Eco Fashion World

Raised by a mother who passed on a habit of clothes shopping involving both new and previously worn clothing and a father who worked as a director of museums at the National Institute of Anthropology and History, Mexican born designer Carla Fernandez, founder of Taller Flora, quite naturally developed a passion for fashion which merges old with new, simple with complex, and tradition with forward-thinking. Her father’s work required travel embarking the family on voyages all over Mexico, exploring different indigenous communities, their traditions, their homes, and most apparent in Carla Fernandez’ work today, their apparel. Her designs are comprised of geometric shapes, bold and beautiful colors, techniques born of heritage and culture, and clothing that truly tells a story with no end because for this designer, time is not a barrier and the sky is the limit.

Nowhere do edgy design and the DIY spirit cohabit so harmoniously than at Junky Styling. This East London institution was born in 1997 from the crafty hands of Annika Sanders and Kerry Seager. After traveling the world in their early twenties and discovering the prevalence of recycling from San Francisco to Tokyo and the resourcefulness of people for Vietnam and Thailand, the two friends came back to London and began creating clothes for themselves from second hand finds.

What came first? The idea of doing a Pop&Rock issue, or the desire to interview Maroussia Rebecq, the founder of the Andrea Crews Collective? We can’t really remember… One thing is for sure, this is THE eco fashion designer who best represents that indie and rebellious spirit that qualifies the best rock bands! An Andrea Crews fashion show can begin with characters masked from head to toe, continue with women dressed in gowns made of hair and finish with a massive strip party so infectious that the audience starts joining in! In the Andrea Crews flagship studio/store in the Pigalle neighborhood of Paris, the creative madness continues with people of all ages and backgrounds digging into tons of discarded clothes to create unique pieces that will be sold through all kinds of channels, from the Internet, to charity shops but also at Colette, the Paris temple of trendiness. And despite – or should we say because of – this rock and roll spirit and artistic, unpredictable universe, Andrea Crews still attracts some big mainstream brands who have asked her to reinvent their stock in a co-branding approach such as Nike. On an airplane between France and India, running between projects, Maroussia Rebecq took the time to answer a few of our questions.

“Fierce Heart” are the two words that welcome us on Linda Loudermilk’s website, and indeed, she must have braced herself with courage when she moved her production from Italy to her Los Angeles home base in 2002 and started working with eco fabrics, to create couture fashion before anyone else! Today, Linda Loudermilk is one of the most recognized names in eco fashion and her clothes regularly turn up on celebrities and grace the red carpet. Which doesn’t stop her from continuing to push the envelope and supporting essential causes such as the “Water is a Human Right” project, for which she designed her now famous faucet necklace and “mission gear”.

We first met Chris Ambraisse, founder and designer of A&K Classics at the Ethical Fashion Show in Paris in October 2008. Style wise, he already stood out by presenting both women and men’s clothes that were sleek and urban in black white and greys with the occasional touch of bright color. Then we started talking to him and discovered his incredible story: Chris is the only designer who creates fashionable clothes that are adapted to both disabled and able-bodied people. According to the World Health Organization, the world population counts around 750 million disabled people or 11,2% of humanity. For these people, everyday actions that we take for granted often pose a sizable challenge, dressing is one of them, and dressing in a way that reflects their personality and individuality is almost impossible! We caught up with Chris Ambraisse this month to learn more about his unique story.

I remember first reading about the South African eco-conscious clothing label LUNAR in my monthly Glamour magazine early in 2008 (this is generally as close as I tend to get to the concept of ‘glamour’). I vaguely remember a photograph of the designer Karen Ter Morshuizen and being very impressed with a black evening gown that they featured. Embarrassingly, it didn’t occur to me then that I had passed their store many times as they were located in a trendy, yuppie ex-mill in Johannesburg called 44 Stanley, which housed ultra-chic lofts, restaurants, a gallery and a variety of furniture and clothing shops. I had even once or twice popped into Lunar’s store, which, in keeping with the industrial feel of 44 Stanley seem dominated by grey and cream clothing and raw cement floor. What stuck with me about their clothing on the rails was that their garments seemed to be made for very tall people with very deep wallets.