Eco Fashion World

Although less than two years old, Izzy Lane is the up and coming British label that has the ethical fashion world a-buzz. With luxurious materials and timeless silhouettes, Izzy Lane offers the green answer to modern working women’s dilemmas. In the wake of her recent RSPCA Good Business Award, we caught up with founder Isobel Davies to chat about style, sustainability and the sheep that inspired it all. Find out everything you’ve ever wanted to know about wool but never dared to ask!

“Just like the first industrial revolution started in the fashion industry, so will the second that leads us to sustainability.” (William McDonough and Michael Braungart, authors of Cradle to Cradle)

NO, NO, NO was the word popping all over Victor & Rolf's last collection. Whether painted on the models’ faces or embossed in 3D on a jacket, it was time for a catwalk statement: NO to the disposable culture of fast fashion.

The British are coming? Fortunately, Brits have already arrived when it comes to sustainable shopping. London has emerged as a real hub of the eco fashion world, and DeviDoll is a quintessential ethical online boutique capturing the eclecticism and intelligence of the London fashion scene.

Whether your sartorial model is a traditionally polished Kim Novak in Vertigo or a sexy and edgy Sharon Stone in Basic Instinct, there’s an eco designer out there who’s got just what you need. From tweed to tencel, from hemp to bamboo meet the creators that have got your back covered in the business jungle!

Men, we’ve heeded your call, ask and you shall receive! Organic cotton shirts, machine washable suits, elegant vegan accessories, hemp suits? We found them all for you, now all you have to do is take your pick!

Amidst the controversy and the clichés, one can sometimes forget that China is also a country with a rich ancestral spiritual tradition. A tradition that can sometimes resurface in the most surprising places, like in the work of one of China’s most successful designers: Ma Ke. Following her intuition of creating simple organic designs using sustainable fabrics and hand made artisan production, Ma Ke has fashioned two unique collections. Launched in 1996, Exception de Mixmind is a line of sophisticated minimalist daywear distributed in 58 namesake stores and corners throughout China. Ma Ke’s latest endeavour Wu Yong (Useless) was invited to launch at Paris Fashion Week in 2007 and has since been accumulating accolades from the design and art communities. Ma Ke was awarded the title of ‘Best Asian Fashion Designer’ at the 2007 Elle Style Awards. In 2008 she was invited to show her work at London’s prestigious Victoria&Albert Museum and at Paris Haute Couture Week. She is also the subject of the film “Useless” by Jia Zhang-Ke, a poetic documentary contrasting the artful creation of Ma Ke’s collection with the lives of China’s garment factory workers. We caught up with Ma Ke in an online interview.

The Olympics, Free Tibet, environmental pollution and an economic growth of 10% per year: China is full of contradictions. But when it comes to ethical production, China surprises us with some exciting developments.

First up is the April launch of the Sustainable Fashion Business Forum (SFBF); eleven Hong Kong clothing manufacturers have teamed up with the Clothing Industry Training Authority (CITA) to share information and devise new ways to make the trade more environmentally friendly. The group supplies big brands such as Marks & Spencer, Gap and H&M and has several essential items on the agenda. One of them is to set up a carbon accounting standard in collaboration with WWF Hong Kong.

No issue on Chinese sustainable fashion would be complete without a bit of bamboo! Touted as a green fabric with hypoallergenic and thermo-regulating capacities the real story on bamboo is a little more complex; although it’s true that the plant itself is a sustainable product by virtue of its fast natural growth, the transformation process can often be very polluting. This article from the great blog Organic Clothing will give you the full picture. And if you want to do bamboo right, here are our hottest bamboo picks from eco designers worldwide! To complement our favorite bamboo pieces we’ve thrown in some sporty kicks as a wink to the Olympics.

Finding a sustainable shop in China is no easy feat. Despite the ethical progress in some factories, Chinese customers are still hard pressed to find retail points for eco fashion in their country.

But, venture to the second floor of the International Artist Factory in the thriving arts and shopping district of Taikang in Shanghai, and a lovely surprise awaits you! An inviting, light, newly renovated 100sq meter loft space opens up, full of wonderful and unique creations. You’ve arrived at Nest, a brand new store devoted to the celebration of conscious design.

Shanghai, China