September 15, 2017

Inglés Sustainable Fashion Program: Globally sustainable

The growth of the fashion industry has also meant in recent years a considerable increase in the global consumption of clothes. 

As a result, there is a growing interest in tackling, from a sustainable and ethical perspective, the design, production and business of textile apparel. In the United Kingdom, this sector contributed more than £ 28 billion to the economy of the country in 2015, with more than 900,000 jobs.

From the British Council, they lead Sustainable Fashion, an ambitious three-year program to encourage the exchange of best practices among fashion designers in Europe through the training, creation and exhibition of designs characterized by excellence.

The fashion industry in the UK has been at the forefront of research and pioneering sustainable initiatives. These new ways of thinking and consuming textiles have been integrated at all levels of industry, starting with higher education, through university research centers such as the Center for Sustainable Fashion, the Designer-Manufacturer Innovation Support Center and Textile Futures Research Center.

In addition, courses such as the MA Fashion Futures of the London College of Fashion and the MA Fashion Enterprise and Society of the University of Leeds can be taken. Large companies are part of this movement and training is the cornerstone of their research. An example of this is the collaboration between Nike and the London College of Fashion or Marks & Spencer’s and the University of Leeds.

Organizations and communities such as Ethical Fashion Forum, Fashion Revolution, Green Catwalk Challenge, Love Your Clothes and Schwopping give designers the opportunity to promote their ideals and exchange good practices. Great British creators such as Stella McCartney have become global referents for their ethical and environmentally friendly brands.

Meetings and exchanges of good practices

Sustainable Brands Days Madrid (7-9 May, 2017). For its first edition in Madrid, they offer a program focused on the promotion of best practices in the field of sustainable fashion, with the screening of the documentary Fashion revolution (by Balthazar Klarwein), the presentation of the three winning projects of our Sustainable program Fashion and the round table Fashion Revolution: Moving the Needle on Sector Change, with Sarah Ditty, of the organization Fashion Revolution.

Exhibition and discovery

British Fashion Night (February, 2017). As part of the exclusive event organized by the British Embassy in Spain to promote the savoir-faire and excellence of British fashion, we invite Felder Felder’s designers to present two models of their sustainable collection. On this occasion, attendees were able to discover their iconic dress made with sustainable carbon fibers that are used for BMW electric cars. In addition, Annette Felder and the winners of the Sustainable Fashion program hosted this Facebook Live event.