Natural Dyes in large scale industrial processes sounds like a complete 'No Go'. Tintoreria Clerici - one of the oldest and biggest in the business - is going back to their roots, and proving us all wrong.
How can environmental sustainability benefit from small and micro units? And, how can it be ensured that the associated skills sets are unique, yet valuable to the global fashion industry as a whole? Through 2 designer case studies from the UK, and a co-operative in India, we show how different potential solutions could look like.
March 22, 2012 : Araisara has completed her last runway show at Japan Fashion Week, and is preparing her collection's launch in Paris in October 2012. But while fashion shows are important, it is the people that remain the one single most important source of inspiration for her brand.
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.
North Italian fabric manufacturer Bonotto is returning to their roots and at the same time giving luxury fashion fabrics a new lease of authenticity and craftsmanship.
For their ‘Fabbrica Lenta‘ (the slow factory) range, they have unearthed the looms as well as dye techniques their district made its name with in the early 20th century.
Grom is an Italian, organic and ethical ice cream brand. But beyond this achievement, all their consumables are biodegradable and compostable. At no extra price to the consumer.
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.
Laces have been a firm part of haute-couture since the medieval, and the fabric still is, and always has been, a luxury product. The StGall exhibition in Switzerland pays tribute to 800 years of lace work featuring the best of European textile artisanry and technology.
Fall 2010, day 4: London Fashion Week, the dream destination of fashionistas. Quietly sustainable brands that don't shout about their commitment.
“The voice of a poor man does not carry very far” they say in Laos. But TAMMACHAT - a Canadian social business - is collaborating with Laotian women weaver communities to change that.
Sneakers, or basket ball shoes, are an unlikely candidate for building a successful ethical brand, yet Veja has managed the grow in an otherwise saturated market.
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.
Indigo is probably the most famous of all dye stuffs. Hacienda Los Nacimientos is one of only 2 farms world wide that produce certified organic Indigo, and is located in El Salavador. The farm's story reaches far back, and is marked by the years the country suffered from a violent guerilla civil war.
There are several things that come to your mind when visiting Estethica at London Fashion Week this February. To start with, the new venue , in the West Wing of Somerset House, adopted since last edition, is really sophisticated. Exhibitors are accommodated in rooms with a neat aesthetics that has one aim: making collections the only protagonists. Further, it is interesting to note that, besides the usual “aficionados” like Ada Zanditon or Henrietta Ludgate, there are some interesting international emerging talented brands.
The British textile industry, chances are, never would have reached its former pre-offshoring movement glory if it was not for immigrants. In fact, if it had not been for the Huguenot influence on silk weaving – and by means of cross-fertilisation, cotton and wool – the industry would have served a pure domestic purpose for the 18th, 19th and first half of the 20th century.
Shirahime has been pronounced the winner of the Observer Ethical Award in the category 'ethical blog'. Time to look back, and to publicly renew this blog's commitment.
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.
Smateria is a Cambodian upcycling bag label founded by 2 Italian women. What originally was a haphazard venture with the will to improve the lives of Cambodian women has turned by now into a successful social business.
Drakes is synonymous around the world with the most beautiful silk ties that money can buy. Founded thirty years ago on a top floor in Old Bond St and operating from a former Royal Mail depot in Old St for the past twenty, Drakes brought manufacturing back to the East End. A portrait.
Lack of knowing where to buy is among the most cited reasons by consumers as to why the don’t buy more sustainably in fashion terms (right after price). A Switzerland-based, recently launched internet portal has tackled this problem by offering consumers a shopping guide and index to both brands and shops that are available in Germany, Austria and Switzerland.