely biodegradable.
“You can bury that jacket and come back like four months later…and it will be gone,” Novogratz said. “The end of life [for the garment] is amazing.”
Throughout the conversation, Barboni Hallik and Novogratz lent their expertise to discussions on petrochemicals, material aging and the biodegradable abilities of Barboni Hallik’s groundbreaking new fabric. In addition to questions written by Novogratz, Barboni Hallik answered queries from her guests. Seated in neat rows, the audience boasted a range of fashion and sustainability professionals, including Mission magazine’s own Editor-in-Chief, Karina Givargisoff.
“We need a viable alternative vision,” Barboni Hallik said. “It’s not enough to be anti. People want to belong to something they can be for and for us it’s about demonstrating that there is a genuinely attractive and viable alternative for the future of fashion and to make that really tangible and replicable.” With her new pieces, the founder is doing exactly that and the conversation showcased her immense knowledge and passion for creating sustainable garments.
After the conversation between Barboni Hallik and Novogratz came to a close, guests gathered around the new pieces, touching the fabric and gushing over the information they had just learned. Barboni Hallik’s desire to innovate fashion and promote sustainability was at the heart of these discussions, as well as her passion and determination to make a more environmentally-friendly world a reality.
“This is our vision at Another Tomorrow,” Barboni Hallik wrote in an Instagram post celebrating the launch. “We are deeply, passionately, persistently committed to it.”
Images courtesy of Another Tomorrow.
