Ethical fashion will be in the spotlight at Las Vegas Fashion Week at an exclusive, luxury runway event at Aureole in Mandalay Bay Hotel, a five star, internationally known restaurant by Chef Charlie Palmer.   The Bel Esprit Showroom is bringing some of its members to Las Vegas Fashion Week for a week of high-profile events to present their collections.  Designers Lucy Tammam and Foldi Kinga will feature luxury couture gowns,  and Kasia Van Markoviec, designer of Van Markoviec, avant-garde eco-luxury sportswear, will present select items of her collection on May 23, 2013.  Fashion will grace the restaurant's glass staircase, before an audience of VIP guests and professionals.

The Essentials

The seeds of Synergy were planted in 1993, by Kate Fisher, when she set off for Nepal and India with adventure in her eyes. In the midst of her extensive travels in Asia she started buying textiles and clothing that she sold upon her return home. A business was born. Synergy was created in the spirit of adventure and with the vision of being a synergy of both Eastern and Western design influences.  Synergy makes clothing that combines sustainability, with modern yet timeless design. They strive to make clothing that looks good, and is also gentle on the Earth. They predominantly work with organic cotton from India, that is dyed with low impact dyes. The clothing is hand made in Nepal, according to fair trade practices, verified by their long-term relationships with their manufacturers and their frequent trips to Nepal.

From London and New York, international stylists Jocelyn Whipple, leading light of Livia Firth’s Green Carpet Challenge ™, and Jill Heller, owner of the legendary Pure Thread, lead an exclusive opportunity to recalibrate your wardrobe (and your thinking). 

While it may now seem like a blur of camera flashes, strutting models and schmoozing VIPs, the impact of Eco Fashion Week runs much deeper. It’s not easy creating an event that is taken seriously by both the fashion and sustainability industries, but Eco Fashion Week is just about there. Many people don’t even understand the point of eco fashion or what it means, but events such as Eco Fashion Week and the tragic factory collapse that also occurred in Bangladesh last week, are creating awareness around the realities of the industry. 

The last day of Eco Fashion Week, 6th Edition, was another busy one with three sets of runway presentations from a very diverse mix of designers, vintage curators, and artists. The first two runway shows were from vintage and second-hand collections in Vancouver; Hey Jude Shop and My Sister’s Closet.  Hey Jude Shop is a vintage collection curatored by two women and sold online and at pop-up shops around Vancouver. The collection they showed at Eco Fashion Week this season had a hard edge, deep colours, leather and sheer fabrics. It was a well put together collection, great second hand finds.