Green fashion in Berlin

Berlin Fashion Week with its many shows like Premium and Bread & Butter is fast becoming a mega event. It is estimated that a whole range of trade fairs and shows, that were held in the capital from 1 – 5 July 2009, attracted 120,000 specialist visitors. Green fashion and lifestyle were this year represented for the first time in the green area at the Premium show but also had two events of their own, namely Green Showroom and Thekey.to. More events will follow these premieres twice a year. This clearly shows that ecology and sustainability have become issues for the fashion industry and are now the trend. (Picture: Ethical Trade Show from Paris)
At the beginning of July 2009, Berlin was the fashion scene where the new collections of international designers were introduced. There’s nothing remarkable about this – it happens every year, but what was new was the fact that the spotlight was focused much more than before on values and ethical, fair-traded raw materials. The whole gamut of green fashion – from everyday and casual to eco high-end fashion - was on display at three events.

There could not have been greater contrast between the exhibition locations for the green events: the Green Showroom, the idea of two young fashion designers, had rented rooms in the top hotel Adlon by the Brandenburg Gate. On the other hand, Thekey.to, the international platform for Green Fashion, Culture and Lifestyle was located in the Old Post Office in the Neukölln district where it attracted nearly 3,000 visitors. The building stood empty for six years before being brought back to life at great cost. At Bread & Butter, the international trade fair for urban wear and street wear that was held at the old Tempelhof airport, eco-fashion was under-represented. There was only the occasional eco-item to be seen. Firms like the Frankfurt label Affentor (bags, accessories) and Adelheid (clothing, accessories), or the Turkish company Mavi (jeans, shirts) are now perfectly aware of eco-raw materials but the are only responding to demand with small collections. Companies like the English Komodo, that insists on 100 % organic cotton and natural fibres, were the exception at Bread & Butter. In contrast, the Premium show had at least one green area where around 50 green brands and companies presented their creations (clothing, accessories, lifestyle and media.

Thekey.to wanted to be seen as the first International Fair for Green Fashion & Lifestyle. As Gereon Pilz van der Grinten (picture below, second from right), one of the initiators of the event, pointed out, there are about 2,000 young green fashion labels worldwide so it was high time a platform for them was created. The idea was born just a few months ago and supported on many sides, explained co-founder Franciscus Cornelis Prins (picture below, on left). The other member of the trio, Rostislav Komitov) (picture below, on right), was responsible for the technical implementation of the idea.

Renate Künast, leader of the Green Party in the German parliament (picture), was invited to become patron of the event. At the press conference on the second day she said: “I was pleased to take on this role because I am convinced that fashion must play its part too in the new green deal.” She said how pleased she was that the ideas of sustainable and holistic had been consistently applied from building the stands to catering. “Compared to the avant-garde concept Thekey.to, Premium looks old fashioned,” she declared. For the future, she called for guidelines and a standard logo of assurance for eco-fashion. “When we get to the fifth edition of Thekey.to at the latest, we ought to have a quality label,” commented the Green Party politician.

Judging by the number of media representatives present, the trade fair was a success, and green fashion is going to be a mega trend. As well as the positive feedback from the roughly 100 exhibitors there was some criticism of the location. Some exhibitors had the feeling that, because of the lack of links between the sites, the visitors to the main events (Mercedes Benz Fashion, Premium, Bread & Butter) passed by Thekey.to. The organisers did try to remedy the situation with a shuttle bus from Bread & Butter at Tempelhof airport. They emphasised that the Old Post Office in Neukölln was not intended to be a permanent site for Thekey.to. They want to remain flexible regarding this green avant-garde event: “We will change the locations, but Thekey.to should keep a touch of underground and stay a little mysterious.” The next date is around 20 January 2010.

Visitors to the Old Post Office in Neukölln were welcomed near the entrance by art and installations on the theme of recycling. Thekey.to concept deliberately incorporated this theme alongside fashion. On the second floor was the already very successful Paris Ethical Trade Show (see first picture) with more than 20 brands. As well as fashion this event included art, design, lifestyle and young creative talent. In front of the Old Post Office the label Pants to Poverty held a demonstration to draw people’s attention to the abuses in conventional cotton cropping (picture). Only media representatives and specialist visitors attended on the first three days; the last day was for the public.

Recycling played a fundamental role in some collections. For example, the traditional German company Riedl, well known for its swimwear brands Olympia and Sunflair, introduced bikinis, bathing costumes and swimwear made from over 80 % recycled PET bottles and swimwear made from bamboo fibres. The label Olympia Green Bay should dominate the market. Another example: the brand Ragbag from Amsterdam. The raw material for the colourful shoulder bags comes from rubbish collectors in Brazil and India. Liv Stoltzner from Denmark also uses recycled material together with felt and vegetable-tanned leather for her shoes brand Krambamboline (picture below right).

The up-and-coming generation of young fashion designers now insist on using natural and organic raw materials and recycled materials in their creations. In view of the depressing facts about the production of cotton for conventional fashion, it is staggering that not more fashion designers have accepted the green message. For example, more than two billion dollars are spent every year worldwide on agricultural poisons produced by Bayer and Monsanto for cotton cropping. The consequences are health problems among farmers and workers, contaminated soils, dead fauna and the destruction of biodiversity. It is a fact that 170 million children work in the clothing industry. Künast gave these figures in her speech and called on the fashion industry to take responsibility urgently for the basic conditions of people working in the industry and to show social responsibility.

The marketing executive of Slowmo stated: “It’s not easy getting everything from raw materials and processing to packaging in genuine organic quality so that it is sustainable, socially responsible and fair.” Slowmo’s eco-fashion is created in Berlin-Friedrichshain. Brother and sister Felicia and Melchior Moss design two collections a year using organic cotton and natural fibres. Pants to Poverty has specialised in underwear. In 2006, the Englishman Bob Ramsden began with the aim of conquering the poverty of the poorest people. Pants made with organic cotton from a farmer cooperative in India are fairly traded and are already selling well in 17 countries worldwide. The label Komodo – green by nature has been on the market for a good 20 years. The 100 % eco-collections (women’s, men’s fashions, shoes) by Joe Komodo are produced in India.

Another pioneer is  Living Crafts (picture). The brand is 25 years old and since 2001 has been trading under the company Dennree. Frank Schell, the managing director of Living Crafts since the end of 2008, would like to extend the brand and provide more choice and more fashion in addition to the basics like T-shirts and underwear. Total production is certified in compliance with the Global Organic Textile Standard (GOTS) and Naturland standards. Ian Schomber and Sebastian Veit, the creators of T-shirts at Riot in Mannheim, design stylish printing for organic T-shirts or let customers themselves design them (riotcreator) and then vote which are best.

Other labels:

Affentor, Frankfurt workshop, bags, keyrings
Avantgarde Green, designer Olcay Krafft, Cologne, luxury eco-fashion
Batata, Berlin, T-shirts, sweatshirts in organic cotton
Bleedclothing, Helmbrechts, Eco-street and sports wear
Fairliebt, Hamburg
FrauWagner, Berlin, upcycling, unique pieces
Hempage, clothing made from hemp
Po-Zu, London, eco-shoe fashion