The goal of this week's Good Clothes Show organizers is to close the gap between mainstream culture and eco-friendly fashion.
It's possible that we have all made fashion faux pas at some point, and garment designers also make errors from time to time. Before committing to a large quantity, designers test materials, techniques, and colors on "strike-off" samples of fabric. They are usually discarded because they are shorter than 50 cm.
The Colombian-Chilean designer Jennifer Droguett, who founded the London-based Anciela couture label, views other people's errors as opportunities for creativity. The dress shown here is made from fabric offcuts from a custom lurex jacquard weave strike-off that were stuffed with studio offcuts and recycled packaging wool. It's representative of Anciela's output as a company whose experimental tailoring and celebration of South American folklore are unhindered by its zero-waste policy.
According to Droguett, putting sustainability first is "the only way forward." "You can easily make aligned design and business decisions when you set certain boundaries."
What offers her hope? the industry's growing group of like-minded individuals. There's a sense of urgency and willingness to take action at every stage of the supply chain now, she said, from farmers and activists to makers and journalists.
When Droguett exhibits Anciela's items at The Good Clothes Show, which opens at the NEC in Birmingham, UK, on Friday, she will be in fine company. Comparisons to the former Clothes Show Live, which aired for 20 years until 2014, have been inevitable for this brand-new event. Its goal is to connect pop culture and sustainable fashion in order to encourage positive change in the mainstream market.
According to Kara Mooney, the creative and event director, "as fast fashion grows faster than ever, so does the urgency for a change in consumer awareness," she told Positive News. "Instead of focusing on what people might believe they must give up, our vision is to show what people can gain from making more sustainable fashion choices."