Meet Christopher Raeburn, the British fashion designer championing sustainability, tapped to design Aesop’s Adventurer Roll Up travellers’ beauty set

Jun 8 , 2021

Christopher Raeburn is the man behind the eponymous fashion label that seeks to establish sustainable practices in the industry. Photo: Aesop

On Earth Day 2020, his label Ræburn launched Ræstart, to share their message of sustainability, while Ræfound is a collection of unworn military apparel

The brand preaches reducing, reusing and recycling, and has won the UK’s Fashion Award, previously working with the likes of Victorinox, Moncler and Porter

Meet Christopher Raeburn, the award-winning British designer behind Ræburn. The label focuses on responsible and intelligent fashion, reworking surplus fabrics and recycled materials to create distinctive and functional pieces. And he is a man who wears many hats. In 2018, the London-based designer was named the first-ever creative director of Timberland, the iconic American footwear brand.

The designer is now collaborating with Melbourne-headquartered skincare brand Aesop, a partnership cultivated by a shared ethos of commitment to design with integrity.

Sharing similar visions, Ræburn and Aesop began a conversation in June last year, with the goal to create a unique offering together. The collaborative result is the Adventurer Roll Up, a stylish and functional product that addresses the needs of modern travellers in the pandemic age. The sleek bag features five compartments that contain a trifecta of essential Aesop hand care products – Resurrection Rinse-Free Hand Wash, Resurrection Aromatique Hand Balm and the new Resurrection Rinse-Free Hand Mist. Reworked from recycled cotton, the bag can be rolled up for daily travel and secured with a cotton band, tastefully emblazoned with this limited collaboration’s mark.

There is also a limited edition version of 300 pieces crafted from aeronautical navigation maps printed half a century ago. The maps depict territories adversely affected by habitat destruction and climate change such as Borneo, which is battling with deforestation, and the shrinking Aral Sea which lies between Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan.

Aesop-Raeburn’s collaboration was forged out of shared values. Photo: Aesop

A single paper map creates four roll ups, resulting in minimal waste of material. Ræburn and Aesop also offer a free, open source pattern of the design so that anyone with a sewing machine can craft their own roll-up bag from their desired fabric.

Aesop marks Ræburn’s first beauty-related project. “Working with a truly global brand like Aesop allows us to work in a different space. We can come together to create something completely new that we wouldn’t have independently done. That’s where it gets really exciting,” says Raeburn.