It’s official: sustainability and style are no longer mutually exclusive. Vancouver Fashion Week 2009 drove the point home for earth-conscious fashionistas and traditional style-a-holics alike, with collections by numerous eco friendly designers showing throughout the event.
While I didn’t get to check out Friday’s designers, featuring the likes of Lav & Kush, Hawks Ave, and Red Jade, I felt pretty lucky to catch some serious design talent on Saturday.
Calgary-based design heavyweight Paul Hardy channeled his inspiration from a life-altering trip to Uganda earlier this year, creating a rough-hewn, beige-toned collection that is nothing short of globally informed and socially aware.
Image courtesy of VFW
Hardy mixed layered silhouettes with sharply tailored garments, “…referencing visual strengths juxtaposed with the softness of girlish sentiments from yesteryears”, according to his promo material.
Models slunk, and sometimes clomped, down the runway in interesting, oversized footwear reminiscent of what might happen if you take some spray paint to granddad’s work boots. The gorgeous detailing of the garments did not go unnoticed.
Image Courtesy of VFW
The designer’s environmentally innovative Reversal of Fortune project is something else to admire along with the beautiful clothing – ROF’s objective is to create a moderately priced clothing line that can be produced by women in developing nations in accordance with high environmental and social standards. According to Hardy on the ROF website:
The idea is to take donated clothing from the Western world, and ‘recycle’ the items into moderate priced one-of-a-kind designs (donated clothing can be debilitating to the local economy, because there is no investment into local markets when handouts are so readily given). This collection will then be re-sold back to the Western world.
This is a thoughtful example of how we can shift globalized manufacturing processes to share wealth and opportunities rather than hoard them. Upcycling is an integral solution to North America’s rampant addiction to consumerism. It’s time to reconsider traditional top-down, North-South manufacturing processes and replace them with models that reflect our current state of affairs globally.
Starting out in Canada and now based in Bali, OrangOrang is another line that mixes fashion and social consciousness with impressive éclat; the name means people in Bhasa Indonesian, FYI. OrangOrang only employs fabrics that are certified organic and fairly traded; dyes are sourced regionally and are all natural and non-toxic.
Designer Catherine Charest wearing OrangOrang
OrangOrang's Linda McGrew
With ethnic-eclectic Batik prints and dyeing techniques on natural silks and organic cotton, OrangOrang’s latest collection Sea and Earth is nothing short of wearable yet effortlessly exotic. My favourites included this long-sleeved version of the Sera top and a simple, darkly dyed silk slip dress.
Image courtesy of VFW
Image courtesy of VFW
As if this wasn’t enough good news, this label with a conscience also spearheads a remarkable project to help alleviate social inequalities in local Indonesian communities. The OrangOrang Project is an example of how sustainable development can look on the ground.
Image courtesy of VFW
The project incorporates a human dimension into its operations, working with NGO Yayasan Kasih Peduli Anak (YKPA) to produce OrangOrang’s products. YKPA is an organization that assists street youth build stronger, healthier communities and build transferable skills while providing a safe environment and paying a fair wage.
Image courtesy of OrangOrang Project
Image courtesy of OrangOrang Project
By being directly involved in the community, OrangOrang helps build opportunities locally, developing small businesses and creating sustainable economies in rural areas. This translates into brighter futures for those touched by the project.
“The project isn’t about us! It’s about the countless women and young people in many developing countries who are never given a chance to break the cycle of poverty; whose governments are corrupt; whose medical and educational systems are non-existent - and coming up with a sustainable solution for them and their future.”
At really down-to-earth prices, this is some stylish merch you can truly feel good supporting; a percentage of OrangOrang’s sales also goes directly to the YKPA. We wholeheartedly agree with OrangOrang’s simple mantra: Real Beauty is Ethical.
