Strike A Pose: Eco Fashion Week Is Set To Hit Vancouver
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Hold on to your recycled hat: Anticipation is sizzling for the lights, sounds and styles of the Vancouver’s Eco Fashion Week event.
The three-day event will take place at the city’s SFU Woodward’s, Fairmont Waterfront and Holt Renfrew store from April 27 to 29.
The 8th Eco Fashion Week will focus on global and luxury retailers’ level of social and environmental responsibility.
H&M’s first appearance at Eco Fashion Week will take place at SFU Woodward’s on April 27. Pierre Börjesson, H&M’s Senior Sustainability Specialist, will speak about the company’s Garment Collecting Initiative, a global initiative that encourages customers to take unwanted garments of any brand and in any condition to H&M stores to be given a new life.
As EFW’s Keynote Speaker, Börjesson will be joined by Vancouver designer Jason Matlo, Maureen Dickson of Slow Fashion Forward and Value Village Chief Marketing Officer Karin Koonings.
EFW’s seminars will use an interactive approach to empower fashion professionals and the public by opening up a discussion and offering solutions to shift the apparel and textile industries towards more responsible practices.
The Thrift Chic Challenge & the 68 Pound Challenge will be presented by Value Village at the Fairmont Waterfront on April 28. Value Village is returning to EFW to present the fifth edition of the Thrift Chic Challenge - a trend-focused event where three stylists are given a $500 allowance to create ten runway-worthy outfits using only gently-used clothing from Value Village.
For the first time this year, local stylists have had the opportunity to submit their portfolios to Eco Fashion Week to win one of the three designer Thrift Chic Challenge spots. Lauren Clark and Lyndsey Chow of Hey Jude and Jerome Insorio and Ghazal Elhaei made the cut.
Young Oak designer Tammy Joe is the new talent behind Value Village’s 68 Pound Challenge. 68 pounds is the weight of the amount of clothing and textiles the average North American throws away each year, which serves as the inspiration for this fashion challenge - creating a brand new fashion-forward collection from 68 pounds of reworked clothing from Value Village.
Charity Shopping Night at Holt Renfrew will feature a new H Project showcase and fashion show by Obakki on April 29. Curated by Alexandra Weston, Director of Brand Strategy, who will also be in Vancouver for the event to speak about H Project’s newest concept “Uncrate India”, a portion of the night’s proceeds will go to The Obakki Foundation, an organization that focuses on providing clean water and education in Africa.
Fashionistas will also have the chance to see an exhibition by Lucida Lab, which features local artists tackling the issues of waste and the environment. In conjunction with EFW’s 68 Pound Challenge, artists Stephanie Jonsson, Emily Neufeld, Katherine Nielsen, Bec Wonders, Ines Ortner, Hailey McCloskey and Lloyd Stone have each responded with their own representation of 68 Pounds made from industrial waste from EFW sponsor Ecowaste.