NICOLE MCLAUGHLIN’S EXPERIMENTAL DESIGN CREATIONS

Her creations are innovative and irreverent, taking items that are widespread household and fashion favourites — from loaves of bread to Carhartt Watch Hat Beanies — and fusing them together to create something playful and thought provoking. This ability to cast light on trends or tap into wider consciousnesses is something that’s on the surface lighthearted, though dig a little deeper and you’ll find it’s all part of her broader aim.

Ultimately, her work sits somewhere at the intersection between fashion upcycling and conceptual art, altering our perception of pre-existing items and opening our minds to the possibilities lying within them. It’s this tongue-in-cheek approach that’s garnered McLaughlin a huge following on Instagram — 802,000 and counting — allowing her sustainable messaging to be more widespread and impactful.   

END. takes a look at some of Nicole McLaughlin’s boundary-pushing creations, celebrating the designer’s idiosyncratic and uncompromising vision.

Nicole McLaughlin frequently looks to fashion iconography to inspire her work, often giving her creations a sense of familiarity despite the experimentalism that runs throughout them. A case in point is the Carhartt WIP bread beanie: two staple items from other ends of the spectrum merged. The approach taken was simple, yet effective, with a loaf and a baguette forming the main body of the hat and its turned-up brim, and Carhartt’s iconic golden ratio patch detailed at the front.   

Throughout Nicole McLaughlin’s work is a sense of humour and playfulness, upcycling things that are widely available to create obscure takes on clothing staples. Her Haribo shorts, for instance, were created by using multiple bags of Haribo sweets joined together, with even one of them left open to provide a functional pocket. At first, this may seem funny, playful or tongue in cheek, but ultimately it’s representative of Nicole’s broader aim of shifting the way we look at everyday items and how things can be created.  

In recent years, Gorpcore — the technical outerwear trend standing for “good old raisins and peanuts” — has risen to meteoric ubiquity, with GORE-TEX jackets become regulars everywhere from global fashion weeks to high-budget runway shows. Something which Nicole McLaughlin has mastered — and a skill which has launched her into focus of the contemporary zeitgeist — is her ability to playfully nod to trends such as these. The Arc’teryx underwear is the epitome of this approach: a tongue-in-cheek look at the widespread popularity of outerwear.

Nicole McLaughlin’s affinity with brands and their signature pieces is something prevalent throughout her work. Take the Lacoste slip-ons she created — they were constructed using various discarded polos that had been cut and sewn together, with mismatched panels of cotton piqué, crocodile logos included, forming the front half of the sandals and a collar for the heel strap.  

Utility forms an integral part of the design language of Nicole McLaughlin, with her creations offering a glimpse into how the everyday can be utilised for different purposes. With her Carhartt work boots, McLaughlin took the DNA of Carhartt and pushed things to a whole new level, repurposing the label’s iconic Hamilton Brown duck canvas to feature a myriad of tool pockets.    

Reflecting McLaughlin’s fondness for outdoor apparel, the creative powerhouse applies her uncanny ability to transform pieces entirely, building an asymmetrical vest from one of Arc’teryx’s classic backpacks, the Bora 30. A popular accessory from the late ‘90s, here, the Bora 30’s colour blocked panels are utilised as embellishments, while the fixed top lid is positioned to the chest to create a playful pocket, complete with dead bird branding.

Fuelling her affinity for footwear that doubles up as additional storage, McLaughlin tapped everyone’s favourite high school backpack, creating a pair of sandal boots from a forest green Jansport rucksack. With storage space for your phone, gum, charging cable and even Nintendo Switch Joy-Con controllers, the unconventional designer set the groundwork for her iconic collaboration with Crocs with early pieces like this, combining a distinctive aesthetic vision with nostalgic zeitgeist pieces, informed by unusual functionality.

Sitting at the more playful end of the spectrum of McLaughlin’s work, the Fries Slides provided a snapshot into her sense of humour and how simple design can often be the most effective. With a tray of crinkle cut fries forming the sandal’s footstrap and a discreet pocket to the ankle of the sock, providing the perfect spot for a sachet of ketchup, this humorous footwear design offered a foundation for the Nicole McLaughlin DNA that has trickled throughout her work – reflected in her latest Reebok collaboration, with discreet pockets carefully positioned across the shoe’s heel and tongue.

A steadfast symbol of American style, the Carhartt Watch Cap beanie has remained ever-present within the workwear and streetwear canon since it was originally released in 1987. Here, McLaughlin transforms a kaleidoscope of Watch Cap beanies into a pair of woollen shorts, celebrating the importance of the iconic piece with a patchwork rendition – a symbol of her continued dedication to re-using, upcycling and recycling clothing and accessories and transforming them into new and exciting garments.