The Ethical Fashion Forum design competition seeks to reward innovation in design and sustainability. Congratulations to this year’s winners! Here are highlights of my favorite.
AFIA
Afia’s “urban indigenous” style blends traditional Ghana textiles with urban American style. The textiles are purchased from small vendors and sewn by Ghanaian seamstresses paid a fair wage.
SOHAM DAVE
Soham Dave is inspired by principles of meditation, spirituality, and creative energy, and a belief in “optimum utilization of resources through the use of natural biodegradable hand crafted materials.” The company works to make entrepreneurs out of women artisans and promotes local artisans who adopt eco- friendly production techniques to create products for the urban market.
CARRIE PARRY
photo: Tamar Levine
Carrie Parry creates sophisticated clothes that incorporate elegance, playfulness, and practicality from fabrics like organic cotton and wool, cupro, tencel, and recycled polyester jersey. I interviewed Ms. Parry not too long ago. You can read the interview here.
ULTRA
Ultra blends fashion forward design and sustainability to create an edgy and sexy collection. Ultra uses fabrics like recycled spandex jersey, tencel, recycled polyester, recycled PET and freshwater fish skin leather and produces pieces in-house. The company has launched ULTRA 10, a collection of 10 pieces that is designed to be the only thing a woman needs for the whole year.
CHICHIA FOR MADE BY AFRICA
Chichia, in collaboration with Made by Africa organic cottons has created these bright and bold pieces made from traditional printed fabrics known as Khangas. The clothing is produced in a fair-trade certified factory in Tanzania. It is the first factory to be awarded with the SA8000 certification in East Africa.
For more information visit Ethical Fashion Forum
