Are you excited about moving towards a more sustainable way of looking at fashion? This special Festival feature will showcase clothing designers that produce and promote sustainability through their craft and practice.
This special Festival event will incorporate many aspects of sustainability within the clothing industry. Come along to this exciting performance and showcase.
Designers Include:
Mücke:
MüCKE design products within a system that acts to foster positive change. A design sensibility acting to nurture healthy biological and social systems. MüCKE clothing and accessories are created from pre-loved garments and produced under recognised ethical standards. Each new item is carefully produced by hand and has a focus on quality design and manufacture. MüCKE, stocked locally, is also working with donated raw materials from the Brotherhood of Saint Laurence to supply products to their Hunter Gatherer stores.
MüCKE aims to continue growing and bettering our practices in sustainable design. The goal is to encourage and facilitate harmony between people and the environment in which they live.
EcoGirl
At Ecogirl, our vision is to be planet and style conscious. Yes, we can have both! All of our clothing is fair trade, which means that fair labour prices are paid and there is no slave or child labour – as we have seen with many large clothing manufacturers over the years. Many of our garments are made with certified organic cotton, silk and hemp, so there is: No genetic engineering, No pesticides, insecticides, and other chemicals that destroy our planet, Azo-free dyes. It is important to us to promote ethical business practices and we have chosen to use all environmentally friendly options that are available to us: All packaging is 100% recycled/biodegradable. Energy is purchased from renewable resources. We run a paper-free office. We purchase carbon offsets for any airplane travel. We are planning a hybrid car fleet for our
Lao Silk and Craft
Natural, beautiful silks, fair trade, handcraft, brighter future are central to Lao Silk & Craft’s design label ‘Mulberries’. Our social enterprise is involved in the traditional community art of silk farming and weaving. Our Lao Cooperative aims to advance an ecological silk industry that is economical, cultural and socially sustainable. ‘Mulberries’ silk products are crafted from 100% organic silk fibres, using natural plant dyes, and hand woven textiles. Our unique linen textured and fine quality silk textiles are styled into traditional and contemporary clothing and accessories. Our sericulture production cycle aims to reduce waste and the use of non-biodegradable products by demonstrating to villagers the economic and ecological benefits of using organic fertilizers and natural pesticides. Our permaculture, interdependent silk farming systems means we can use all bi-products produced in the creation of silk products. The cycle begins with using animal manure to fertilize mulberry trees, to processing the waste from the silk cocoon to produce insulation fibres for our quilts, to creating and weaving design patterns that reduce fabric waste. Our training programs in silk farming, weaving and marketing offer rural youth alternative employment to opium cultivation, slash and burn farming, urban migration and the risk of exposure to sex trade and degrading labour conditions. We encourage the cultural practice of creating natural dyes over imported synthetic dyes. Silk farming and weaving project helps maintain the social fabric of rural communities and passes on our traditional skills and cultural heritage. Our farmer and weaver price agreements are underscored by fair trade principles. ‘Mulberries’ silks products are certified by JETRO Japan’s external trade organisation standards for natural fibres.
ethiCool
ethiCooL is a clothing label that aims to provide consumers with the choice. The choice to support people who are working hard against the odds to change their future. The choice not to support sweat shop labour and horrendous working conditions. ethiCooL clothing and accessories are funky and up to date. They also respect the traditions of different cultural communities and use native techniques and designs for their products. ethiCooL aims to blend ethnic uniqueness with western needs and purpose. Cotton t-shirts are made entirely in Africa, aiming to reduce global debt through trade. Silk scarves and cotton smock dresses come from a small group of artisans choosing to move away from factories and build their own business. Cotton shopping bags from fair trade cotton. Wallets, purses, bags all made by different tribes in Thailand under fair trade conditions. Vietnamese silk accessories made to perfection under fair working conditions and supporting the development of skills for people with disabilites
Qualitops
Qualitops Pty. Ltd. is a private Australian company manufacturing sportswear for over 25 years. The company started in 1978 in Richmond and in 1986 moved it's operation to a bigger and better location in Collingwood to meet the market and it's client demands. All garments produced and sold through our 'Wholesale' and 'Retail' channels are manufactured 'In House' on our premises by our team of over 30 staff. Since 2001, Qualitops has become an accredited manufacturer under th to effectively produce high quality garments that are alwayse 'Homeworkers' code of practice and is entitled the use of the 'No Sweatshop' label. Qualitops is proud of it's fundamentals delivered with utmost priority and customer service.
Etiko
Etiko Fair Trade the brand behind this county’s only range of sports gear to be certified Fairtrade and sustainable is now venturing into the fashion arena. Their recently released sneakers have been rapidly embraced by those wanting to ‘walk the talk’. On the surface they simply look like a rip-off of a well known brand that is actually owned by a much, much larger well known brand …but they are much more than that.The soles are made from pure natural latex rubber which has been certified sustainable by the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC). The sneaker has been put together in an accredited Fairtrade factory. Furthermore, a fairtrade premium which is paid by Etiko Fairtrade is used to help a micro credit projects as well as health care and development programs in Asia. Etiko’s shirt range has been produced by a Worker Owned Co-operative in Argentina. After years of working for a fraction of their legal wages these workers took advantage of the economic meltdown in their country to take over the factory. It now operates as a fair trade collective for the benefit of all the workers. In March Etiko will be releasing a range of t-shirts made from cotton which has been certified organic by SKOL and Fairtrade by FLO.
XS Projects
Each one of our handmade one-of-a-kind products is manufactured using consumer waste. XSProject started as an artist's expression against the impact of consumerism on the environment. It evolved into a foundation which uses design & education to clean up the environment and help Indonesia’s poor. We purchase waste packaging from trashpickers who collect it from residential areas of Jakarta, Indonesia. We provide sustainable employment to our craftspeople, making products using the cleaned waste plastic packaging material. Maximize the amount of waste we can collect and use, diverting it from polluting the environment. At XSProject, our goals are to: Maximize the creation of sustainable livelihoods.Assist trashpickers in raising their living standards. We are constantly refining our production processes to ensure the highest international standards in hygiene, quality and productivity. We experiment with newer, more complex designs, while exploring further the inherent properties of different packaging materials.