Exiled and The Mills Fabrica are proud to present Root Cause, an exhibition of garments, accessories and homeware handcrafted from discarded materials to run during London Fashion Week 2026 (LFW26).
Planting roots at Fabrica X at The Mills Fabrica, an innovation hub in Kings Cross, the four- day event features the exhibition alongside interactive workshops, group tours and an industry-led panel discussion. Root Cause tells a compelling story of the ways in which waste can be creatively recovered and reimagined into covetable pieces.
The exhibition is presented by Exiled, a fashion brand launched in 2026 by Hull-based waste management company MYGroup, using a transparent supply chain of exclusively recovered and overlooked materials.
Root Cause challenges fashion’s obsession with newness. Timed to coincide with LFW26, Exiled invites attendees to consider the root of the textile waste crisis and discover the solutions that breathe new life into returned and waste stock from the high street and fashion houses, textile scraps from factories, and natural fibres from forgotten habitats.
The Exhibition
Dates: Thursday 17 – Sunday 20 September.
Times: 08:00–16:00 weekdays, 10:00–16:00 weekends.
Location: Fabrica X, The Mills Fabrica, 36-40 York Way, N1 9AB, London, UK
Event link: https://bit.ly/exiled-rootcause.
General admission free, no booking required.
Set within a natural scape of stone and moss, itself drawn from recovered material, Root Cause immerses attendees into the world of Exiled. Products handmade by skilled makers sit alongside the raw materials they began as. You won’t find these pieces under cold, artificial light on a retail rail – instead they take root where they stand, growing back into use. The exhibition is woven together by the wider story of Exiled, from its makers to leading-edge deconstruction and recovery techniques, alongside ongoing regeneration projects supporting communities and ecosystems.
Events Programme
Against the backdrop of the Root Cause exhibition, Exiled will host a circular fashion events programme for industry, students and the general public, which will run across the four days (see details below).
Highlights include a panel discussion and networking evening moderated by sustainable fashion journalist and consultant Megan Doyle, bringing industry together and sharing insights into the scale of fashion’s textile waste crisis, as well as solutions to inspire systemic change. Rounding out the schedule are bookable educational tours, workshops, a leather customisation installation, and a daily haberdashery sale of recovered hardware.
Thursday 17 September
Student Tours
Universities and colleges are invited to bring students to Root Cause to explore the intersection of design creativity and considered materials, aiming to inspire the next generation of makers with a new perspective on waste.
10:00–16:00. FREE. CONTACT TO BOOK.
Friday 18 September
Industry Panel Discussion and Networking
“Discarded by One System and Embraced by Another: Creating Value from Fashion’s Waste”
Moderated by sustainable fashion journalist and consultant Megan Doyle, this panel discussion brings together leading industry voices to share solutions to fashion’s waste crisis. Panellists will explore the role of regulation, designing for circularity, using storytelling as a tool to create value, and end-of-life processes. Guests will leave with a sense of optimism for fashion’s circular future.
16:30–18:30. Speakers to be revealed in the coming week. INVITE ONLY.
Saturday 19 September
Leather-Making Workshop
Exiled guest artisan, Bridie Rimmer, of Luxe Rebel Leather Co., hosts a hands-on leather working session, where participants will make a personalised credit card wallet using upholstery leather recovered from the production lines of one of the UK's best-known luxury car manufacturers.
10:30–12:30. BOOK HERE.
Leather Customisation Station
Bridie Rimmer will again be on hand to repair, customise and add leather designs to clothing items belonging to Root Cause attendees. From patches and repairs to statement details, the station will give old favourites a new lease of life.
13:00–16:00 (half-hour bookable slots). BOOK HERE.
Sunday 20 September
Sewing Workshop
Friend of Exiled, Jess O’Riley, founder of J.O Studio, will guide participants through making a bag from salvaged tent material recovered from UK music festivals – the material her brand has become known for.
11:00–13:00 or 14:00–16:00. BOOK HERE.
All days
Haberdashery Sale
Hardware items, both reclaimed by the Exiled team from recovered textiles and newly created from waste plastic saved from incineration through injection moulding, are available to purchase, enabling attendees to repair and customise their own pieces at home.
Daily pop-up. NO BOOKING REQUIRED.
This week in the fashion calendar is built around what comes next. We wanted to make the case for what's already here. Most of what the industry discards is not exhausted, just abandoned. There's no shortage of material in the world, only of the will and structures to look at it again.
Root Cause is Exiled showing that the problem and the answer sit closer together than anyone expects – that every material is made for more. Once you've seen what waste can become in skilled hands, you stop accepting it as an ending. If that shifts how one buyer or one designer thinks this week, the four days will have been worth it.
Rebecca O’Leary, Textiles Manager, Exiled.
We’re delighted to welcome Exiled to Fabrica X for this special takeover. Their approach to working with existing and overlooked materials reflects what Fabrica X is all about. We want our space to give people the opportunity to experience more responsible approaches to design first-hand, while giving innovative brands a platform to share their work and connect with new audiences. We’re looking forward to bringing Exiled’s work to King’s Cross and inviting our community to discover a different approach to how and what we make.
Amy Tsang, Head of Europe, The Mills Fabrica.
Root Cause is a wake-up call, perfectly timed with London Fashion Week, to remind our industry of the growing and overlooked textile waste crisis caused by overproduction and consumption of fashion.
The exhibition is a timely reminder that craft and creativity don’t only come from bringing new products into the world, but by looking at waste through a new lens. Through Root Cause, Exiled is sharing an inspiring exploration of craft and materials with a broader audience, and will undoubtedly catalyse new design perspectives along the way.
Megan Doyle, Sustainable Fashion Journalist and Consultant.
