Eco Fashion World

I was in Brazil for three days when I walked into my first Osklen store. Greedily I touched the dresses, shoes and bags that were exhibited like museum pieces. I let the fabrics slip through my hands, gazed at the fashion pictures on the walls and felt enchanted. The discovery of a cool fashion designer works like a sun shower: it makes me very, very happy. Even though I kept it at window shopping that time, I was sold. Like no one else, Osklen combines the typical carioca frivolous and surfy way of dressing with innovative design. His fashion emporium expands Brazil’s borders, because Oskar Metsavaht – the real name of the genius behind the Osklen label – is not only a strong designer but also a clever business man. And an eco pioneer I found out after one month when reading articles on São Paulo Fashion Week. With his Instituto E he develops brand new eco materials of resources such as fish skin, bamboo, recycled plastic bottles and rubber from the Amazon. This year he had invited a handful of Brazil’s top designers to work with these materials. The result was an exposition of top pieces made out of eco textiles that gained widespread exposure.