Sustainability is on trend this ADL Fashion Week, with more than 10 events tapping into the environmentally and ethically conscious movement.
From discussion panels, runways, clothes swaps, thrift shopping and even crocheting bikinis, sustainability struts its stuff to prove it is not just a trend, but a fundamental responsibility the fashion industry embraces.
Adelaide Economic Development Agency (AEDA) Executive Manager Marketing and Tourism Michael Rossi says sustainable events, both free and ticketed, can be found across all parts of the city, including at the festival’s fashion hub—The Loft.
Designers such as Yaneth, a label built on the foundations of premium, natural fabrics with a strong emphasis on wool, and Paolo Sebastian, selling archival dresses to give gowns “new life”, are among those focusing on sustainable practices.
“It is enormously important because sustainability is a key event pillar for us… there is plenty of diversity across the entire event,” Mr Rossi says.
The South Australian Fashion Industry Association (SAFIA) will host the festival’s first event—Future Threads—on Friday. The association will host an industry discussion panel about how fashion and technology can work together to boost brand sustainability.
Association chair Nathan James Crane, also the driving force behind jewellery label Èlever Australia, says fashion is a force for good.
He says sustainability has become a “core” element for brands, with more labels identifying new ways to create environmentally friendly clothing.
“Technology and sustainability can be seen as opposing but it is actually about looking at where those two things intersect,” Dr Crane says.
“I think it comes down to being able to optimise production through things like the use of certain technologies to look at how you can more efficiently utilise materials.
“So looking at pattern making, for example, and actually how you can design patterns to optimise their use so you can bring down the waste of fabrics. This is opposed to creating designs where there's a lot of waste product.
“This can be done through 3D modeling and things like that to actually get to that efficient component.”
Australians dispose on average about 23 pieces of clothing a year, according to Clean Up Australia.
Annually, the fashion industry is also responsible for about 10 per cent of CO2 emissions globally.
Two nonne (Italian for grandmothers) will host a three-hour event where attendees can crochet their own bikini using granny squares typically used to make blankets.
Textile designer Angelina Russo says “back in the day” a crochet bikini would have just fallen off in the water. However, thanks to improved technology and material production, you can crochet with a tough stretch cotton and create a bikini that stays up in the sea.
“Mum and I have been making the crochet squares for the last month and people who come to the course will crochet them together in a pattern that we've designed, and they've got a bikini to walk out with,” Ms Russo, who hopes to “bring back” the bikini style, says.
“We’ve got lots of different colours, lots of different designs and it's all set up in an activation space up in the Adelaide Arcade.”
Latest findings from RMIT research Keeping Clothes Out of Landfill: A Landscape Study of Australian Consumer Practice Report found that 76 per cent of consumers prioritise clothing that is made without harming the environment.
Around 55 per cent of consumers value locally made clothing, while 49 per cent favour garments made from recycled materials.
The Circular Village’s FASHion.reBORN industry event, with these figures in mind, will discuss the challenges and opportunities facing the industry.
A panel of industry experts will look into areas such as how to transition to circular practices, as well as addressing decarbonisation within businesses.
Host Yolanda del Valle-Buetefuer says buyers embrace brands that align with circular and good-for-planet practices.
ADL Fashion Week is on between 11-13 October 2024. Visit adlfashionweek.com to see all sustainability-focused events.