Berlin Fashion Week has a reputation for being one of the greenest around, with a strong, ongoing commitment to eco and sustainable fashion. In fact, it is often regarded as the major European platform for fairly produced fashions. Each Fashion Week, there are a number of dedicated eco fashion events as part of the program. We look at some of the highlights from this year’s event, which was held from 2-7 July.
1. Showfloor Berlin
Showfloor Berlin has taken place every six months since 2009. This year, it returned to its traditional summer location, KOSMOS BERLIN at Karl-Marx-Alle, a historically preserved cinema in East Berlin. The event itself played host to 16 collections with a range of individually designed shows, with each label bringing its own unique approach to responsible production methods. Interestingly, on 3 July, the showroom runway showcased innovative avant-garde designs from Portugal, as part of a partnership arrangement with the Portuguese Embassy. It proudly presented the well known avant-garde fashion labels Dino Alves, V!tor, and “Os Burgueses” from Lisbon. Some of the big local names which were part of the showcase included ANSOHO, Ellen Eisemann and AUGUST. Showfloor Berlin is particularly unique as it is open to the public and extremely accessible to fashion lovers.
2. GREENShowroom
The GREENShowroom is traditionally a very unconventional trade fair and this time proved to be no different, as it presented the high-end trends for 2014 in quirky and unusual ways. Approaching its 10th season, Berlin’s Adlon Hotel was the backdrop for the event which caters mainly to trade and business professionals. This July, the focus was very much on avant-garde with innovative German labels Aleks Kurkowski, Cocccon and Katharina Kaiser, among the selections. This year, the event also welcomed French label Johanna Riplinger, which is known for turning high-end fabrics into modern business styles. Also debuting at GreenShowroom this year were the three finalists from the Humanity in Fashion Award. To start the show, a Salonshow event was held on 2 July, showing 54 looks from 20 of the participating brands. Some of the trends predicted for next summer include bright, beautiful pops and relaxed knitwear.
3. Ethical Fashion Show
The Ethical Fashion Show is a highlight of Berlin Fashion Week and showcases international labels, which presented spring/summer 2014 collections across innovative street and casual wear. The fashion show itself is complemented by panel discussions and educational seminars to highlight the ethics behind the designs. This year, the focus was firmly on social standards in the manufacturing process and transparency of the supply chain. After a successful start at Berlin Fashion Week in January 2013, the Knowledge Lounge initiative continued this season, which is a seminar series on eco fashion issues. This time around, the Fair Wear Foundation invited people to attend the premiere of its WellMade seminar series, where they threw a spotlight on the clothing industry’s social standards and provided hands on expertise and solutions for improvement of related working conditions. The Ethical Fashion Show Berlin also hosted a Create Green Breakfast with a focus on Innovative Sales Concepts, which featured keynote speakers Orsola de Castro and Filippo Ricci.
Images: Ethical Fashion Show Berlin, dpa, Schroder and Schombs PR , GreenShowroom
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