As I enter In-Ku on Warren Street, London, I am immediately struck by the simplicity of the store. No huge signs screaming '50% OFF' in your face, no massive heaps of the same clothes surrounding you. It has the feeling of home. We sit down, drink some tea, nibble on some cookies and she starts: "So I guess you want to know what slow fashion means to me?"
Read More#WomenWhoWork: 9 to 5 with an Editor in the Sustainability Industry
Today's fast-paced world craves your attention every minute. It demands efficiency and success, and often pushing yourself to the last limit to achieve it. However, as known, there's a yin to every yang. Slow lifestyle manifests itself as a counter movement to our hectic lives.
Read MoreEco-Living in a Big City: 'How to Handle it All' Guide
Even if you've already settled in a huge, gigantic metropolis, only dreaming of faraway greeneries in favour of big city excitement, how to still make yourself feel comfortable in a suitable living space and build a perfect environment for calm and harmony at home? Read our tips!
Read More3 Sustainable Swimwear Labels To Watch This Summer
Whether you’re all for the classic, curve-hugging shapes, more skin revealing bikini, or after unique statement pieces for both water and outdoors, these three cruelty-free brands are making waves right now.
Read MoreSixChel: Eco-Conscious Capsule Collection Made in USA
SixChel, a slow-fashion brand incorporating sustainable materials cut and sewn in the USA, announces the launch of its debut capsule collection with four pieces designed with modern feminine style and comfort in mind. The collection launch is being endorsed via Kickstarter campaign.
Read MoreMALINA 'Immortality': Expressing a Desire for Eternal Life
Hailing from Berlin, Germany, MALINA is the sustainable womenswear label to watch. In collection 'Immortality', grotesque, avant-garde looks in natural materials, like wood, mushrooms and natural rubber tree, meet an emotional theme.
Read MoreIDUN SS17: Becoming, A Fashion Film
"It can be said every person has their true self inside them, and it is their task to become that. This process of becoming is what we sought to capture."
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Photo: Dianerehm.org.
#Lifestyles: Tips On Minimal Consumption by Jennie Barck, Author at The Maker Journal
To me, minimalism is all about possessing only the bare essentials. It doesn’t have to be things that are aesthetically minimal, which is the reputation minimalism is getting on social media and through bloggers.
Read More'The Oscars of Sustainable Fashion': Green Carpet Fashion Awards by Livia Firth are Pairing Ethics with Aesthetics
What kind of an image appears in your mind when someone mentions sustainable fashion? I bet glamorous would not be ranking first in your list. However, the times when clothes made out of recycled plastic and cotton waste were exclusively for spiritual hippies have passed. The global fashion industry is reshaping the image of sustainable fashion - bringing a piece of the glitz and glamour to the eco-friendly clothing industry.
Words: Katrin Kaurov
Teatro alla Scala.
Italy announced the Green Carpet Fashion Awards created by Livia Firth’s initiative Eco-Age and the Camera Nazionale della Moda Italiana, which will take place in the famous Milan’s Teatro alla Scala on 24 September 2017, during Fashion Week. The aim is to bring focus to the ethics and sustainability of to the Made in Italy brand, therefore leading the path for other major fashion capitals. The Green Carpet Fashion Awards will feature major brands, including Fendi, Giorgio Armani, Gucci, Prada and Valentino, whereas each of the haute couture fashion houses will create a unique look according to the strict criteria of the Green Carpet Challenge.
The president of the Camera Nazionale della Moda, Carlo Capasa, describes the event as “The Oscars of sustainable fashion”. He has the intention to make Milan the cornerstone of eco-friendly fashion, as it pairs well with the Italian conscious lifestyle and biological food production, which are an essential part of the Italian heritage to date.
Carlo Capasa, Livia Firth and Michele Scannavini.
"Italian unique design heritage must be developed and built on the values of environmental protection and social justice in our supply chains, which will uniquely allow Italy to be the added-value designer and manufacturer on the global fashion stage."
Livia Firth, the ambassador of the project, hopes to bring attention to sustainable lifestyle with the Green Carpet Awards, as Italy has always been more about slow, hand-made approach to fashion, with a high focus on quality and uniqueness, in contrast with the general trend of mass-scale fast fashion. She claims that Italian unique design heritage must be developed and built on the values of environmental protection and social justice in our supply chains, which will uniquely allow Italy to be the added-value designer and manufacturer on the global fashion stage.
It is definite that haute couture brands won’t turn back to the 19th-century exclusive, tailor-made ateliers, as a more fast-paced, contemporary mass production is needed to keep up with the global pace of fashion. However, the Green Carpet Awards Challenge lets designers explore new ways of combining the glamour of high-end fashion with environmentally friendly production methods and the large-scale global demand for clothing.
Fashion Revolution Week: All You Need To Know About Who Made My Clothes? Campaign
Words: Anna Victoria Eihenbauma
Photos: Fashion Revolution
This year marks the 4th anniversary of the Rana Plaza disaster in Bangladesh where over 1,000 people were killed and over 2,500 were injured. An eight-storey commercial building near Dhaka collapsed after garment factory owners ordered their workers to return to work despite warnings to avoid the building due to cracks in its structure. The Rana Plaza garment workers were producing clothing for European and North American high street brands when their workplace became life-threatening.
The tragedy caught international media attention and revealed the need for a reformed fashion industry. As a result of this disaster, the Fashion Revolution Movement was created.
Fashion Revolution is a non-profit organisation focused on campaigning towards greater transparency in the supply chains of the fashion industry. The international movement urges consumers to ask brands this seemingly simple question: Who made my clothes?
“The global fashion industry is opaque, exploitative and environmentally damaging and desperately needs revolutionary change. We love fashion, but we don’t want our clothes to come at the cost of people or our planet.”
- Fashion Revolution
Whilst working with multiple factories, suppliers and subcontractors at the same time, clothing brands are often unaware of how their products are actually being produced. Transparency in fashion would lead to improved monitoring and controlling of working conditions through all stages of the supply chain.
Asking brands to become more transparent means asking them to become more accountable. This way, companies can ensure that human rights are respected and that environmental guidelines are adhered to.
What started out as Fashion Revolution Day, observed every year on 24th April, has now become Fashion Revolution Week. Hundreds of events take place all over the world during this week, all aimed at raising awareness of the true cost of fashion. Individuals and organisations unite in their shared interest of designing a more sustainable future. This year the movement takes place from Monday 24th to Friday 30th April worldwide.
“We believe in fashion – an industry which values people, the environment, creativity and profits in equal measure, and it’s everyone’s responsibility to ensure that this happens.”
- Fashion Revolution
Getting involved can be as simple as taking a photo. Fashion Revolution is calling on all of us to show our clothing labels and ask brands #whomademyclothes on social media.
Together we can make a positive difference in the world.
Find out about any potential events near you here.