Eco Labelling

At a workshop today it was interesting to find these labels on garments. In order to communicate the origin of materials, processes of manufacture and history of a garment, alongside it's 'eco' qualitites, labelling will play a key role in providing this information. Companies such as Made-by (Track and Trace) and Patagonia (Footprint Chronicles) provide their customer with the opportunity to trace the journey of garments, and find out where our clothing comes from.

Rapanui is an eco fashion label passionate about eco labelling of clothing. You can read more information on their website.

Does your clothing label provide any interesting eco information?

Wash at 30 degrees

Fairtrade certified cotton

Recycled Polyester

UAL Green Week 2011

Green Week 2011 at University of the Arts London incorporated more events and involved more students than any previous Green Week. Events organised by the Students' Union and all colleges brought together many students and staff to raise awareness of campaigns and move forward ideas on all things 'Green' at UAL.

Including a CSM Pants to Poverty walk, the first Students' Union Create Late, Pecha Kucha presentations, sustainable sourcing by Chelsea canteen, the Launch of the new Sustainable Arts website plus an Estates Roadshow, green week was a great success.

The photographs below are taken from the first SU Create Late event  'Smells Like Green Spirit' at the UAL High Holborn Hub. With collaborators from Lush, Wholefoods, Rainforest Alliance, Environmental Justice Foundation and Urban Greenline, the Thursday night event was the highlight of the Green Week calendar.

UAL Green Week 2011

Plant Potting

Urban Green Line

Making facemasks with Lush

EJF Designer T-shirts

Rollapoluzo

Ethical Fashion in the Age of Austerity

Keep your FIRST THURSDAY evening in MARCH free!

For the first time ever, all three years of MA Fashion and the Environment students and graduates will join forces to exhibit work and promote the diversity of ideas and outcomes relating to sustainable fashion at this fantastic event to be held at the V&A Museum of Childhood in Bethnal Green.

The event on the evening (6pm-9pm) of Thursday 3rd March is free and brings many Ethical Fashion industry professionals together to communicate the importance of this growing area of fashion. Through workshops and talks, stalls and exhibits, come along to learn more, gain practical advice and develop hands-on skills with a group of lovely people who work hard to change current unethical practices and who really do make a difference.

Official Website HERE

Check Me Out

My very good friend, enthusiastic traveller and and talented designer-weaver Holly Pressdee is offering a new free design service through her blog Check Me Out

Simply email a favourite photograph of yourself  either in a memorable place, wearing a most loved outfit, or both to Holly and she'll create your own personalised check-design based on the colours and proportions in the photograph!

Holly has travelled to India with the Centre for Sustainable Fashion at the London College of Fashion as a designer for the Shared Talent India project.

Combining her love of weaving and sustainable fashion, Holly's work provides unique and personal connections between the wearer and woven cloth. For her final degree collection, Holly created four different woven tartan check designs that responded to four individuals, representing unique information such as birth dates, and using favourite colours and places to inspire the design. You can read more about Holly's final collection through her Chelsea College of Art and Design Showtime Profile - Check Holly Out!

Sustainable Arts at UAL

I have spent the last three weeks working hard on my first freelance project - the new University of the Arts London Sustainability website.

There are lots of great projects taking place throughout the university that focus on many elements relating to sustainability. From carbon emission reduction targets in estates, to research and curriculum development projects, serving local and organic food in the canteens to bee keeping on the balcony of the London College of Fashion, the new website is the first step in providing information about all these great projects to the wider body of staff, students and interested visitors!

The website represents the diversity of interpretations relating to sustainability around the university and highlights the work of staff members working hard to increase the sustainability reputation at UAL. The idea behind the site aims to encourage students and staff to get involved with current projects or set up their own. All projects, events and news will be updated via the site and it is a great first step for UAL to set a new standard in sustainable development within higher education.

All UAL need now is a newly appointed, dedicated member of staff to assume a full time position of Sustainability Project Officer...!

Showtime Profile

Showtime is a website hosting online portfolios of all graduates from all colleges within University of the Arts London.

These are:

London College of Fashion

Camberwell College of Art

Chelsea College of Art and Design

Wimbledon College of Art

London College of Communication

Central St Martins College of Art and Design

Students and their online portfolio can be found by searching for their name, course  or college through Showtime.

The cohort of MA graduates  2011 have just completed their studies and all current profiles are in the process of being updated in the run up to the exhibition and events throughout the first week of February.

http://showtime.arts.ac.uk/juliaroebuck

My research has explored the ways in which young people are educated about sustainable fashion and how they can learn skills and find inspiration to create, mend or alter their own clothing. By producing the student textbook and teacher resource guide I aim to raise awareness of the main environmental and ethical issues relating to the fashion and textiles industry. By connecting young people to how and where their clothing is made and the damage such production can cause, it is hoped our young generation will develop a more responsible, unique and creative approach fashion consumption.

TRAID: Primary School Workshops

Working in primary schools with the Recycle Fashion workshops with TRAID, I have been volunteering to help young people gain hands on experience with textiles and learning techniques to change the shape of the garments. I have included some photographs of the drawings from the workshops here as I find them appealing and quite funny sketches of clothing seen from a  childs point of view.

  

Atmosphere @ the Science Museum

Atmosphere is a new permanent exhibition on the 2nd floor of the WellcomeWing at the Science Museum, London. The exhibition opened in December 2010 and is an interactive and inviting rescource for visitors to learn more about the science behind climate change and greenhouse gases. The exhibition demonstrates a clear and informative approach to the ways in which science and technology are developing in order to document the changes to our planet and atmosphere. By mapping and logging such changes, we are able to more accurately predict the effects an increase in carbon emissions will have on the planet. 

Exhibition Promotion

Science and Technology are also crucial for us to develop solutions and provide opportunities to reduce our impact on the planet - not just through carbon emissions but also by reducing waste and pollution. I would highly recommend this exhibition to everyone as it is a great example of environmental communication. It raises awareness of the issues whilst also inspiring and reminding us of the urgent need to discover and invent new, improved, more responsible ways of living.

Carbon Cycle Installation

Atmosphere Exhibition Introduction

Exhibition Layout

Global Warming Exhibit

The Exhibition

BBC Blast Fashion @ the V&A

The BBC Blast Fashion Festival was held at the V&A museum on the 2nd October 2010. Bringing together over 1000 young people at the Sackler Centre, the day was filled with free fashion workshops and lectures.


I was facilitating the fashion recycling workshop along with two other great fashion recyclers from Beyond Retro. The recycling workshop and the day in general was a huge success, and I was grateful to be given the work experience opportunity by the BBC Blast team to plan, promote and help to manage the event.


From  pom pom and ruff making to assisting young people with their own projects or school work, the BBC Blast Fashion Festival was only available to young people aged 13-19. This was great research for my MA project and it is a shame that BBC Blast has been cut and thier fantastic work has come to an end. The website is still online, although no further content will be added in the future. I hope many more young people can continue to be inspired by the great BBC Blast online platform archive and continue to attend other events and workshops to further their creative talents and develop hands on, practical skills.

Sustainable Fashion: A Student Guide

Cover Page

Contents Page

Chapter Two heading

Sample Pages - Retail

Education Workshops - In Schools

A few images from my MA research - working with young people in schools to promote the values of sustainable fashion and the importance of learning where our clothing and accessories come from. Focusing on the end-of-life scenarios for clothing enables young people to gain hands on experience of upcycling. Encouraging young people to explore the ways in which clothing can be transformed and manipulated into other shapes provides skills that are transferable to other clothing items and can be passed on to friends and family.

 

Junk: Sustainable Fashion in Manchester

A visit over the Chrismas holiday to Manchester led to the fantastic shop that is Junk: Sustainable Fashion Made in Manchester. Junk sells vintage clothing and small collections made or upcycled by local designers. The shop layout was quirky and inviting, with lots of unusual and interesting objects and garments to see and buy. My friend bought a leather jacket that, with a few adjustments by the machine technician at Manchester University, would become a perfect fit for only £35.

'Junk is more than just a retail space, it's a place to imagine and create' (www.junkshopuk.com)

'It ain't refuse if you re-use'

Another great aspect of the Junk shop concept is that they offer workshops and sewing classes to encourage the community to make, remake or alter their own clothing. The Fashion Courses at 'School of Junk' can be found on their website Junk Website and up to date info can also be found on their twitter account. In my opinion they are 100% worthy of their recent title of 'Best Independent Shop in Manchester' - next time you're in the centre of Manchester Junk is definately worth a visit!

Living and Giving Primrose Hill

The new Mary 'Queen of Shops' Living and Giving shop for Save the Children in Primrose Hill is gorgeous! The shop was previously inhabited by the fabrics and business of Ian Mankin, a natural and organic fabric shop, selling fabrics woven in Lancashire, where I still work part time (now relocated to expand our other shop in Fulham).

The transformation of the shop is stunning and I was amazed to see the fantastic change that has been created.

Well worth a visit: 109 Regents Park Road, London.

Euro News: London College of Fashion

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=08oNWdnTjuI

Chris Huhne at LSE

The Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change Chris Huhne MP spoke yesterday at LSE about the new Green Deal. The talk was chaired by Eric Neumayer - Head of Department for Geography and the Environment at LSE.

Chris Huhne was speaking about the Green Economy and also the 3rd Industrial Revolution that will support an economy 'built to last'. The Green Deal will support 'jobs, investment, technology, a skilled workforce and further innovation' and an economy prone to fewer ups and downs with green energy providing the backbone of the revolution.

To nurture new industries through innovation in clean energy and to develop the UK's energy independence through low carbon goods and services. The Green Deal has set itself the target to support 1 million Green Jobs by 2015 by taking the lead in off shore wind and carbon capture technology with other renewable energy supplies and nuclear also having a role to play.

As we move ahead to a low carbon future, Chris was positive that 'the next generation's prosperity will come from green energy'. 

Due to the 'chronic inefficiency' throughout homes in the UK, the Green Deal does not leave out our houses, aiming to 'futureproof' the homes in need of eco-improvements. With further green jobs created through the assessment, installation and construction of further green housing, along with boilers and insulation I really hope the Green Deal works as well as Mr Huhne suggested.

This is sure to improve our current rating of 25th (out of 27 countries in Europe) for our dependence on renewable energy sources. Shocking!

Made Not Manufactured

 

This was one of the posters towards the end of 2010 at the Origins craft fair in Spitalfields Market. It made me smile, and I love the label 'Made Not Manufactured'. Appreciation of materials, skills, quality and craftmanship are implied through the 'made'.

Kilburn OxJam: Fashion Show

Oxfam's music and fashion fundraiser, OxJam, organise events throughout the country, and on Friday 8th October I submitted an upcycled outfit to be shown as part of the fashion show.

The design brief was to select garments from an Oxfam store (spending a maximum of £15) and upcycle them into a fabulous outfit to be shown at the OxJam event.  I visited the Camden Oxfam DIY store and, inspired by the promotion of pink products from Wednesday's Breast Cancer Care Show, I selected a pink outfit: Leggings (Diesel) and Hoody (H&M) to create my October Breast Cancer Awareness upcycled outfit.

I deconstructed the hoody and leggings and used design features of both garments to inspire the upcycle outfit. I used the zip and the ribbing from the hoody in the dress and turned the hood inside out before reattaching it to the jacket. Modelled here by the lovely Georgia who did a great job at making it look even better than I had imagined on the catwalk!

As well as the fashion show, music was performed by Hawa Power and I Love Zagreb - both talented acts that provided a great accompaniment to the fashion show. Also showing an outfit at the OxJam show: Francesca Warren (whose garment is the black dress above) who is a graduate from the CSM Textile Futures MA. Her work and new label UnButton focuses on reuse and zero waste and you can find more information about her great ideas  HERE!

OCTOBER - Breast Cancer Care Awareness Month

It was a very emotional but also exciting day on Wednesday 6th October - photographing the models backstage at the annual Breast Cancer Care fundraising event at Grovesnor House Hotel. The models are all breast cancer survivors and had a great day modelling fabulous outfits on the catwalk to raise money for a great and essential cause. The best photographs were taken on the big fancy camera and are now in the good hands of Breast Cancer Care, but I also managed to snap away on the blog camera!

The models arrived early at Grovesnor House and were treated to a full hair and make up makeover. There were 20 models all together, so it took most of the morning to get everyone through the fantastic Estee Lauder make up artists and Sassoon hair team. These photos are taken backstage at the dress rehersal and afternoon BCC Show.

 All the outfits had been decided proir to the event, and the models were comfortable  in their selection and also looked AMAZING! Clothes had been donated by everyone from John Lewis to Jaeger, and were split into eight themes.

My favourite of all themes: the Evening Ballgown collection - each model wore a stunning evening gown and for this outfit only was walked down the catwalk by a professional male model.

The fundraiser was a huge success and I greatly enjoyed getting to know the models and being able to capture the excitement and glamour of the day.

For more information on Breast Cancer Care click here

Timberland - Nature needs Heroes