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The Octavia Foundation’s focus is on helping communities, with mental health issues, especially with youth, and with closing the intergenerational gap. The collaboration began from their donation of unsold denim garments to Olivia Rubens, which were shredded by hand and embroidered to create a non-woven material. Following this, Rubens had the opportunity to teach the Octavia headquarters staff about sustainability and sustainable fashion.

For the AW20 collection, Duplicitous Lives, Olivia Rubens designed and ran a 3-week youth workshop through their community centre, the Reed, centered around cyber bullying and identity expression, which contributed to her collection and Master's thesis. Through this workshop, they created "identity masks", analyzing what made them who they are and what means the most to their identities, and creating artwork that supported this and questioned their values, as well as allowed them to create affirmations. Octavia donated more unsold clothing with which to create new textiles for the AW20 colletion. Through another collaboration with Russell at Offcut Studio, who shredded the garments down, Rubens transformed up-cycled clothing into a beaded argyle seen in the AW20 Phyllis Jacket.