C.L.A.S.S. founder Giusy Bettoni is educating the next generation of sustainable designers and entrepreneurs this week in NYC with a packed program that includes workshops on the latest in sustainable fabrics and natural dyes, to an eco-scavenger hunt through New York City’s garment district.

Fashion Institute of Technology is hosting Connecting the Dots, a forward-thinking three-day symposium for business owners, industry workers and students to learn about the positive impacts of taking a more sustainable design approach to the fashion, beauty, and health industries.

Beginning Wednesday, July 10, the event includes 

workshops, demonstrations, panels, an eco-fashion show, and a sustainable fashion tour around Manhattan. “I am very excited that we are able to offer 3 days of events around sustainable fashion, health and beauty,” said Christine Helm, Director of the Enterprise Center at FIT, “We are building on the excitement, exchange of ideas and knowledge that we started with last year’s event.”

In addition to running a textile, fashion, home and design business, Bettoni (left) is also the Green Carpet Challenge’s (founded by Livia Firth, right) go-to woman. (Image: FIT )

Milan-based Giusy Bettoni, cofounder of C.L.A.S.S., an international eco-platform that promotes environmentally friendly products and Livia Firth’s co-collaborator on the Green Carpet Challenge, will provide the keynote address entitled, “Welcome to the Third Dimension, Where Design and Innovation Meet Responsibility.”

We caught up with Bettoni to learn more about sustainable design:

Rowena Ritchie: What do you want people to know about the fashion, home and design products they currently buy? 

Giusy Bettoni: I believe it would be absolutely great for them to discover the majority of products they desire are not just performing from a design and functional perspective, but also from an environmental level which is incredibly low.

RR: Can you tell us about what led you to set up C.L.A.S.S. and how your organization creates more environmentally friendly products for the fashion, home and design industries? 

GB: I have a 30 year-long background in raw materials, fibers, yarns and fabrics. My goal was to turn them into something beautiful, precious, innovative and most importantly, eco-friendly. I founded C.L.A.S.S. to concretely prove that these new horizons of sustainable fashion textiles are not just possible, but actually represent a new step in the value chain. We have now created  “ecolibraries“ where brands and designers can source new, high-tech and responsible materials coming from natural, organic, recycled and renewable resources—each fabric meets our criteria of design, innovation and responsible certification.

The missing ingredient in today’s design world is products that are designed responsibly. There’s real added value and competitive market advantage available to us by promoting these qualities to the consumers; that’s the other dimension I’ll be discussing at the symposium.

RR: Why are educational events like FIT’s symposium so important?

GB: Sharing information and experiences is key to this new way of working with textiles. Education is so important. It’s what C.L.A.S.S. is really all about. We are really pleased and honored to be invited by FIT to be part of this symposium, and will do our best to disseminate what we have learned in the last years. I truly believe sharing and networking is the key to this movement’s success.

RR: Do you think there is a difference in the way eco-friendly fashion is received by consumers in Europe versus the U.S?

GB: Each country has his own lifestyle and culture, but I have to admit that the perception of eco-friendly fashion is quite the same everywhere and the perception is not as good, unfortunately. That is why a symposium like this one is so vital.  We need to show that responsible innovation in fashion creates a competitive business advantage, and not just a nice story.

RR: Tell us about your latest project with Livia Firth’s Green Carpet Challenge?

GB: The Green Carpet Challenge is a fantastic exercise, and we are always working at something special… I cannot go into detail now as it is early days, but I can say we are preparing something amazing for the next London Fashion Week!

 To learn more about Connecting the Dots: A Sustainable Fashion, Health and Beauty Symposium or to register for the event, click here, or call (212) 217-4000. 



Top Image: courtesy C.L.A.S.S.

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The Copenhagen Fashion Summit for 2012 tackles the future of sustainable fashion.

With initiatives aplenty directed at minimizing the impact of the fashion industry and to making it more sustainable, what is needed is probably a truly official and international effort to bring the most relevant ones together, and give them global resonance. Enter the Copenhagen Fashion Summit, a one-day event filled with the most prominent and prolific movers and shakers gathering to exchange knowledge and plans of action.

The outcome of the event was the actual presentation of a major initiative, highlighting a growing commitment of government bodies and major industry players alike, towards the creation of a truly sustainable future for fashion. The Copenhagen Fashion Summit was the platform for the launch of the first-ever sector-specific global initiative, the NICE Code of Conduct and Manual, under the Global Compact Programme.

NICE stands for Nordic Initiative Clean and Ethical, a joint commitment by the Nordic Fashion Association and its partners, to take a lead on social and environmental issues.
NICE has worked to create a framework for engaging consumers in sustainable consumption of fashion, which was recently handed over to the Danish EU Presidency and the European Commission. The framework will also be presented at the UN conference Rio+20 negotiations in June.

The Code of Conduct was developed as a multi-stakeholder effort, developed in close consultation with industry representatives, and the UN Global Compact Office. The objective? To take inspiration from the Compact Office’s 10 principles, but to also integrate them with more sector-specific content. The result is a 16-principle document that aims to assist fashion and textile manufacturers to ensure continuous improvement toward ethical and sustainable practices – a milestone in the evolvement of the future fashion industry that many want to see.

But what’s also remarkable and innovative about the NICE initiative, is that it doesn’t only address major industry players in a closed-loop, industry-only discourse. Mainly, it aims to highlight the consumer’s key role, and strives to create guidelines for the industry to educate the users towards a more responsible consumption of fashion.

This issue was indeed the subject of a Pre-Summit, which took place on May 2nd, ahead of the main event. Around 100 professionals, already involved with creating a better future for fashion, were invited to create an interactive workshop, going by the tagline of “Breathing Life into the NICE Consumer.”

Cody Sisco, BSR

The two-fold purpose for the gathering was to discuss NICE’s “Framework for achieving sustainable fashion consumption through collaboration,” as well as to devise practical ways to put the framework into action, by integrating suggestions from summit participant.

The subject of the relationship between industry and the consumer was approached from a multitude of angles. From designing for sustainable consumption, to engagement with consumers on responsible care and disposal of garments, and from awareness raising and consumer education to business model innovation. Facilitators such as Anne Prahl of WGSN, Holly Dublin of PPR (the holding behind major brands such as Stella McCartney and Puma), Allanna McAspurn of Made-By, Johan Ward of H&M, Orsola De Castro of From Somewhere, Kate Fletcher, author of Slow Fashion, Giordano Capuano of Vivienne Westwood and Lucy Siegle of The Guardian, among others.

But then again, the true impact of the event could truly be felt on the main day of the conference. Held at the beautiful venue of the Copenhagen Opera House, this saw more than a thousand industry and press attend, from 27 different countries.
And the line-up of speakers was utterly impressive – in NICE’s own words: “from Gucci to Greenpeace.” Once again, a wide range of perspectives were presented, from the luxury industry to the mass market, from trend analysis to statistics, from the next designer generation to NGO and policy level.

Certainly a nice touch and a breath of hope were brought on stage by the 100 students that took part in the Youth Summit. Arriving from 16 European design and business schools, they drew up a range of specific demands and recommendations on what the fashion leaders should be doing now to shape the industry they will one day be taking over. It was a moment which felt very true, with the students remarks sounding very aware and not at all naïve in their vision of the future.

After such an intense day, a touch of real fashion glamor was added to conclude the day in style, with a proper catwalk show, which was held outdoors, in front of the Opera House.
Naturally, a lot of thought had been put into this moment too. Not just a generic runway show, but one generated from a Design Challenge thrown at 15 Nordic fashion houses, whose test was to demonstrate once more what standards can be achieved through the use of sustainable textiles. And prove it they did.
The designers were provided with the highest quality fabrics by C.L.A.S.S. (Creativity, Lifestyle and Sustainable Synergy), the leading platform for sustainable textile sourcing and innovation, which promote materials such as Ingeo and Newlife (the new patent  recently used by Giorgio Armani to produce the Oscars gown for Livia Firth to wear during her ongoing Green Carpet Challenge, now in its third year).

designers were also allowed to incorporate cut-offs, leftover and recycled fabrics in their creations. The result was a truly creative catwalk, which would have been perfectly apt for any of the major international fashion weeks.
The challenge was won by Susanne Rützou, and the prize presented to her by supermodel Erin O’Connor, who graced the catwalk with her understated presence, and reaffirmed her support for a sustainable fashion industry.

Here are some of our favorite looks from the runway:

Baum und Pferdgarten

Hanna Petursdottir

Nanso

Ivana Helsinki

Marimekko

Mika Modiggård

Asta Creative Clothing

Nolan

Camilla Norrback

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Livia Firth designs her first piece of sustainable jewelry and teams up with C.L.A.S.S. to create a fabric library.

We’ve been thrilled to follow Livia Firth, Creative Director of Eco Age and wife of Oscar-winning actor Colin Firth, as she has brought sustainability thinking onto the red carpets for a few awards seasons now. Her Green Carpet Challenge started out as a personal project, where she chronicled her conscious gown choices on her Vogue UK blog, but has garnered significant attention lately as Firth has managed to recruit some serious star-power.

Meryl Streep teamed up with Lanvin to create a golden gown made from eco certified fabric, Tom Ford created a gorgeous v-neck cocktail gown for Julianne Moore using vintage velvet and, for the BAFTAs, Viola Davis wore the first-ever eco Valentino gown.

For the Oscars this year, Livia Firth herself worked with Valentino’s studio to create a stunning red gown made from post-consumer recycled PET. Mr. Firth, who has done his fair share of green carpet challenges, played the recycling card and wore the same Tom Ford tuxedo he donned while accepting his Oscar for The King’s Speech.

It’s great seeing Firth challenging A-listers to dress consciously on the red carpet to make it a little more green. To make this easier for her fellow award show attendees, she recently teamed up with sustainable fabric guru Giusy Bettoni’s global network C.L.A.S.S. (Creativity Lifestyle and Sustainable Synergy) to start the first Green Carpet Challenge Fabric Library. Designers and their celebrity clients can use this resource to find more sustainable fabric options, making the entire process of creating a green carpet gown much easier.

“We will offer the great designers who work with us a host of exciting ethical fibers and ideas and continue to push the boundaries of world class aesthetics with ethics,” says Firth.

What is really great about this new venture is that the Green Carpet Challenge Fabric Library will include offerings far beyond the typical eco staples like hemp and organic cotton. There are ethical and sustainable alternatives for a whole spectrum of materials, from wool, silk cashmere, cotton, linen, hemp, vegetable tanned and dyed leather to recycled polyester (eg. Newlife®), recycled polyamide, cashmere, cotton, denim and wool (eg. Cardato Regenerated).

“I have known and enjoyed working with Giusy of C.L.A.S.S. for a number of years,” Firth says. “Bringing together her unparalleled knowledge of sustainable fabrics with the GCC’s continued mission to increase the profile and the possibilities of sustainable style makes huge sense.”

We could not agree more.

Firth also recently launched her own eponymous eco-friendly fashion label, Livia Firth Design (LFD). This collection will feature a small line of luxury clothes and accessories designed by Mrs. Firth herself. Pieces are all produced with “love, fair trade rules and environmental standards in mind.”

The first piece from the collection to be released is a limited edition skull necklace. This necklace is Liva Firth Design’s first piece and it’s been made with sound manufacturing ethics in mind. The bronze used is made in the U.S. – in a solar powered factory – and is then sent to a jewelry-making co-operative in Devon in Southwestern England. There, the skulls are hand-crafted using the lost wax casting technique, a process developed by the Ancient Egyptians over 4000 years ago which involves covering a clay work of art in molten wax and allowing it to harden before covering it in a substance called “grog” to create a mold. The hot molten bronze melts the wax when it is poured in and a bronze sculpture is the result. Each of the four skulls on this necklace has been handcrafted in this manner, by artisan workers who are keeping age-old traditions alive.

The necklace is exclusive to Eco Age and features four handcrafted skulls on an unconnected chain, meaning that the necklace can be worn in a variety of ways (which Livia demonstrates in a the video clip below) and you can mix it up as you wish, wrapping it around your wrist or upper arm, or wearing it as a choker or pendant, depending on your mood and occasion. Intricately made with strength, playfulness and rebellion at its core, this necklace is guaranteed to bring an exciting edge to any outfit.

“LFD has at its heart simplicity and glamour and a little bit of playfulness, which should always be part of our life.” said Firth.

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I first met Bahar Shahpar around three years ago in a noisy corner café in Manhattan. Because we could barely hear each other, all we did was laugh. I remember she was wearing long bloomers made out of a golden, metallic fabric. She was thinking of moving forward with a new line, even more sustainable than her line called Agricult, which was inspired by the American frontier.

I just thought her bloomers were rad.

In spring 2007, Bahar launched an eponymous line that leaned more toward an internal aesthetic where beauty and functionality were just as important as artistic value. Her collections since continue to inspire, garnering attention in publications like Women’s Wear Daily, Lucky and Elle.

In addition to being the co-founder and fellow designer of New York City’s The Four Hundred showroom, Bahar has always taken eco-design a step further, hence her press. The Four Hundred, dedicated to high-end sustainable designers and socially conscious business practices, has proven that from concept to manufacture there are greener pastures to explore. Here’s what Bahar has to say about eco fashion.

What got you into eco-design?

Bahar: I’ve worked in fashion for over a decade, and I’ve always had an affinity for working with natural raw materials. As an accessory designer, I worked with a lot of vintage leather and fur and found objects, so when I started my first clothing line about 4 years ago and was looking for larger quantity production materials, I gravitated towards fibers like hemp, silk, cotton, and linen. I began doing research into these fiber crops as well as the overall processing used in the textile industry, and I quickly discovered how toxic, wasteful and destructive conventional farming and manufacturing can be. At the time, there were very few alternatives to conventional materials, so I embraced the challenge of proving that you can, in fact, manufacture products responsibly without sacrificing style or quality.

What are some of the environmental groups you belong to?

Bahar: I co-produce the annual Project Earth Day event for the U.S. Green Builder’s Council, I’m involved on several initiatives with the Teens for Safe Cosmetics Campaign, and our non-profit partner at the showroom is the Environmental Justice Foundation.

How has The Four Hundred taken design and sustainability a step further?

Bahar: As an extension of the sustainable sourcing and product development work I’ve been doing for our fashion clients, we’ve recently partnered with C.L.A.S.S., an international eco-textile showroom whose mission is to connect designers and manufacturers with suppliers of the most innovative, creative sustainable materials on the market today. The C.L.A.S.S. showroom and fabric library is housed within The Four Hundred, so we have a beautiful display of both raw materials and finished products as inspiration and resource for designers who are interested in making their collections more sustainable.

Are you inspired by how many offerings there are for designers wanting to approach their lines more sustainably?

Bahar: Absolutely! Supply really has responded to demand in terms of the number and diversity of sustainable materials that are on the market right now, and we’re only just scratching the surface. One of the things we’re focusing on with C.L.A.S.S. is something called the Innovation Lab, which is exactly what it sounds like – a project that is bringing together textile and fashion designers with mills that are committed to pushing the innovation envelope, bringing exciting concepts in fabrications, surface design, and printing to life.

What advice would you give a designer just delving into making their line more sustainable?

Bahar: Sustainable design takes many factors into account, not just fiber and fabric choices. The first basic steps are to minimize waste and source and produce locally whenever possible. Cutting down on transportation costs and supporting local economies and fair trade goods can have a huge impact, and designers should look at the big picture. Sustainable design includes all of the choices we make when we design a product, so we really need to start looking at the full life cycle of that product.

When it comes to fabrics, the reality is that our choices can be limited in some categories, but there are some areas in which we have many sustainable alternatives to conventional materials and there is absolutely no compromise. I encourage all designers to just try to find alternatives to what they’d normally use, without feeling like they have to edit their design vision. Of course, if anyone is interested in learning more about sustainable fabrics, viewing our C.L.A.S.S. fabric library, or taking advantage of our consulting services, please contact me.

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