Are we doing enough to support eco-fashion?

• Feb. 28 by Katie Fox (1)

This year, London Fashion Week hosted ‘Esthetica’, an initiative launched by the British Fashion Council to promote environmentally-friendly fashion, for the seventh year running.

As of 2010, there are 28 ‘eco’ designers affiliated with Esthetica and these designers adhere to at least one value associated with sustainable fashion, like using Fairtrade fabrics and recycled materials in their designs.

The 19^th- 23^rd February saw the return of the Esthetica catwalk at the event as the ‘green’ designers were able to showcase their designing talents as well as promote sustainable fashion to the masses.

Shunning eco-fashion?

However rather disappointingly, Kate Carter of the Guardian reported that the exhibition was exiled to a tent, away from the main event. In a catwalk report for the Guardian’s website, she said:

“Some of the more established labels have moved away from London Fashion Week’s ethical showcase, perhaps in part because of the terrible location – the ethical brands are banished to an annex of the Somerset House location, thus virtually ensuring they get no passing trade whatsoever.”

She also commented, via microblogging site Twitter, that the exhibition space was “a dead end/ rabbit warren” further suggesting that LFW organisers could have done more to promote awareness of the British Fashion Council’s green initiative.

Is Birmingham doing its bit?

As LFW closes for another year, news comes that a local vintage shop has too closed in Birmingham- for good.

The vintage shop, Yo Yo, of Ethel Street in Birmingham’s town centre seemed to enjoy good trade for years before it unexpectedly closed its doors forever, as confirmed by a friend of a former worker.

Vintage clothing is kind to the environment as it promotes the wearing of clothes which already inhabit the planet rather than the production of new ones- which are increasingly being made cheaply and unethically.

It’s a shame, therefore, that such a shop cannot compete with the high street chains which dominate city centres. Yo Yo was placed in a great location for Birmingham shoppers but unfortunately has not survived.

Hope for eco-fashion?

Paradoxically, in a more ‘creative’ part of Birmingham, vintage fashion appears to be flourishing. In Digbeth, the Birmingham branch of vintage chain Cow seems to be as busy as ever.

Vintage store Urban Village, currently located in the Custard Factory complex, has struggled in the past; however the shop is due to ‘upsize’, according to a current employee, and move out of its poolside site in a couple of week’s time to its former location at the front of the Custard Factory.

More good news follows in the form of a boutique recently opened in Birmingham’s Picadilly Arcade (just off New Street) by eco-designer Palvika. The designer produces one-off pieces made entirely from recycled materials.

Let’s hope that more independent, environmentally-friendly businesses open in Birmingham and can give the high street giants a run for their money.