The sustainability event series at Foundry continued by diving into the world of fashion.
The fashion industry with its trend towards fast fashion has become a concern to a growing number of people. After all, we are all part of it by simply wearing clothes every day. We decided to bring together some passionate sustainable fashion professionals to discuss this topic and most importantly to showcase that fashion, when done right, can be responsible and sustainable.
The event on the 18th of September sold out and the Foundry event space was filled with an excited crowd eager to learn about how to be more sustainable in our every-day choices on clothes.
Two experts with passionate views on the subject approached the subject from different perspectives: Stylianee Parasha, initiator of Fashion Revolution Luxembourg, talked about the ethics of fashion industry and gave some practical tips on how to be more sustainable. On the business side of things, London-based Ishwari Thopte, manager of the Centre for Fashion Enterprise - fashion-tech incubator – gave forward thinking examples of new innovations she has been working with; businesses that are yet to hit the mainstream market that show how technology can bring sustainability to fashion.
The event’s discussions concluded, that there are many ways of being more sustainable in our every-day choices of clothing. The most sustainable piece of clothing is inevitably the one you already have in your wardrobe - but on the other hand, we cannot avoid purchasing completely. In terms of buying clothes, the best advice is to “buy less, choose well and make it last”, meaning that we should all take responsibility for making an ethical and ecological choice of materials and production - and then take care of the clothes, repair instead of replace and re-wear.
To showcase the offering of responsible choices, Foundry also opened its doors to 10 sustainable fashion brands; designers and resellers, who presented a variety of clothing, shoes, accessories and beauty products. The garage sales was buzzing and visitors were excited to learn about the products and learn the stories behind the brands. There’s clearly a broad selection of responsible choices available also in Luxembourg!
The evening was crowned with a fashion show organised by three local businesses: Hels1nk1 and Secondhand4sale, together with the stylist StylizedU – the collaboration brought together a broad variety of sustainable brands. In total, the audience saw 25 outfits presented by fashion bloggers and instagram influencers, that truly rocked the stage.
All in all, the event proved that both in terms of the topic and the clothing itself - Sustainable Fashion is hot.
Check out the video of the event by Dominika Montonen-Koivisto:
Irene Mäkelä is Foundry and MasonBower’s Project Leader. She’s responsible for the overall coordination and implementation of projects related to go-to-market strategies, market growth and branding, but also working closely on our sustainability events.