Last week, our client the London Sustainable Development Commission hosted an event together with the Centre for Sustainable Fashion (of the London College of Fashion). It was an event at City Hall to announce the winners of a major international student competition, called ‘Fashioning the Future’. The Epoch team was there in force, meeting both the students and speakers to discuss with them the importance of sustainability in fashion. The aim of the competition was to present fashion opportunities for the future, bringing together creative new minds and fresh talent, which it certainly did. The awards proved thought provoking and inspirational, as students received prizes for their innovative designs, which aim to reduce waste and encourage ingenuity in the fashion industry. Speakers included the Centre for Sustainable Fashion Ambassador Jo Wood (yes we met her, and yes she was lovely!) and BBC 1 One Show presenter Lucy Siegel.
The primary theme of the evening was water, and some shocking information was presented by Lucy Siegel about the enormous volume used in the production of clothes. We discovered that the fashion industry is second only to agriculture in terms of water consumption, with the UK textiles industry producing 70 million tonnes of waste water per year, a shocking statistic when one considers that 4000 children die from water related diseases daily. The event certainly highlighted the necessity of cutting down on consumption – apparently washing at 30 degrees just won’t cut it...
The winning entries demonstrated that fashion can in fact balance sustainability and aesthetics. My favourite entries were those by Miriam Rhida, who won the award for Design for a Thriving Fashion Industry with her beautiful pieces made of handcrafted satin hemp, and On Ying who came up with the unusual idea of creating dresses from old flags. These were truly stunning pieces, with a great deal of character and aimed to demonstrate that there is no need for waste in the production of garments; at present about 15% of fabric is discarded during the production stages.
The evening was completed by the spectacular location, which provided an outstanding view of the London skyline. In our small frocks and heels, it was too cold to venture onto the balcony but the venue proved to be the most relevant place to hold the awards, as it is fitted with solar panels and designed to be energy efficient. The whole event it seems was a testament to the efforts London as a city is making to become more sustainable, and the importance of maintaining the planet for the future.