Activist Liya Kebede on Lemlem, Financing Nonprofits for How To Spend It Magazine

Activist Liya Kebede on Lemlem, Financing Nonprofits for How To Spend It Magazine

AOC has shared numerous articles about top model Liya Kebede and her ethical brand Lemlem, produced in Ethiopia and launched in 2007. Lemlem means “to bloom” and “flourish” in Amharic, writes How To Spend It Magazine’s Alice Cavanagh about her interview with Kebede in Paris.

Looking for fresh insights in Kebede’s How To Spend It interview, we note a discussion about the growing subject of diversity in the fashion industry. Reflecting on the Spring 2020 shows, the most diverse shows ever held in September and October, Estee Lauder’s first black spokesmodel smiles, “Honestly, it is a lot more colourful now.” She continues:

“When I started working, there could only be one black person on every runway. That’s kind of insane. It was accepted; no one even questioned it.” Certainly, I [interviewer Alice Cavanagh} offer, we might have social media to thank for this: fashion no longer exists in a bubble, and brands and people of influence are being held accountable for everything from casting choices to greenwashing.

“I don’t buy the whole ‘You’re bad and I’m good’ thing… sometimes you screw up,” cautions Kebede. “That whole thing scares me a bit, to be honest. It propagates so much hate and intolerance.”

Earth Mother Stella McCartney Covers Vogue US January 2019 Creative Forces Tribute

Since her 1995 Central Saint Martins graduation show, Stella McCartney’s brand has embodied an urgent desire to end animal cruelty in the fashion industry. Fake furs were mainstream when Stella began her fashion climb, but the only glues available were animal-based. “I imagine Vikings sitting around a pot, boiling down the last bones of the elk that they skinned for the fur,” says McCartney. “And I think, Wow—we’re still there.” Of course, we now also know the toll fake fur takes on the environment.

Her coldly-realistic assessment of fashion’s conscience — or lack of it — inspired Stella McCartney to walk her fashion talk with as few comprises as possible. That decision has positioned her at the pinnacle of intelligent design forces sweeping through the fashion industry, before it is too late to save ourselves, our planet and our children’s futures.

Today McCartney uses renewable energy where it’s available for both her stores and offices. Her commitment to cruelty-free fashion and sustainability is fast becoming the industry norm, influencing product development and sourcing decisions at Armani, Chanel, Gucci, Michael Kors, Prada and more on the topic of fur. “I’m hugely relieved,” says McCartney, “but I’m actually astounded that it’s taken so long.”

Stella sold a non-majority stake in her company to LVMH earlier in 2019, a relationship that puts her in a key advisory role to Chairman Bernard Arnault for the entire LVMH stable of luxury brands.

The designer covers the January 2020 issue of Vogue, lensed by Annie Leibovitz. Stella holds her four children (clockwise in cover from top left), Bailey, Miller, Beckett, and Reileyis. The entire family wears Stella McCartney, styled by Tonne Goodman. Hamish Bowles conducts the interview. Read on at Vogue

Mary McCartney Eyes Sustainable Fashions for Vogue Poland November 2019

Mary McCartney Eyes Sustainable Fashions for Vogue Poland November 2019

Models Ewa Witkowska, Kamila Szczawińska and Maria Zakrzewska cover the November 2019 issue of Vogue Poland. Describing the shoot in the Polish countryside of Warmia and Mazury, Vogue Poland shares details of their real-world trajectories in the modeling world.

Designer Stella McCartney’s sister, English photographer Mary McCartney is behind the lens, photographing all-sustainable fashions in the cover story ‘For Nature’, style by Daniela Agnelli. McCartney is a Global Ambassador for Meat Free Mondays , cofounded by the McCartney family, and Green Monday, embracing a fully-sustainable lifestyle like her sister Stella. / Hair by Michal Bielecki; makeup by Aneta Kostrzewa

Nike Signs (No) Arctic Shipping Pledge, Joining H&M Group, Kering, PVH Corp

The truth is that many large corporations have no problem that the Arctic is melting. They want the new shipping route as a terrible example of corporate greed and self-interest. Still, corporate interests are salivating to ship through the Arctic year-round.

It’s very important that NIKE has teamed up with the Ocean Conservancy to launch the Arctic Shipping Corporate Pledge, inviting businesses and industry to join in a commitment against shipping through the Arctic Ocean.

Ships are responsible for more than 18 percent of some air pollutants. It also includes greenhouse gas emissions. The International Maritime Organization (IMO) estimates that carbon dioxide emissions from shipping were equal to 2.2% of the global human-made emissions in 2012 and expects them to rise 50 to 250 percent by 2050 if no action is taken.

The Arctic Shipping Corporate Pledge invites companies to commit to not intentionally send ships through this fragile Arctic ecosystem. Today's signatories include companies Bestseller, Columbia, Gap Inc., H&M Group, Kering, Li & Fung, PVH Corp., and ocean carriers CMA CGM, Evergreen, Hapag-Lloyd and Mediterranean Shipping Company.

"The dangers of trans-Arctic shipping routes outweigh all perceived benefits and we cannot ignore the impacts of greenhouse gas emissions from shipping on our ocean," says Janis Searles Jones, CEO of Ocean Conservancy. "Ocean Conservancy applauds Nike for recognizing the real bottom line here is a shared responsibility for the health of the Arctic—and believes the announcement will spur much-needed action to prevent risky Arctic shipping and hopes additional commitments to reduce emissions from global shipping will emerge." 

For Nike to take a lead in advancing and promoting awareness of the Arctic Shipping Corporate Pledge is an excellent victory. With all the moves to track how products are made and transported, we can check a product on our phones and see if it's been transported through the Arctic. If the environment means enough to us -- this is where consumer power comes into action. But it takes business leaders like Nike to talk to other corporate leaders on some of these topics. At least, it's a collaborative effort of business and activism like this one.

Queen Elizabeth II Says "Faux Fur Only Going Forward"

Queen Elizabeth II via W Magazine

Queen Liz is onboard: no more fur. Faux fur only on very cold days. Her Majesty has already had all the mink trim -- and any other animal fur -- removed from her most favorite coats, replaced with faux fur.

Stella McCartney has a marvelous new faux fur that is impossible to distinguish from the original — although the Queen’s longtime personal adviser and official dresser Angela Kelly says that Her Majesty’s preference is to move away from fur entirely.

The Humane Society International formally announced that it's "thrilled" before calling on the British government to make the U.K. the first country in the world to ban the sale of fur. The UK branch of PETA, hardly known for low-volume press messages on the subject of animal rights, tweeted "we're raising a glass of gin and Dubonnet to the Queen’s compassionate decision to go fur-free".

Image via Town and Country

After a quick sip, the organization then suggested that perhaps the Queen’s Guard, known worldwide for their enormous bearskin hats could follow Her Majesty’s lead. PETA has been lobbying for faux fur hats to replace the current ones for almost three years, even sending her prototypes from Only Me in 2017, writes Town and Country.

We all curtsy to a modern woman very concerned about protecting heritage and protocol, while keeping British royalty relevant with evolving values.

H&M Trials Clothing Rentals With Stockholm Store's Conscious Exclusive 2012-2019

H&M is launching a new concept store in Stockholm, a venue dedicated to rentals of sustainable ready-to-wear from Conscious Exclusive collections past and present. Pieces from sustainable Conscious Exclusive collections 2012-2019 will be available to customers who are members of H&M’s customer loyalty program.

Members will be able to book a time at the rental space where a stylist treats them to a personalised experience, helping them select some great pieces they can then rent for a week. Members can rent up to three pieces a time at a cost of around 350 Swedish kronor per piece.

“We love offering our fans something extra and we also want to encourage our customers to look on fashion in a circular way as we aim to lead the change towards a circular fashion industry,” says Pascal Brun, Head of Sustainability at H&M

To further inspire customers to reuse and recycle, the store will also offer repair services with an atelier where customers can get their fashion favourites mended or upgraded. The newly furbished Sergels Torg store, which opens end of November, will offer customers a great shopping destination with a curated assortment, a beauty bar and the café-concept It’s Pleat. 

H&M Opens Mitte Garten Neighborhood Store for Local Talents in Berlin

H&M’s first hyper-local flagship Mitte Garten opened its doors on October 25th in Berlins creative Mitte district. With it’s approximately 300 square meters, it’s one of H&M's smallest stores offering curated womenswear, selected external brands, vintage pieces and a showroom for customers.

"It’s a test for us as a global retailer to elaborate around how we can be more personal and locally relevant."

                                                                            Anna Bergare Business Developer at the Laboratory H&M Group 

H&M Mitte Garten will regularly offer events such as lectures, fashion talks and yoga for its customers. In the public showroom upcoming trends and looks are presented. Here consumers can try on and lend pieces to make sure that their future purchases are consciously made.

"This is a unique location and it has served as a meeting place for Berliners for over a hundred years, a tradition we want to honour. We aim to offer a neighbourhood store serving as a platform for local and global talents within retail, culture and art."

                                                                                          Thorsten Mindermann country manager H&M Germany

Standearth's First Fashion Industry Sustainability Report Card Promises Made v. Promises Kept

Image by Levi’s

Making pledges around sustainability is the easy part for businesses large and small. The question is whether or not brands are delivering on those promises, Vogue Business quotes Standearth as saying that until now, no organization holds the fashion industry accountable on sustainability promises vs deliberables.

The Canadian-American advocacy group released its first fashion industry report card last Thursday, writing that Levis and American Eagle are the only two major players on target with the Paris Agreement’s goal to limit temperature increases to 1.5 degrees, according to Standearth.

The report, titled “Filthy Fashion Climate Scorecard,” ranks the climate commitments of 45 top fashion companies who have joined the Sustainable Apparel Coalition, the UN Fashion Industry Charter for Climate Action, or the G7 Fashion Pact.

“A handful of companies, including Levi’s, Burberry, the Gap, H&M, and American Eagle are taking meaningful strides to shift their global supply chains off dirty fossil fuels. But many other companies are relying on false solutions to meet their climate commitments – easy measures that look good on paper but fail to tackle carbon pollution in the real world. While the industry’s progress is encouraging, signing onto one of these initiatives doesn’t guarantee that a company will take climate action in line with the scale of emissions reductions needed to keep the world below a dangerous level of warming,” said Liz McDowell, Filthy Fashion Campaign Director at Stand.earth.

The companies ranked in the report are: Adidas, Aldo, American Eagle, Amer Sport brands Arcteryx and Salomon, ASICS, Burberry, Columbia, C&A, Disney, Eileen Fisher, Esprit, Ganni, Gant, Gap, Guess, Hanes, H&M, Inditex (Zara), JCPenny, Kering group (Gucci, Yves St Laurent, Stella McCartney), Land’s End, Levi’s, LL Bean, Lululemon, LVMH (Dior, Fendi), Macy’s, Mammut, Mountain Equipment Coop (MEC), M&S, New Balance, Nike, Nordstrom, Otto, Patagonia, Pentland, Primark, Puma, PVH (Calvin Klein, Hilfiger), Recreational Equipment Inc (REI), SkunkFunk, Target, Under Armour, VF Corp (The North Face, Timberland), and Walmart.

17 companies have made little to no climate commitments — despite signing a sustainability pledge with fanfare — which would put the world on a path to climate catastrophe, with 3 or more degrees of warming, writes .Standearth.

Art Partner Contest for Young Creatives + Climate Crisis | Submit by Nov. 8, 2019

Photo by Venus Evans on Unsplash

One of the greatest challenge for young creatives is getting their work scene and reviewed. If climate activism is your passion, Art Partner has created a significant opportunity to put a creative project in front of an all-star panel of sustainability-focused professionals.

Think you’re good? Then seek feedback from Eco-Age Founder Livia Firth, fashion designer Gabriela Hearst, photographer Harley Weir, designer and entrepreneur Francisco Costa,, artist and writer Wilson Oryema, agent Giovanni Testino, Vogue Italia Creative Director Ferdinando Verderi.

#CreateCOP25 is a contest for young creatives and climate activists to submit artistic responses to the environment and climate emergency. The six most impactful works will be publicized during the United Nation’s COP25 climate conference this December in Chile. These will serve as messages from the creative community that the time is now for governments to end their contribution to climate change.

One (1) winner will receive $10,000 and five (5) runner-ups will receive $2,000 each to fund future projects that respond to climate change. The winner will also have the opportunity to collaborate on an editorial project with Art Partner. All six (6) finalists will receive ongoing mentorship and exposure from Art Partner.

Submissions can be any medium including, but not limited to, photography projects, docu-style and experimental film, performance art, spoken word, musical compositions, fashion design, new media and social media projects. We encourage entrants to submit existing work.

Photo by Nick Fewings on Unsplash

Submission Process

All entrants must be between 14 and 30 years old at the time of submission. The contest is open to participants globally.

Please read the contest rules and procedures before filling in the application form.

#CreateCOP25 application pack

Closing date for applications Friday 8 November 2019, 6pm GMT. 

Questions? Please email earthpartner@artpartner.com

TheRealReal x Burberry Relationship Promotes Deeply Personal Mutual Brand Loyalty

Writing for Forbes, Pamela N. Danziger digs beyond the obvious into the details of the newly-announced partnership between Burberry and TheRealReal. Officially the union promotes increasingly critical synergies in corporate responsibility and sustainable living in the fashion industry.

“Leading the way in creating a more circular economy for fashion is a key element of our Responsibility agenda,” Pam Batty, Burberry’s VP of corporate responsibility, said in a statement. “Through this new partnership we hope to not only champion a more circular future but encourage consumers to consider all the options available to them when they are looking to refresh their wardrobes.”

Burberry claims to have been at the “forefront of sustainability in fashion” for more than 15 years, an assertion that assertion may be up for debate among environmentalists. Surely Burberry doesn’t claim to share the Stella McCartney eco-conscious spotlight.

McCartney has been on the RealReal since 2018, experiencing a 65% increase in the number of consignors of her branded merchandise and a total increase of 74% of Stella McCartney items sold on the RealReal after announcing the partnership.

The real importance of the Burberry - RealReal relationship is lifetime customer acquisition, argues Danziger. More customers who experience both brands first at resale, then at full-price in a Burberry store, then returning to the trusted halo of The RealReal to resell and recycle. Sustainable, eco-conscious action is a critical issue, but don’t underestimate the inherent result of sustainable economics that translates into brand loyalty more intimate and personal than any ad campaign.

The RealReal reports demand for Burberry has increased 64% year-over-year, with Millennial and GenZ customer searches rising fastest on its site. In addition, the ThredUp 2019 Resale Report states that Burberry is the luxury brand with the best resale value; Louis Vuitton, Gucci, Hermès, and Prada are lower on that list.

Related: Caroline Knudssen Fronts Riccardo Tisci’s NET-A-PORTER x Burberry Fall 2019 Collection

Stella McCartney Partners with DuPont + Ecopel on KOBA® Bio-Based Faux Fur

Natalia Vodianova wearing Koba faux fur by Stella McCartney.

Planet Green team leader Stella McCartney is launching KOBA® faux fur, a joint project with the designer, DuPont Biomaterials and global faux fur textile manufacturer Ecopel. The exciting new material, made from Sorona® bio-based fibers “claims both a lower carbon footprint and more luxurious feel than existing faux fur alternatives”, writes Vogue Business.

McCartney unveiled the exciting new faux fur at her spring 2020 ready-to-wear show.

“Polyester isn’t the same quality that we want, and the modacrylic doesn’t give us the sustainability that we want,” says Claire Bergkamp, Stella McCartney’s worldwide director of sustainability and innovation. “This is kind of bridging that gap,” Bergkamp explains in listing the merits of the new faux fur, compared to other market options.

Reflecting a new mood of shared innovation among leading fashion industry brands and manufacturers, Bergkamp hopes that Koba becomes an industry standard adopted by other fashion players. Saying she is keep to advise other labels about the latest developments around Koba, Bergkamp stresses reality. “This has to be a collaborative effort. It is a moment of climate crisis — and it is a genuine crisis. We want to show what’s possible, and show that these sustainable improvements can be beautiful [and] luxurious.”

SustainableBrands.com writes: “The new Koba® Fur-Free Fur by Ecopel is made with recycled polyester and up to 100 percent DuPont™ Sorona® plant-based fibers, creating the first commercially available faux furs using bio-based ingredients Koba — the collection of which ranges from classic mink styles to plush, teddy-style fur — can be recycled at the end of its long life, helping to keep ensure it never ends up as waste and closes the fashion loop; something that McCartney is passionate about, as she pushes toward circularity. It’s 37 percent plant-based Sorona material means that it consumes up to 30 percent less energy and produces up to 63 percent less greenhouse gas than conventional synthetics.

“We’ve been working with Stella McCartney for several years and we have clearly been positively influenced by her values,” Ecopel CEO Christopher Sarfati said in a statement. “Not only are we proud to offer animal-friendly alternatives to fur, but are even more proud to take the road less traveled in designing new ways to create faux fur. From recycled to bio-based, we are supporting a transition toward more sustainable materials.”

Planet-Friendly Denim Makes a Fashion Comeback | Eva Klimkova by Andreas Ortner for Gala Magazine

Planet-Friendly Denim Makes a Fashion Comeback | Eva Klimkova by Andreas Ortner for Gala Magazine

Czech model Eva Klímková is styled by Birgit Schlotterbeck in fashion-forward s(he)-leaning, feminine mixes with plenty of denim. There’s no doubt that denim is making a comeback. Even the Duchess of Sussex wore denim jeans and a denim jacket on her recent trip to South Africa.

In this well-styled, directional, denim-rich fashion editorial, Andreas Ortner is behind the lens for Gala Magazine’s October 2019 issue./ Beauty by Peggy Kurka

Kardashian-Jenner Women Launch Kardashian Kloset Resale on Friday, October 4

Kardashian-Jenners launch Kardashian Kloset resale platform.

Friday morning, 9am PST, doors will open to Kardashian Kloset, a new luxury resale venture initially populated with items belonging to Kris Jenner, Kim Kardashian West and Kylie Jenner, writes Vogue Business. Handbags, shoes, sunglasses, costume jewelery and pre-loved clothing from Khloe Kardashian, Kourtney Kardashian and Kendall Jenner will follow in weekly drops.

In the US, resale is booming. The country’s total secondhand market, which includes resale, thrift and donations, is forecast to increase from $24 billion in 2018 to $51 billion in 2023. According to the 2019 Fashion Resale Report by Thredup, the US resale market has grown 21 times faster than traditional retail apparel in the last three years.

Vogue Business writes that while resale is a growing segment of sustainable consumption, in America it more often allows access to luxury items unaffordable at the original price. This dynamic is poised to change, however, as more women embrace resale as a core option of responsible consumption.

According to Marc Beckman, founding partner and CEO of advertising and representation agency DMA United, the resale market will also benefit from celebrity endorsements. “Influential celebrities can instantly eliminate the stigma attached to the secondary market,” he writes via email. “The Kardashian’s participation, if executed properly, will certainly accelerate acceptance and sales of previously owned and used merchandise.”

Edie Campbell Shoots Zara 'Keep It Uptown Campaign', While Accepting Fast Fashion Complicity

Edie Campbell Shoots Zara 'Keep It Uptown Campaign', While Accepting Fast Fashion Complicity

Manly or not? Top model Edie Campbell suits up in Zara’s latest fall 2019 trend campaign, heading to Manhattan’s Upper East Side in faux fur jackets, bourgeois plaid skirts, printed dresses and pussy-cat bow blouses — with lace collars, no less. Miss Manners is on the move.

AOC has spent time recently reflecting on the hypocrisy of writing about the critical need for sustainability in fashion — while simultaneously promoting it through blog posts. I’ve concluded that silence — or stopping the posting of fast fashion — it not the answer. But we will use each fast fashion post to search for and report on any sustainability-related updates by the brand — in this case Zara.

We will also use the same post to share any new industry info or essays around fast fashion. This compromise allows us to give readers what they see in terms of fashion trends and photography, while using the post to remind us that all of us fashionistas, and the insatiable lust for something new — are part of a very serious problem for our planet. Together, we must also be part of the solution.

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Edie concludes her essay — after citing glimmers of hope around sustainability in the fashion industry — with choice words, and not ones that will always get her more work.

“I would be proud to work with brands that shoot on a Norfolk beach, rather than flying a European crew to Mexico. I would love there to be more transparency on clothing labels. I would love the fashion industry to produce less and invest in more sustainable manufacturing methods and materials. Mostly, I would love people to buy less. Even if that would put me out of a job.”

Cara Delevingne, Rebellious Brit, Fronts Dior Joaillerie's Rose des Vents Collection

Top talent, actor, model and activist Cara Delevingne is now the face of Dior Joaillerie, starting with the brand’s Rose des Vents campaign. The Brit has modeled for the Dior brand before and is currently the face of its Addict Stellar Shine lipstick, but this is her first jewelry campaign.

Cara Delevingne for Dior’s Joaillerie Rose des Vents collection.

Describing Cara as “a rebellious English rose”, the announcement continues: ““Much more than a muse, the audacious icon is an endless source of inspiration. For Dior, Cara Delevingne upends the conventional jewellery codes with her characteristic whimsy.”

The Joaillerie's Rose des Vents collection is inspired by Christian Dior’s favorite flower, the rose, and his global travels. The importance of flowers in our lives was also celebrated by Maria Grazia Chiuri’s recent spring 2020 runway show for the luxury house.

In another of Chiuri’s deep-dives into the history of Christian Dior, the creative director was deeply inspired by Christian Dior’s sister Catherine, an active member of the French resistance. The bold, audacious ‘Miss’ in Miss Dior was captured by the French resistance and sent to Ravensbrück, an all-female concentration camp in northern Germany.

Catherine Dior, imprisoned French resistance activist and lover of flowers.

Catherine survived, returning to Paris where she sold her beloved flowers at Les Halles market, where she was the ONLY woman granted a license to trade as a ‘cut flowers broker’. Miss Dior became an acclaimed gardener, botanist and house consultant on flowers.

Catherine Dior’s love for blooms and nature also supported Chiuri’s commitment to the environment at her spring 2020 show. One of her noteworthy initiatives was working with the Paris-based environmental design collective Coloco, which will replant the “show trees” in projects around the city.

Christian Dior SS20 show Paris, Sept. 2019

Reformation + New Balance Sneaker Series Has Style and Sustainable Cred

In an exciting, affordable new collab, Reformation has joined forced with New Balance, to create a sneakers series that’s both stylist and sustainable. The October 10 launch featuring three styles in five color variations retails for $80 to $110 includes the 574 and X 90 New Balance sneakers. Colorways are neutral and color-blocked with color pops.

The sustainable cred includes soy-based inks for printing, recycled polyester compromising the lining, laces, labels, and shoe inserts made using EVA foam and BLOOM algae, “two products that help shoe manufacturers reduce the use of fossil fuels”, writes Teen Vogue.

Luca Meneghel Shoots Nana Skovgaard in End of World Story for Vogue Portugal September 2019

Luca Meneghel Shoots Nana Skovgaard in End of World Story for Vogue Portugal September 2019

Model Nana Skovgaard is styled by Michele Bagnara in ‘The End of the Fucking World’, the cover story for Vogue Portugal September 2019. Luca Meneghel shoots one of the covers and this lead fashion editorial for VP’s ‘Planet Earth is the New Trend’ issue on environmental action and climate change ./ Makeup b Luciano Chiarello

Fast fashion lies: Will they really change their ways in a climate crisis?

Fast fashion lies: Will they really change their ways in a climate crisis?

By Anika Kozlowski, Assistant Professor of Fashion Design, Ethics and Sustainnability, School of Fashion, Ryerson University. First published on The Conversation.

Recently Zara introduced a sustainability pledge. But how can Zara ever be sustainable? As the largest fast-fashion retailer in the world, they produce around 450 million garments a year and release 500 new designs a week, about 20,000 a year. Zara’s fast-fashion model has been so successful it has inspired an entire industry to shift — churning out an unprecedented number of fashion garments year-round.

We live in an era of hyper-consumption in the middle of a climate crisis.

Clothing production doubled from 2000 to 2014. The average consumer bought 60 per cent more clothing in 2014 than in 2000, but kept each garment half as long. Apparel consumption is projected to to rise by 63 per cent in the next 10 years. And less than one per cent of all clothing produced globally is recycled.

With production numbers like these, can any fast-fashion retailer claim sustainability?

Eco-Conscious Brit Designers Vin + Omi Ready LFW with Nettle-Fabrics from Prince Charles' Garden

It all began with a cup of tea in spring 2018 with Prince Charles and members of the British design industry committed to putting the British Fashion Council’s Positive Fashion sustainability initiative into action. Attending were design duo Vin + Omi, admired by both Beyonce and Michelle Obama.

"It’s so surreal," says Omi, who talked to The Hollywood Reporter by phone from London and, like Vim, goes only by his first name. "We were invited for tea with His Royal Highness, and it was just a passing comment he made, where he suggested using nettles from his estate and turning them into clothes. It was over tea — we thought nothing of it. Then the next thing you know, we were down on his estate, collecting weeds. It went from zero to 100 very quickly!"

Prince Charles volunteered an abundance of nettles in residence at his and Camilla’s Clarence House gardens known as Highgrove Royal Gardens.

Prior to talking nettles with Prince Charles, Vin + Omi were creating clothes woven from cow parsley and discarded bottles. Their collection opened London Fashion Week’s Spring 2019 shows in September 2018. The creatives blended cow parsley with flax, creating an eco-fabric called Flaxley produced by by attendees of a Gloucestershire employment programme to create the clothes seen on the catwalk. The Guardian writes that Vin + Omi also created hybrid metal fabrics, manufactured from cans collected by homeless people on a support programme in Birmingham, and bags made from fabric derived from plastic bottles discarded from the menswear shows in July and collected, recycled and woven by London College of Fashion students.

Design duo Vin + Omi used nettles from the estate of Prince Charles to create 10 pieces of clothing, to be shown during London Fashion Week later this month.

Vin + Omi have been focused on eco fabrics since 2004 with a focus on the environment and supporting local communities. Two of their big successes have been creating an eco latex from a rubber plantation they fund in Malaysia and vegan “leather” made from the skins of chestnuts.

On the subject of longevity, Omi reminds Hollywood Reporter readers that the Prince has been committed to sustainability issues for 25 years.

"The thing we learned about working with someone with of the status of His Royal Highness is that he is really well informed," adds Omi. "You would think someone who is so high up wouldn’t necessarily have all these cares and concerns for the environment, so it's quite humbling. His team is really well informed, too, with the plants and all the properties that go with them. We widened our knowledge about what the possibilities are of working with these species of plants."

As part of the collection, Vin + Omi partnered with art supply brand Daler-Rowney. "We are reutilizing their paint plastic tubes and turning them into fabric, so we’re helping with their waste issues. Then we have our own linen, which we grow in our fields, and we’re also up-cycling denim, to stop it from going to landfills. We want to stop old garments from ending up in the incinerator,” Omi says. Biodegradable latex is part of the upcoming collection, says Omi, stressing that that Vin + Omi really aren’t fashion designers. The duo considers themselves to be sustainability-focused artists and clothes are their canvas.

."Everything has been carefully thought out," says Omi. "The amount of attention we’ve been receiving ahead of the show is quite humbling. From Nigeria, Australia, it's been really crazy. We’re expecting a really crazy, big show."

Omi says the duo plans to send pieces to Prince Charles, who has been sending them letters of encouragement, "as a gesture of thank you." A piece from the collection is also going to the Victoria and Alfred Museum. "It’s nice that they will have a piece in their archive permanently for public viewing," Omi says. "The public will be able to go and see and realize that 'Wow, this is what you can do with nature.'"

The Role of Fashion Shoes and Trump's Trade War Soybean Fallout in Burning the Amazon

One of the larges corporate responses to the fires ravaging the Amazon rainforest has come from VF Corp. whose brands include Timberland, Vans and The North Face. The company issued a statement saying that it will discontinue using Brazilian leather until it has “the confidence and assurance that the materials used in our products do not contribute to environmental harm in the country.”

The Amazon, which spans eight countries and covers 40% of South America, is often referred to as "the planet's lungs" . Estimates show that nearly 20% of oxygen produced by the Earth's land comes from the Amazon rainforest. In addition, the Amazon puts an enormous amount of water into the atmosphere, regulating global temperatures as a result.

Environmentalists blame the policies of Brazil’s far-right president Jair Bolsonaro for the 77% increase in fires in 2019, compared to one year ago. Even worse, half of the fires have been detected in the last month. A highly-controversial supporter of US president Donald Trump, Bolsonaro has encouraged farmers to burn the land in order to meet the growing demand for beef worldwide.

Overall, the demand for beef is increasing as the demand for leather shoes is decreasing, according to the LA Times, June 2018. Once a status symbol, leather shoes are often a symbol of anti-environmentalism, especially to young customers. Hides and other byproducts account for about 44% of the slaughtered animal’s weight but less than 10% of its value, according to government data.

As both corporate management and humans become more committed to sustainability issues and customers take ownership of being complicit with large corporations in environmental destruction, Vogue Business asks the provocative question: Is footware funding the burning of the Amazon?

Amazon rainforest from space, with red dots representing a fire or "thermal anomaly" NASA WORLDVIEW

In recent years, companies such as LVMH, Kering and Nike have committed to sourcing only deforestation-free leather. (LVMH said it would provide €10 million in aid to fight the Amazon fires.) Traceabilty is a problem, writes Vogue Business, quoting Nathalie Walker at National Wildlife Federation.

“Many still think that because they buy ‘Italian leather’, that means it is not from Brazil, but that is untrue,” says Walker, director of tropical forests and agriculture at NWF. In fact, the Italian leather industry sources heavily from Brazilian suppliers like Frigorífico Redentor, a company that Amazon Watch describes as a “notorious illegal deforester in Brazil” and pegs as partly responsible for the recent surge to clear land. Grupo Bihl, Frigorífico Redentor’s parent company, did not respond to emails requesting comment.

Gucci parent Kering says that it now traces 80 percent of its skins to the slaughterhouse, with the goal of 100 percent traceable by 2025.

Not mentioned in the Vogue Business article is an answer to the key question AOC just asked and answered? Is the Amazon burning so that Brazil can meet the demand for soybeans, now that China has stopped buying soybeans from American farmers due to the trade war between the two nations.

There’s a surprising amount of writing on this topic in the past week. They include:

Fires in Amazon rainforest are being fuelled by US-China trade war, experts say SCMP

How Trump’s trade wars are fueling Amazon fires The Guardian

Trump’s Trade War Could Be Fueling Amazon Fires Bloomberg