Hello UrbanMeisters!
There are some great things happening in the world of sustainable fashion and we bring you a round-up of all these positive green fashion news.
Zara presents JOIN LIFE – it’s new sustainable clothing collection
Thinking what’s the big deal? Well considering that Zara is one of the most successful clothing brands with nearly 2,000 stores in 88 countries, bought each month by more than million consumers this is an important move. Also the fact that Zara is the queen of fast fashion, launching new collections almost every week, this is an important move.
According to the Zara site, “the collection embraces a woman who looks into a more sustainable future” and is made with materials like organic cotton, recycled wool and Tencel, a recycled fabric derived from wood cellulose. Zara says that its Tencel is sourced from sustainably managed forests and that the farming process for its organic cotton uses 90 percent less water than usual cotton.
Source
Zara is launching a social campaign using the hashtag #JoinLife that includes “Boxes with a Past,” a selection of artists on the site creatively transforming Zara cardboard boxes into works of art. Zara also launched a series of clothing collection receptacles at 300 locations in Europe for consumers to drop unwanted clothing of any brand, with plans to expand the effort to Asia and North America in 2017.
Users can also request free clothing collection in Spain and additional clothing will also be donated to the Red Cross and Oxfam, as well as to textile projects at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Lenzing, an Austrian based company focused on sustainable fabrics.
Focusing on environmentally friendly offerings is an increasingly important focus for retailers like Zara, noting that a recent Nielsen study found that 75 percent of millennials would be willing to pay extra for sustainable offerings. You will remember we did a review of the other fast-fashion brand H&M and its sustainable line Conscious here.
Amidst the SS17, Burberry showcases AW16
You will remember that Burberry, Tom Ford and Demna Gvasalia of Vetements had announced that they will move to two fashion seasons instead of the maddening pace of so many fashion seasons. And we had explained in a green fashion feature, why it’s important for the runway fashion weeks to pace down the many collections showcased every year. So this year while the Spring Summer 17 Ready-to-Wear shows were in full-swing, certain brands like Burberry & Tom Ford showcased their Autumn Winter 16 collection, just in time for the season. Time for other brands to follow suit
Three ways in which luxury fashion brands can become sustainable: from New York Fashion Week
At the NYFW, the CFDA + Lexus Fashion Initiative hosted an afternoon of presentations and open discussions on sustainability and innovation within the fashion industry. The designers that spoke with a panel of consultants, activists, and eco-minded business owners, were Tome’s Ramon Martin and Ryan Lobo, Dezso’s Sara Beltran, Prabal Gurung, and Brother Vellies’s Aurora James. While each designer incorporates sustainability in a different way in their label, be it’s socially or environmentally, as in cleaner production practices, the use of recycled and reclaimed goods, and the preservation of oceans and forests, three common practices stood out:
1. Exploring recycled, reworked, repurposed, innovative fabrics besides just organically sourced ones like cotton.
2. More paced out fashion calendar and launch cycles matched with season
3. Making sustainability mainstream i.e. green fashion is not a sub-section but the way fashion is produced. E.g Prabal Gurung is a key sustainable label but his label is hardly known for that. Instead he’s popular for his sexy modern takes in his designs. His latest collection used CUPRO – a fabric made from cotton waste. He also debuted his new jewelery collection made again from recycled brass.
And with so many good moves in direction of more conscious fashion, we are sure sustainability is taking small steps towards becoming mainstream. We will keep bringing you more news from the green fashion front. Stay tuned, stay green by making a conscious choice.