Last week I posted about how national borders segregate markets and create a knowledge vacuum among ethical brands. At the same time I announced the publication of a list of international events that are either geared towards eco fashion, or else, have a track dedicated to it. So – here it is!
Important:
This list will with all likelihood grow as time goes by. Contributions are most welcome.
Fashion Show Case events:
Europe:
– EstEthica, London, UK. (When: February & September)
– Paris’ Ethical Fashion Show, France. (When: September)
– Swiss Ethical Fashion Days Geneva. (When: October)
– TheKey.to, Berlin, Germany. (When: January & July)
– The Green Show Room, in parallel to Berlin Fashion Week, Germany. (When: January & July)
– Green Area of Premium, Berlin, Germany. (When: January & July)
– Fashion Evolution, Dublin, Ireland. (When: May)
– ‘green’ track and ‘green fashion competition’ at Amsterdam Fashion Week, Netherlands. (When: January & July)
– ‘Modepalast Green’ track of Modepalast, Vienna, Austria. (When: April)
Americas:
– ModEthik, Montreal, Quebec, Canada. (When: October)
– Eco-Fashion Week, Vancouver, Canada. (When: October)
– The Green Show, Seattle, US (When: late August)
San Francisco Vegan Fashion Show, US. (When: October)
– ‘Green track’ of LA Fashion Week, Los Angeles, US. (When: October & March)
– New York Eco Fashion Week (The Green Shows), US. (When: September)
– The Ethical Fashion Preview at Nocha Fashion Week, New York, US. (When: September)
– Portland Fashion Week, US. (When: March & October)
– Vert Couture Eco-Fashion Show, part of Fashion Focus Chicago, US. (When: March & October)
– Green Breeze Fashion Show, Detroit, US (When: July)
– ENVIRO-Couture track, Haute.lanta Fashion Week, Atlanta, US. (When: September)
– Ethical Fashion Show (by Avani Ribbon) is a central part of DC Fashion Show, Washington D.C., US. (When: February & September).
Asia-Pacific:
– New Zealand Ethical Fashion Week, Auckland. (When: September)
– Eco Chic Fashions. This Hong Kong based organisation organises ‘eco’ cat walks around the globe, chiefly in the Asia-Pacific area.
– India Fashion Week increasingly focuses on the ‘green’ aspects of fashion, the designers however have to compete in the main track. In parallel Lakme Fashion Week takes place, which is the principle event for new comers. Also here green designers are successfully show casing their work alongside main stream brands. (When: early November).
Africa:
– Hub of Africa Fashion Week, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. (When: September)
– Swahili Fashion Week, Dar Es Salaam, Tanzania. No specific sustainability track, but given the trend in the African industry, this may well happen. (When: November, irregularly so far)
– Africa Fashion Week, Johannesburg, South Africa. Does not have a dedicated track either, but featured in its last edition selected ethical brands that work also out of Paris, France (e.g. Sakina Msa). (When: July)
Important:
This list will with all likelihood grow as time goes by. Contributions are most welcome.
Trade fairs:
– InNaTex, apparel & fabrics. Hoffheim near Frankfurt, Germany (When: January & July)
– FairWear, focused on SMEs in the ethical fashion arena. Linz, Austria. (When: October)
– NaturTex, apparel. Bern, Switzerland. (When: August)
– Messe Frankfurt – probably one of the worlds largest trade fair organisers – runs a whole range of textile related fairs, at which eco textiles (fabrics as well as apparel) play an increasingly relevant role. Examples: Texworld. This trade fair has a eco-friendly and fairtrade track with over 100 exhibitors at the last track, as well as workshops. Paris, France. (When: February). // Heimtextil, home and contract textiles. From 2011 onwards, their Greenguide will focus on sustainable developments in the home textile area, and list the ‘eco’ exhibitors at the fair. Frankfurt, Germany. (When: January). // InterStoff Asia Essential – Spring, and Autumn where MesseFrankfurt partners with GOTS. Fabrics mostly. Hong Kong, China. (When: March & October)
Designer/Brand/Supplier Directories:
– Shared Talent India: A directory of ‘green’ Indian suppliers, inclusive names of some designers and crafts people.
– Eco Fashion Talk’s resource section: A neatly organised A to Z listing of a long list of eco designers and brands, incl. brief descriptions, some photographs of their work, and links to their websites.
– Eco Chic Fashions organises show case events for eco designers. For each event they list the designers they’ve collaborated with (although unfortunately without links to their home pages). Importantly, many of the designers are from the Asia-Pacific area, and hence not often listed anywhere else. A eco textiles suppliers database is currently being under development.
– World of Eco Fashion name directory: This German website compiled an exhaustive list of world wide ‘eco’ designers and brands. Although the the text itself is in German, the page is easy to navigate even if not proficient in the language. All profiles are complemented with photographs and direct links to the home pages of each designer/brand.
– World of Eco Fashion online shop directory: Similar to the brand directory, a list with profiles of online and offline eco fashion retailers. The profiles are all written in German. Unfortunately, here languages skills are key to identify the geographical location of each retailer. Each profile is linked, again, to the retailer’s website where available – so you potentially could just click through all of them. No country-specific search functionality offered.
– Trends Of The Earth Eco Fashion: “currently lists 248 sites (and growing), all of which are highly involved in some form of ethical, eco and/or fair-trade, in the world of fashion.”
– The Ethical Fashion Forum’s social network for everyone considering him or herself related to, in any way, ethical fashion. Unfortunately, there is no way how to browse through the member directory unless registered and signed-in to the network.
– Eco Fashion World’s Eco Fashion Guide, which offers an alphabetical list of brands and designers, a store list, a clothes finder (search by what you need), and an eco-criteria search.
Ethical sourcing, online suppliers:
– Europe: Offset Warehouse
– US: Source4Style
