|
FTA would like to thank everyone who came by our booth at the Green Living Show, and add a big shout out to our amazing members and volunteers!
This year the Green Living Show saw a 25% growth in attendance over last year (an estimated 31 000 in 2011)! On top of that, 40 000 lbs of e-waste was collected for responsible recycling, and $130 000 was donated to different environmental organizations! Wow!
Our presence at the show with the Emerging Designers Boutique was featured in both print and online magazines, television segments, and across the internet (including various websites, blogs, Facebook, and Twitter), reaching a collective audience of approximately 2.7 million people!
We were very happy to be a part of the show, and hope to make next year's an even greater success!
|
|
Canadian Fashion Schools Annual Conference
This June, the Apparel Affinity Group, an organization of Canadian post-secondary apparel program educators and administrators, will be holding their yearly conference for national fashion schools at Toronto's George Brown College. The program includes a tour of the college's fashion department, a visit at the ROM guided by the museum's Textile Curator, numerous speaking presentations, and a panel discussion including several large Canadian brands.
Kelly Drennan will be among an expected 40 participants from across the country and will speak on Friday, June 3rd about innovation in manufacturing and textiles.
To learn more about registering for this event, visit their website here.
|
|
New FTA Event: Meet the Designers
Kelly, Julia, and Sonja address the audience at Thieves
Last month, FTA held an exclusive talk for media and buyers on sustainable fashion, hosted by local designer Sonja den Elzen at her store Thieves Boutique on Queen St. West in Toronto. Joining us was Germany’s Julia Knüpfer, designer and founder of the eco label ICA Watermelon, who landed in Canada for the first time to participate in 2011’s Alternative Fashion Week in association with the Goethe-Institut (Berlin). After some light hors d'oeuvres and wine, Kelly Drennan led a discussion with the two designers on their beginnings, their inspirations, and the challenges they faced on their way along the sustainable fashion route.
Of the many topics discussed, there was a particular challenge that both the designers observed in the way that sustainable fashion is currently received by the industry. Instead of letting eco designers vie for the spotlight, the industry segregates them into niche shows and events, e.g. The GreenShows in New York and Esthetica in London, both divisions of the cities' major fashion weeks. Additionally, many high end retailers do not prospect at eco fashion events as they would mainstream shows, even though eco designers are perfectly on par in terms of artistic and technical calibre. The upside of niche shows is that sustainability is showcased; however, if the ultimate goal is to make sustainable fashion more of a norm than a niche, designers need exposure to the masses.
Fashion Takes Action wants to do as much as it can to reduce this gap in exposure (and sales) between conventional and sustainable fashion. One way is to host more Meet the Desinger events such as the one we held at Thieves. Intimate boutique settings are the perfect place to have designers speak about and show off their work firsthand, especially in an industry where storyless, fast fashion is standard. Stay tuned, as we hope to host many more in the future!
Are you an eco designer interested in sharing your story and collection?
Are you a retailer interested in hosting an event in your space?
Are you a buyer interested in coming to an event?
Let us know! Email
kelly@fashiontakesaction.com
This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
.
|
|
Clothe Yourself in History
By Anne Pringle, Local Buttons, Fashion Takes Action Member
 In the first part of this article series, I mentioned that Canadians spent $21.5 billion on fashion in 2009 (Stats Canada Consumer Report 2009), an average of $630 spent by each one of Canada’s 34 million men, women and children. That may seem daunting when you consider the social and environmental impacts of making, shipping, wearing and discarding the clothing we buy, but there are ways to support ethical and alternative markets that will reduce the impacts of all that shopping. One of the easiest ways is to go pre-loved!
In major cities, smaller communities and Internet sites such as Etsy, vintage clothing vendors are popping up and “swaps” are being organized everywhere. With all these options available, we simply do not need fast fashion clothing shops for our style fix.
So why make the switch? Why clothe yourself in the old in lieu of the new? There are three reasons why I make the foray into vintage.
-
Economics. Simply put, it is more affordable to purchase second hand clothing. How else would you be able to purchase a quality suit jacket for only $25?
-
Environment and Ethics. As laudable as recycling is, along the way, we seem to have forgotten the reuse and reduce part of the environmental triangle. According to Annie Leonard in The Story of Stuff, 99% of what is purchased in the US is thrown out within 6 months. By purchasing second hand clothing, you are both reusing an item that has already been made and reducing the amount of waste being produced in order to create something new. Additionally, by purchasing second hand clothing, you’re not contributing to the unfair labour practices that are commonly associated with new clothes made in sweatshops.
-
Finally, Creativity. We all express ourselves through the clothing we wear. Each garment has it’s own unique story to tell. Over time, a garment that’s been passed down from wearer to wearer has new stories woven into it as it becomes a part of someone else’s life. When we purchase a second hand garment, we are in fact purchasing a piece of someone else’s history. We are literally walking in someone else’s shoes, jackets or pants!
I like to imagine where an article of clothing comes from prior to being in my possession. Perhaps my royal blue London Fog pea coat was a gift from a mother to daughter as she left for college. Or a dramatic country bar singer may have worn my red cowboy boots before she gave them up to travel the world for a year.
 As we wear second hand garments, we wrap ourselves in the strengths, triumphs, struggles, failures and successes of those before us. We begin to create a new history by joining together the old with the new.
In our final Triple Stitch installment, I’ll introduce you to Local Buttons and how we are using second hand clothing sourced in Haiti to create new, innovative designs.
|
|
We'd love to hear from you! Send your comments and suggestions to
studio@fashiontakesaction.com
This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
|
|
|
|
Browse the links below for the latest perspectives on the value of a Triple Bottom Line approach!
|
|
|
