London Fashion Week – Being the Change

London fashion week
photo: Pixabay

London Fashion Week: It’s glitz and glamour time in the capital!  Yesterday’s papers were full of Victoria Beckham’s new launch and top names in Fashion and Design are showcasing their latest collections.

For many people interested in fashion, ethics has not always been so high on the radar.  But this is changing and 2018’s London Fashion Week has raised the bar on sustainability – launching with the announcement that this year will be fur-free.

Alongside the catwalk shows there will be a number of events – official and unofficial – relating to sustainable and ethical fashion.  Couple this with Elle’s recent whole issue on the subject and the Government launching an investigation into the effects of fast fashion on the environment, and you can see that ethics in fashion is becoming a hot topic.

The events kicked off with a pop-up at which key ethical brands such as vegan shoe brand Borgeois Boheme and upcycled silk designer We-Resonate talked about their creation processes – an insight into how they achieve their design goals while being true to their ethics. 

london fashion week - being the change

At the weekend a screening of The True Cost Movie – a fantastic film that shines the light on the key issues of how fast fashion effects garment makers, the planet and the consumers.  This was followed by a panel session with big names in ethical fashion – Safia Minney and Livia Firth and joined by Jessica Simor QC.

The week’s closing party for ethical fashionistas will be hosted by Wear the Walk – a brand that enables subscribers to wear the latest high end fashion on a rental model.  This offers a really sustainable way of being a fashion addict!

Zoe Partridge, Wear the Walk’s founder told me  ‘London Fashion Week is a hugely effective platform for getting the message out on how we should be working in the fashion industry.  Large fashion brands can now look to the upcoming ethical brands, like Where Does It Come From?, for inspiration on responsible production methods and transparency of supply chain, and use their power and influence to dictate change.   The fashion industry needs to be able to tell their customers where their clothes have come from!’

This move to the mainstream for sustainability is supported by ethical brands offering a wide range of options for all incomes.  At Where Does It Come From? where the clothes come with their story, we are launching a new supply line in Africa.  Our first production, statement tunics made from organic rain fed cotton and tailored in a Fairtrade workshop in Malawi, are being crowdfunded right now at www.crowdfunder.co.uk/african-tunics.

london fashion week - being the change

If we want the clothing industry to change then we as consumers need to get behind the organisations who are driving this change.  It is all too tempting to feel inspired but then continue with our usual shopping habits or make excuses as to why we can’t be part of the solution.  We can.

Please support the changemakers – we can’t do it without you.  Pledge on our crowdfund and you will receive a fantastic item that looks good and does good.  And you’ll feel good too.

References: https://www.standard.co.uk/fashion/london-fashion-week-sustainable-fashion-a3934241.html

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