From Henrik Vibskov’s strikingly futuristic knits to the gorgeous pale green palette at Designers Remix, the disproportionately influential Copenhagen Fashion Week had plenty for stylistas to love, green or not. But what really impressed was the commitment to new ways of producing fashion and the ethical stance on fabrics and manufacturing. Whether organic cotton, local wool or Scottish cashmere, textiles were all natural, with most choosing UKAS, WRAP or Wool Mark certified fabrics. From the opening press conference, where the Danish Fashion Institute reaffirmed its commitment to boosting sustainability, to the choice of sponsor – the Vauxhall Ampera hybrid car – Denmark’s seasonal style fest had a distinctly green flavour.
In other eco-fashion news from the Danish capital, the Danish Fashion Institute and the pan-Scandinavian Nordic Initiative Clean and Ethical [NICE] has teamed up with the UN’s Global Compact to help create a sector-specific initiative aimed at improving the ethics and sustainability of the fashion industry, both at home and abroad. ‘We are very excited to be leading the process to develop a platform that can unite small and medium sized fashion companies across borders globally to help tackle the challenges that our industry and the planet face,’ said Eva Kruse, chairman of the Nordic Fashion Association and CEO of the Danish Fashion Institute. ‘Fashion has historically had the capacity to affect society as a whole, and therefore fashion is a great place to start building a new creative partnership with the ecosystem that we are all a part of.’
Denmark’s fashion designers might not get everything right – there’s still a Copenhagen Fur Show for instance – but the likes of Avia of Scandinavia, New Generals and Malene Birger have plenty to teach British talent about how to get the balance between style and sustainability right.
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GREEN LIVING The Ecologist meets... Copenhagen's The Baand In part one of our Copenhagen Fashion Week special, Ruth Styles talks sustainable style with Stine Bauer Boskov and Julie Villumsen – the brains behind hot Danish eco-brand, The Baand |
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GREEN LIVING The new north: why Scandinavia is leading the world in eco-design The Nordic flair for design has taken eco-fashion to new heights and is setting an example for the rest of the world to follow, says Ruth Styles |
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GREEN LIVING Copenhagen: Europe's coolest green city Cutting edge architecture, miles of cycle routes and green spaces galore have made the Danish capital a hotspot for green travellers. Ruth Styles packed her bags for a weekend in Europe’s greenest capital city |
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GREEN LIVING Safia Minney: fashion’s impact on the earth In an exclusive extract from her new book - Naked Fashion - the People Tree founder looks at the environmental damage caused by modern fashion – and sketches out a radical new way forward |
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GREEN LIVING A belting idea: meet the pioneers turning discarded firehose into fashion Firehose isn’t an obvious choice of textile for an accessories range, but for the entrepreneurs behind Elvis & Kresse, it’s simply perfect. Gavin Haines reports |
