to be smarter with materials. “Seeing
our Earth’s resources diminishing and
the amount of textile waste happening,
I’ve become very motivated to use
every inch of fabric I can in my
designs. It gives me a great sense of
satisfaction to give a new life to all
kinds of textiles,” says Hong Kong
designer Esther Lui.
Fast-forward to today and the
great news is some of the region’s
most exciting designers are actively
looking to recycle materials and
upscale discarded items into gorgeous
accessories. “As a designer, I feel a
responsibility for the work I do. Also,
I love when creativity comes from
the constraint of something already
in existence or damaged. That’s
why I love investigating secondhand
textiles and figuring out ways to give
them a new life or a second chance,”
says Cara Maria Belloto, a designer
from Spain who came to Hong Kong
recently as a finalist in the EcoChic
Design Awards. Cara showed her
clever and beautiful collection at
Hong Kong Fashion Week earlier in
the year.
Mindful manufacturing
“Organic materials are the building
blocks of a healthy garment, but
I think today’s designers feel a
responsibility to create fully positive
designs in every part of the process,”
Jasmine Aarons, creative director of
the South America-focused ethical
line Voz, told
Vogue
in 2015.
How our garments and accessories
are made, and by whom, is a complex
web and most important for us
to consider. Here in Hong Kong,
Christina Dean, CEO of Redress,
recently brought together textile
experts and designers to share
the latest thinking in eco printing
techniques. Designers from across
the globe converged in Hong Kong
prior to Fashion Week and were led
by Dean through workshops and
information sessions with experts on
manufacturing and sourcing.
The workshops certainly made
an impact. “I have become more
conscious about how I use materials,”
says design student Wang Di from
China, who believes everything has
a purpose and should not be wasted.
“Now designing sustainable fashion
not only seems like the right thing
to do, it has also boosted my design
sensibilities even further.”
Voting with our wallets
Hong Kong’s eco-chic fashion scene
needs everyone’s support – change
will only happen when we vote with
our wallets. One easy way to get
involved is to spend some time on
the Redress site,
com.hk
. Redress has some great
sustainable shopping guides that
cover Hong Kong, Singapore and
more; and they even have a section on
sustainable clothes maintenance.
Redress has also created a standard
for recycled textile clothing called
‘The R Cert’. The R Cert allows
consumers to track their recycled
journey from factory to retail. And it
verifies that brands recycle their own
factory-fresh textile waste into their
own recyled textile clothing.
Just because a brand has a big
global presence, it doesn’t necessarily
mean it’s lacking conscious business
practices. Global brands like Muji,
Patagonia and Stella McCartney all
have eco capsule collections or regular
lines. Even fast fashion monoliths like
H&M offer their H&M Conscious
Collection. We consumers wield
enormous purchasing power – it’s up
to us to inform ourselves and use our
power wisely.
April 2016
53
