Eco Fashion World

What happens when you introduce a Dutch fashion designer to the amazing materials and talented people of Brazil? What happens if these people create fashion items that combine the strength of two countries and cultures? Horizons expand, mutual inspiration boosts creativity and a learning experience enriches lives.

Last Friday the Old Church in the Amsterdam red light district saw the launch of Edwin Oudshoorn’s first eco accessories collection. Each piece was designed by Edwin Oudshoorn and created in cooperation with designers and small producers in Rio de Janeiro.

Edwin Oudshoorn is a shining star of the Amsterdam fashion scene and one of several young fashion designers participating in the Red Light Fashion project. His critical designs inspired by life and society won him the Frans Molenaar award in 2005. On Friday he brought his fourth collection to the catwalk of Amsterdam Fashion Week. The overall inspiration of the collection was nature and its colors, shapes and patterns. While the typical Dutch chrysant played the leading role, it found a partner in exotic Brazilian flora for the accessories collection. Each item carries its own beautiful story.

Like Bananaplac which is made out of the banana tree fibres left over after the tree has born its fruits. Design company and material library Fibra has created an extra source of income for the banana farmers creating placs of fibre mixed with natural resin. These placs are used for the flower logos, which were recurring items in the collection.

The cruelty-free silk lining the fish skin bag is another example of social and sustainable luxury. The silk was painted by artists from Vila Real, a cooperative that trains street kids to become silk painters. The fish skin can not be used for consumption and is normally thrown away as industrial waste. Brazil’s top designer Osklen has made this fabric the new must-have and Edwin Oudshoorn is the first designer in The Netherlands showing it in his collection.

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