The fairyland fashion brand sewn entirely in its founder's bedroom

Avenir Vert's Olivia Donahue turned thrift store finds and teenage entrepreneurship into British Vogue features—all while refusing to compromise on a sustainable vision.

Anahi Pellathy

October 1, 2025- Read time: 5 min

“There have been situations where people older than me are very taken aback by things I make, and think that it's cheap or slutty… I do take offence to that. That's not what this is.” | Photography courtesy of Avenir Vert / @avenirvert.shop

Olivia Donahue was 17 when, as part of an entrepreneurship class project, she launched Avenir Vert. Tasked simply with designing a business, she developed the upcycling fashion label that's been operating ever since.

The small, handmade brand grew out of a passion for sustainability rather than a love for fashion. Vegan since the age of 12, it was young Olivia’s disapproval of commercial fishing and factory farming that sparked her interest in sustainability.

“Sustainability is actually where I approached fashion from, rather than the other way around,” she explains. “Fashion is a world that I was not even into at all until I started doing it myself.”