Cork is one of the most sustainable natural materials extant. Portugal supplies about two thirds of the world's cork, but the increased use of plastic bottle stoppers for wine, instead of cork, poses a threat to the country's industry. This post presents some data around cork and describes the bigger picture. The follow up post will look at how innovative uses of cork find application in fashion.
Algha Works are Britain’s last metal spectacle frame manufacturer, operating from Fish Island - close to the 2012 Olympics' site - for the past century. A portrait.
Discarded at one time, and hidden away in a drawer of the family home or even flogged off in a car boot sale, 'Little Glass Clementine' turns the most improbable centre piece of unique necklaces, each made 'to measure' for the personality and character of its new owner.
J&R Designs in Homerton is a small factory in London's East End, the only remaining of its kind, run by the Persaud family, and which specialises in hand crafted quality leather handbags manufacturing. A portrait.
In the briefest of time, Bottletop's iconic bags have not only made into the limelight of fashion weeks supported by VIP, but their business model and approach has earned the organisation a shortlisting for the Observer Ethical Awards 2012, the British 'Green Oscars'.
The Guardian Sustainable Business & Observer Ethical Awards 2012 edition in fashion terms. Cradle to Cradle is becoming popular in the nitty gritty of the carpet industry, Puma's Profit and Loss Accounts get credit, and Kids imitate Katherin Hamnett's 1980's slogan T-shirts to raise awareness.
“Innovatively combining new British and sustainable fabrics with reclaimed textiles” – this is Goodone’s raison d’etre in their own words. Their most recent initiative: A proper upcycling factory that can cope with both, pre- and post-consumer waste, and is the first ‘streamlined’ upcycling facility equipped and ready to work with designers on something more than one-offs.
Kenzo, Koshino, Nigo, Yamamoto - many an internationally renowned Japan designer was trained at Tokyo's Bunka College of fashion. At the college, sustainability and ethics are considered as important as good design technique in educating students.
Perfumery can be a dirty business. In this interview with Marina Barcenilla, founder and creative perfumer of Glastonbury-based The Perfume Garden, we investigate the company's approach to ethical and vegan ingredient sourcing.
Are natural perfumes the panacea for sustainability in the fragrance industry? Are there good sides, not only bad ones, to synthetics ingredients in perfumes? And what about health impacts? A brief overview of the most important issues.
Julius Walters of Stephen Walters & Sons is a ninth generation weaver of a family business founded 1720. This is the company that wove the silk for the Queen’s coronation robes and for Princess Diana’s wedding dress.
Story telling is a powerful tool, and an important part of how we create lasting memories. Can we use the power of story telling to encourage a different type of fashion consumption?
“The raison d'être of Lilou is my desire to connect people with 'their' colour.
I wanted to take the opportunity and expose people to their colour, the ones that make them feel relaxed, energized, happy, motivated..." says Ingrid Vercruyssen, the textile designer behind Lilou.
London Fashion Week is feeling the effects of the global 'austerity' programme with fewer brands participating overall. The gems are still there and worth hunting for. Sometimes though, the gems of previous seasons remain the headlines.
The coastal areas of Eastern Japan, while largely unaffected by the grade 9 earthquake from March 11th, 2011, was thoroughly washed away by the tsunami following the quake. Now that the recovery efforts are under way, also fashion companies and fashion related projects contribute their share. An overview of what is happening on the ground to-date.
Connecting the present and the past, learning and drawing conclusions from either, is and will remain key to creating a more sustainable fashion industry. So far, learning from the past in particular - in the good and in the bad - has been chiefly neglected. A series of thoughts.
At the forefront of the Japanese ethical fashion movement, and commercially the most successful, are social businesses. They're principle strategy is to build a firm base in their own national market, but beyond that Asian markets are their principle expansion area. Design is flexible, but their business principle are everything but.
Bryan Whitehead is one of the few remaining textile craftsmen in Japan who not only rears his own silk, but masters the whole textile process. Just as he as learned from seasoned crafts people, he now hands his knowledge on to his students. A plea to best of craftsmen and women cherish their expertise by teaching.
Sashiko - a now extinct Japanese textile technique and tradition which for centuries was used to adorn as much as make garments more durable. A portrait.
Itchiku Kubota is possibly the Japanese Kimono artist par excellence. None of his contemporaries have created such a body of work. At the same time, the artist brings the value of craftsmanship, today often ignored or under-rated, to our attention.
