Eco Fashion Week - October 5-7, 2011

The ‘Fast Fashion’ industry is full of cheap and cost effective clothing which has created an extremely wasteful industry. Although some of the larger high fashion names aren’t necessarily the problem, because they’re so expensive that they don't have to overproduce. It’s the lower quality cost effective clothing lines that are great for the working families and their pocket books.

How does this have an effect on all of our futures and most of all the future of our pocketbooks. Its all a matter of understanding what goes into the making of this cheap ‘Fast Fashion’ trend.

Clothing is made from textiles, another word for fabric. Textiles are generally derived from plant materials. Such as cotton, bamboo, and hemp. Cotton is of course the most common and the U.S. department of agriculture reports that one quarter of all pesticides used nation wide go toward growing cotton primarily for clothing. Then there are man made petroleum-derived polyester which has nearly doubled in the last 15 years. Making us even more dependant on oil.

Over 8,000 synthetic chemicals are used to turn raw materials into textiles. Thus manufacturing facilities are considered hazardous waste generators. The lax regulations on these chemicals in developing countries means they’re being deposited in local soil and water ways. After this process, these textiles are to be dyed and manufactured. Dying fabric can use anywhere from 80 to 800 gallons of water per one tonne of fabric. Then of course we are faced with the shipping, which involves all sorts of transportation via plane, train, truck, boat and anything else you can think of. The transport of course doesn’t stop there. Once we buy the item, we then have to transport it home. Not to mention the amount of resources that are used in our homes to wash and dry.

Its not all horrible though. There does in fact happen to be a light at the end of the tunnel. More and more people are faced with green initiatives on everything from our household electricity to the food we eat. The fashion industry is also looking more and more promising with all the new reused vintage clothing, to the use of bamboo and organic cottons. Although chemicals are still used on some of these products, we of course have to think about the lesser of two evils.

So where and when is the change happening?

Right here this October 5-7, 2011 at Storeyum, 142 Water Street with Eco Fashion Week in Vancouver, Canada. EFW is a fashion show that celebrates and showcases the future of the fashion industry. ‘Slow Fashion’. As the green initiatives have become more rampant in this day and age, so has the greening of clothing. Nobody is hoping people jump on this band wagon quite like Myriam Laroche.

A young French Canadian woman from Quebec. Once surrounded by the huge east coast fashion scene. Much different than anything Vancouver has going for it. After spending 20 years working in the industry and meeting many designers that were greening their styles. She realized that this was a niche market in need of recognition. Therefore she put all she had, from her own pocket, into Eco Fashion Week.

Myriam has spent a large amount of time traveling and educating people on the upcycling, thrifting, and recycling of clothing. EFW will showcase these very ideals. Everything from their sponsors to their designers. Everyone is making it their goal to promote change.

As a non-profit organization, EFW and its volunteers lead the pack in Eco fashion, as most haven’t had any events longer than one to two days. The goal of EFW is to create ‘Slow Fashion’ as opposed to what has become of the industry in the past few decades. They want to help take us back to a time when couture was appreciated, hand made, where we only use what we need instead of what we want.

So we recommend attending Eco Fashion Week on their one year anniversary with their third event to support not only a move in the right direction but also to check out some amazing designers and sponsors. Designers and stores like Nicole Bridger, Jeff Garner, Tatiana Inglis, Sofia, Anna Kosturova, and Gypsy Market, Myriam’s Closet, Adhesif, Downtown Betty, and LRMA Clothing. Sponsors include the likes of Lou Lou, La Biosthetique Paris, PopChips, Vancouver Economic Development, Coco Eco Magazine and many more amazing participants. There will also be seminars where you can learn about how to offset your business' carbon footprint, also why and how to reuse fashion. You can find out more about the event, sponsors, designers and seminars at:

http://www.ecofashion-week.com/

We're not all expected to know what and how to do something, which is why it is very important to learn what we do not know. EFW has made the first step here in Vancouver so none of use have to be alone. Here at JKaffairs we're ready and willing to support this wonderful cause in order to promote a better world. Something we all hope for. 

“Wake up and smell the bamboo”-EFW-PR

We hope to see you there.

Christina .)

Info on Eco Fashion Week provided by EFW-Public relations.