Eco Fashion World

LUFLUX

The ESTETHICA exhibition, now in its seventh year at London Fashion Week, has evolved to become the epicentre of London's ethical fashion industry. The success of this initiative – which is the strongest of its kind – is evident in its rapid growth. From its first season of 13 designers, 9 new labels joined for SS10, making ESTETHICA a collective of 28 designers. This is a British Fashion Council’s (BFC) eco-sustainable initiative sponsored by MONSOON. At the press day on November 11th the BFC announced the winners of a programme to develop eco fashion businesses as part of its ethical fashion initiative, ESTETHICA. Six designer businesses have been selected to receive 1-on-1 expert support from one of three industry mentors: Brand Consultants Susanne Tide-Frater, Yasmin Sewell and Buying Consultant Bev Malik. The designers selected are Ada Zanditon, Christopher Raeburn, Goodone, Minna, Nina Dolcetti and The North Circular.

Interestingly, Christopher Raeburn is the first designer to move from ESTETHICA into NEWGEN (sponsored by Topshop this year). His 2010 Autumn/Winter collection focuses on the concepts of functionality, layering, and preparedness. Utilising original fabrics from British battle dress jackets, camouflage ponchos, Swedish snow cotton and battered Italian leather military jackets, Raeburn creates a thoroughly contemporary Winter collection that is intrinsically layered with history and designed to withstand everyday extremes.

HENRIETTA LUDGATE

The Scottish designer Henrietta of HENRIETTA LUDGATE was also awarded the Ethical Fashion Forum’s ‘Fashion Innovation Award’, for London Fashion Week’s Spring/Summer 2010. Her Autumn/Winter 2010 collection, ‘Enchanted Highlands’, explores a darker side of her inspiration, the Scottish landscape. The collection, which is entirely sourced and made in Britain, strikes a perfect balance between sharp contouring and loose drapery, producing a silhouette for the forward thinking consumer.

MAX JENNY’s two revolutionising collections titled ‘The Street Sculptures and ‘The New Black’ were a breath of fresh air with their psychedelic colours and smooth-flowing silhouettes. The first collection is a collaborative work experimenting with the mix between fine art and outdoorwear in a new way, made from recycled PET bottles and fabric painted with water-based colours. The jackets were not only aesthetically pleasing, but also functional in terms of ease of movement and fit. The second collection, made from bamboo jersey and viscose, has an undisputed approach yet innovative silhouette. The concept draws from the body’s own architectural form. Maxjenny has designed the cut based on folding squares and circles and made large drapings to create shapes with the movements of the body: simply the new green avant-garde.

The Italian-born designer IVANA BASILOTTA launched her eponymous brand in 2009. This is the youngest brand at ESTETHICA, but also one of the most promising. The collection has a very delicate and feminine appeal, made in shades of pastel weaved into Modal, peace silk and Bemberg. Both the fabrics and the collection are manufactured in India. Some pieces have intricate hand embroidery made of woollen strands.

LU FLUX is a London designer who specialises in unique pieces of Ethical clothing. By working with salvaged vintage and organic fabrics, combined with traditional techniques of knitting, pleating and patchwork, the contemporary menswear and womenswear collections represent an antithesis to the modern trend of expendable fashion. Their Autumn/Winter 2010 collection titled ‘DAME AND KNIGHT ’ includes a mix of printed and striped fabrics creatively sewn together with traditional patchwork techniques. The interesting mix of fabrics gives the collection a bright and colourful twist.

MAX JENNY

Apart from the talented designers showcasing at LFW, organisations like Environmental Justice Foundation (EJF) and Centre for Sustainable Fashion (CSF) have a strong presence with their collections created in collaboration with well-known designers.

EJF’s 2010 summer collection of designer organic cotton t-shirts titled ‘No More Slaves to Fashion’ includes designs by Jenny Peckham, Richard Nicoll, Ciel and Alice Temperly. The collection is modelled by over 30 international models and celebrities like Noemie Lenoir, Noot Seear, Lui Wen, Lakshmi Menon and Devon Aoki. The collection revolves around their campaign to end forced child labour in the world’s 3rd largest cotton exporter, Uzbekistan. For more information about the designers and brands showcasing at Esthetica, please click here .

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