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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As a fashionista and an eco-advocate, I am absolutely in love with the Danish eco-luxury collection Noir and their newer street label offered at a more price conscious level, Bllack Noir. “We want to be known as the first brand to bring sophistication and sexiness to corporate social responsibility,” says Peter Ingwersen, founder of Noir, with a smile that exudes confidence, commitment and passion.

These days, I find that young fashion consumers are not only concerned with looking chic and stylish, but that they care deeply about corporate social responsibility. I recently had the chance to sit down with Peter during Copenhagen’s Fashion Week to talk about his inspiration for his latest collection and emerging trends in the eco fashion world.

Q: What was your inspiration in launching Noir with a focus on sustainability and eco consciousness at a time when these concepts were far from mainstream?

A: In 2005, when the idea of NOIR came to be, the zeitgeist and megatrends were environmental concerns regarding CO2 emissions and the global concerns of melting icebergs, which gave me the idea of bringing a deeper level of meaning, such as planetary awareness and corporate social responsibility into the fashion industry. I come from the fashion industry, and I knew I wanted to stay within the scope of fashion.

Q: In which areas does Noir fare best?

A: North America and Western Europe are the areas where Noir does best. This is directly related to the level of education in those regions. It requires a higher level of awareness on a larger global scale in order to make conscious purchasing decisions regarding the products we consume, such as fashion. Of course, those countries also have the level of funds required to purchase a high end fashion label.

Q: Does the concept of green fashion work as a business model?

A: Setting out to revolutionize an industry and change people’s behavioral patterns and level of awareness takes time. It’s important to take a step back and create a long-term five year plan; then execute step by step. It is imperative that innovation comes from the heart.

Q: What do you think is the hottest new trend in eco fashion?

A: Technology will save us all. I think that man-made fibers are truly amazing and will be the new hot thing in eco materials. We will all need to overcome our prejudice that natural made fibers are more ecofriendly. Producing organic cotton takes an incredible amount of water to produce, which we now know is not as sustainable as we once thought it was. I believe that man-made fibers are truly the next hot trend in sustainable fashion.

Q: The use of leather and fur is a bit challenging in some eco circles. What is your take on using these materials in Noir’s collections?

A: NOIR designs with leather and fur. We are not Mother Theresa and our focus sits with the cotton production, environmental concerns and socio ethics in the manufacturing. We cannot focus on all aspects of the supply chain. We do fashion, and secondly, we ensure a sustainable supply chain in our key focal areas. And in this order.

Peter shares his vision for a better tomorrow in the following interview:

The NOIR SS11 collection is a tribute to renew femininity, celebrating the female shape and paying tribute to all strong and beautiful women with a delicate, yet very modern silhouette and sculptural look for spring/summer 2011.

Fabrics are heavily emphasized by Illuminati II, Noir´s own organically grown and fair traded cotton from the heart of Africa, combined with a mix of the most delicate silks, laces and of course Noir’s signature styling, leather. Colors are very light and soft like nude rose shades, morning mist powder greys and hazy midnight blues set off against very strong black and clean white.

Editor’s note: This is a guest post written by Sandja Brügmann. Sandja is managing partner of Refresh Agency, a leading specialist PR and communications agency focusing on the green lifestyle market [LOHAS – lifestyles of health and sustainability]. She has served leading brands at the cutting edge of the LOHAS phenomenon such as GoodBelly, Crocs, Sterling Rice Group, Addis Creson, Clementine Art, FASHIONmeGREEN, SNAP gathering, Vickerey, Neve Designs and Chocolove. Sandja was born and raised in the fashion-centric and sustainability-minded Denmark. She grew up in a household run mostly on solar power by an entrepreneurial mother and an eco-conscientious father. Her career began, after receiving top honors at University of Colorado, Boulder, as a Scandinavian-focused renewable energy researcher for Financial Times, before she served as Marketing Manager for lifestyle company Gaiam. Sandja’s vibrant and passionate commitment to inspiring positive planetary change, without compromising on style, is visible throughout her work. “My passion is to bring fun, adventure, style and sex appeal to living a greener and more sustainable lifestyle,” she explains. Sandja’s aw-inspiring sense of style and her global “˜finger on the pulse’ has made her a sought after eco trend spotter. Her written work has been featured in Scandinavian PURE Magazine, IN Magazine, USA-based leading green lifestyle media EcoSalon, LOHAS Journal and Elephant Journal. Sandja is a certified yogini, a Danish national team Olympic hopeful archery champion and she adores her daily lessons as a parent. Follow Sandja
on Twitter!

Images: Copenhagen Fashion Week

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