I am fresh from Simon Fraser University’s Sustainability Festival – in fact I am writing from the campus library. It’s true, I am still a student here yet barely – just one more class to go! I am glad Melody gave me the gentle nudge to make one extra trip up to the cold, rainy campus this week, I have gathered enough green tidbits from all the vendors and info booths for many blogs to come; today, however, we focus on the Eco Fashion Show, the theme of which was “Positive Change”. I am still a little leery when it come to the words “sustainability” and “fashion” placed anywhere near each other, despite my enthusiasm about all things innovative. While it’s true we’re past the rough hemp camisole phase of eco-friendly fashion there has been a lot left to be desired until very recently, at least for those of us who aren’t interested in having to do extensive research to find some funky earth-friendly threads. The common sentiment I hear a lot is that people want to “do the right thing” in terms of greening their life but they don’t have the time or motivation to do the research; that’s what we’re here for. As the rain poured beyond the cover of SFU’s Convocation Hall, a polynesian dancer warmed up the crowd. Summer is definitely over in Vancouver, I realized sadly as I watched the dancer invoke the tropics with her movements and coconut shell top.

Around thirteen local designers had their gear strutted on the makeshift runway and I must say despite my prediction coming true about what I would most likely see a lot of (hello, stretchy jersey knits!) I was still impressed by the range and versatility of the designs. Among my faves? A cool “worldbeat” inspired red t-shirt with a stitched yellow sun by Monkey 100, a hella funky ankle-length bright lime green dress decorated with some bamboo-like print by Dahlia Drive and I just love the versatile and stylish looks from Polymath Fashion. All the designers are listed on the Sustainability Festival’s website if you’re interested in checking out more conscious labels that are kind to the earth and easy on the eyes!

Tags: local designers, Sustainable fashion

This entry was posted on Wednesday, September 24th, 2008 at 1:12 pm and is filed under Ethical Girl. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.