A new collaboration between British designer Christopher Raeburn and skin-care brand Aesop makes sense on many levels. Not only are they equally committed to strict practicality and function, as this new partnership demonstrates, but both brands are also fundamentally driven by a shared belief in sustainable design.

Launching at the beginning of March with a series of portable, roll-up pouches intended to house Aesop’s trio of hand-care remedies, the joint venture reflects a shift in attitudes towards cleanliness and travel in the wake of the pandemic. With our newly honed impulse to sanitise at every opportunity unlikely to leave us any time soon, the collaboration is looking resolutely ahead to a future we have perhaps only just glimpsed at.

Available in three variations, the pouch displays typical hallmarks of Raeburn’s elegantly refined approach to circular fashion. One, in navy blue, is handcrafted from pre-consumer recycled cotton, while another comes with an open-source pattern, meaning anyone with a sewing machine can make the roll-up themselves. The highlight comes with the Adventurer Roll, limited to 300 editions, and handcrafted in east London using reclaimed 1960s aeronautical navigation maps of territories greatly affected by environmental degradation.

Below, Raeburn discusses the importance of shared values and the unexpected joys of developing the collaboration digitally.

On how the collaboration came together…
“I’ve known Aesop’s Chief Marketing Officer, Adam Kakembo, creatively, for the best part of a decade and we have followed each others’ careers. So, it was really wonderful to hear from Adam at the onset of lockdown; that’s really how the conversation and the partnership began.”

On the need for shared values…
“The combination of the incredible ethics and aesthetics has always attracted me to Aesop as a brand. For us, whenever we are choosing or have the opportunity to work with any partner, so much about it is the alignment of bands.  To come together with a unique project in quite challenging times is something I think we are both really excited about. It’s an incredibly relevant product for the market and our joint communities.”

On the benefits of working across physical and digital spaces…
“What’s been wonderful is notably the ‘phygital’ creative process; the necessity to optimise digital so we can collaborate from anywhere, but then also to physically craft in the studio. We began with three or four different proposals that have ultimately been honed together through sampling, development and refinement in the RÆBURN Lab. Whilst all of the Limited Edition RÆMADE pieces have been made in our atelier, partnering with Aesop has allowed us more manufacturing scalability. It’s this combination that makes the process of creating a product together really exciting and enjoyable.”

The Aesop x Christopher Raeburn collection will be available from 1 March 2021 and can be purchased online here.