Eco-fashion has become mainstream, but this year’s graduate designers are pushing the concept further by combining social consciousness with cutting edge design.
The designers of tomorrow, converging at the London Graduate Fashion Week in Earls Court 2, reflect a new impetus across society to combine sustainability with practicality and style.
“At the moment, sustainability is the upcoming idea in fashion. But being sustainable is not always seen as trendy. It can be difficult to promote that idea,” says Rhiannon Bell, a graduate in fashion retail management.
The GFW, first launched in 1991, gathers together the very best graduate fashion design talent in the UK. From June 7 to 11, it stages a static exhibition showcasing the work of some 50 universities across 52 courses, and 21 university fashion shows. The products on display are final projects of the graduates. They aren't for sale
Miss Bell is promoting her green-living project at the exhibition, and explained some of the issues designers have to consider. “We know bamboo is a sustainable material, but it’s normally grown in China and needs to travel a long way to the UK. The best thing designers can do now will be recycling and re-using what’s already out there, to prevent things going to landfills.”
Some other students at the GFW turn to sustainable fashion because of their concerns about poor people’s welfare. Ayako Onikubo, 24, a graduate from Nottingham Trent University, says her interest in sustainable fashion derives from her interest in social care. “From learning about the Japanese homeless issue, I started to doubt the meaning of fashion. I want to extend fashion to poor, homeless or disabled people.” She designs her garments to be oversized and adjustable, so their shape can be adapted to individuals.
Her design, titled “Public Blue”, creatively combines blue plastics, which are used to build tents for the homeless in Japan, with knitted fabric. “Designing to convey a social message is very difficult. It took me a lot of time to think about showing my concept while presenting the clothes in an aesthetic way.”
Ethics in the fashion industry are a concern for young designers. Shahida Nazir, 18, is going to study fashion this September at University for the Creative Arts. She says: “I’ve been to India and seen people sewing and sweating. I hope I can help out in the future. But pricing is such a big problem for ethical fashion. People would rather go for cheaper things at Primark and don’t think about ethics.”
In June 2008, research commissioned by Fashioning an Ethical Industry (FEI) found that more than two thirds of fashion students want to make fashion more ethical when they enter the industry. “At this time of economic uncertainty, when fashion companies may squeeze suppliers and thus undermine workers’ rights, it is imperative for students to remain committed to playing a pioneering role in transforming the fashion industry in the long term,” says Hannah Higginson, joint project coordinator of FEI.
Many universities and colleges across the UK are integrating ethical issues into their courses, including London College of Fashion which has launched an MA in Environmental Fashion this year. According to FEI, 40 per cent of students now feel their tutors are actively engaging them in ethical issues, 20 per cent more than three years ago.
Dorota Watson, fashion lecturer at Ravensbourne College of Design and Communication, said that sustainable fashion is within their modules. “It’s a subtle theme that’s part of everything.” Ms Watson is optimistic about the prospect of sustainable fashion. “It depends on how it’s packaged. In the past we had bad pricing cases like hemp green jumpers that are not fashionable. But that has changed a lot.”
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