Can Sustainable Fashion Replace ‘Unsustainable’ Mainstream Fashion?
Aveda Fashion Week // Source: flickr.com/photos/salty_soul/
She wore 11 dresses in one. Every single garment carried a story with it and, you could tell, she could feel the weight of the past on her bare shoulders. She was embraced by the cloth just as a lover does with his beloved. Her corset seemed to belong to a fairytale era. She turned and smiled shyly to the paparazzi. The flash almost blinded her. An eco queen was born.
When film producer and Eco Age creative director, Livia Giuggioli Firth, walked down the red carpet last January for 83rd Academy Awards, she didn’t only steal the limelight from her handsome husband, Academy Award winner Colin Firth, but also introduced us all to a new, fashion age: An ‘eco’ fashion age.
Sustainable fashion, or eco fashion, includes all those fashion products which have been created and produced by considering the social and environmental impact they have had throughout their total life time. The purpose is inspirational and final results are impressive; however, can sustainable fashion replace ‘unsustainable’ mainstream fashion?
I contacted The Centre for Sustainable Fashion and eco fashion company, KOMODO, to find out.
The London College of Fashion launched The Centre for Sustainable Fashion three years ago. “The Centre for Sustainable Fashion’s mission is to provoke, challenge and question the fashion status quo. Through collaboration we design transforming solutions that balance ecology, society and culture. We use design as a stimulus for culture change inside and outside of fashion, through the development of concepts for a future fashion industry of which we can become a part,” the Centre claims.
When asked what they thought about Mrs Firth ‘going green’ on the red carpet, experts from the centre said:
“We are delighted Livia undertook the green carpet challenge! It’s great that she is shining a light on the fact that sustainable fashion is no longer a niche market and that all designers should be looking at how they can make their designs more sustainable, thus safeguarding the future of the fashion industry.”
Experts from the Sustainable Fashion Centre also believe that eco fashion shouldn’t be seen as completely detached from the mainstream fashion.
“Sustainable fashion shouldn’t be seen as separate to mainstream fashion – sustainable fashion is about re-thinking the way we design to use up less of the world’s resources and ensure the people employed in the industry are paid and treated fairly. All fashion (no matter if it’s sustainably produced or not) should be led by good design – and this is what the Centre for Sustainable Fashion has been championing – any brand and any designer can be more sustainable in their outlook,” they said.
“A truly forward thinking business will look holistically about how it manages it’s supply chain and make changes in the places they can – there is no right and wrong way – there are multiple approaches to sustainable fashion from organic and fair trade to zero waste and looking at the entire lifecycle of a garment from crop to shop to disposal,” they also added.
Joe Komodo, founder of the sustainable fashion company, KOMODO, said he went ‘eco’ for the first time when he cut a Jeans Jacket out of an old Levis:
“I’m not sure they’d invented the word ‘eco-fashion’ then, but it just made sense to me … later on I learnt about how horribly polluting our clothes can be and so I decided to do something about it,” he said.
Just because the fashion is sustainable does not make it any less chic. // Eco Fashion Week // Source: flickr.com/photos/salty_soul/
Sustainable fashion companies need to take into account different elements in order to produce interesting fashion collections in terms of quality, price and originality and, of course, KOMODO’s approach is no different.
“We look to find the best balance between texture, econess, fashion and price… it has to tick all the boxes to be perfect,” Mr Komodo said.
When I asked Mr Komodo about the possibility of eco fashion replacing mainstream fashion, he seemed sceptical:
“Well, probably not. Eco fabrics will most likely always cost a bit more, and they can’t pull off all the tricks that chemically made ones can… so, the fashion victims will indeed make victims of us all,” he said.
But why people should prefer eco fashion to ordinary fashion? After all, eco fashion is pricey and short on fascinating chemically-produced colours…
“Because fashion should make you feel good, and it’s not good to pollute the place. So, if being part of the solution, rather than part of the problem, makes you feel good, then choose eco-fashion… just make sure it looks cool on you,” Mr Komodo said.
She wore 11 dresses in one night. Every one belonged to a far away time. As she moved so graciously, you could almost hear those who had worn dress number one or dress number eight before her. In that way, eco fashion is a gift: it’s the gift of the past.
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