LONDON, Nov 12, 2009 / — The British Fashion Council yesterday announced the winners of its Eco Fashion Mentor Programme which will help designers develop eco fashion businesses as part of its ethical fashion initiative estethica.
Six designer businesses have been selected to receive 1:1 expert support from one of three industry mentors: Brand Consultants Susanne Tide-Frater, Yasmin Sewell and Buying Consultant Bev Malik.
The designers selected include Ada Zanditon, Christopher Raeburn, Goodone, Minna, Nina Dolcetti and The North Circular.
The estethica press day was chosen to launch this new initiative as its concept came from working with Yasmin Sewell to edit the collections to present to mainstream and ethical media for the first time in April 2009. Yasmin has once again supported the press day today through helping the 21 designers showcase the collections to highlight the strengths of each business.
Orsola de Castro, one of the three co-curators of estethica said “The press day is a great opportunity to give the estethica labels another chance to be seen by the UK press at a time when the public is becoming consistently more knowledgeable and interested in eco-fashion. The mentors’ expert eyes and retail point of view will bring an added dimension to our designers.”
Ada Zanditon:
Ada Zanditon is an innovative luxury ethical womenswear label that was started in March 2008 by Ada, an award winning first class graduate from the London College of Fashion. The label is currently stocked in Digitaria (Soho, London).
Ada also creates commissioned pieces for celebrities and performers including Patrick Wolf, Lois Winstone, Bishi, Stephanie (Puppini Sisters) and Robots in Disguise.
Christopher Raeburn is a young British fashion designer, known for innovative men’s and womenswear collections that focus on functional beauty in the 21st century cityscape.
Christopher Raeburn:
A graduate from London’s prestigious Royal College of Arts in 2006 he launched his eponymous label in 2008, recent projects have included a menswear collaboration with established British designer Tim Soar that was shown at Paris Men’s Fashion Week AW09, and an independent AW09 womenswear collection showcased at London Fashion Week AW09.
Christopher Raeburn is the previous winner of the International Ethical Fashion Forum Competition.
Goodone:
Mixing Body con with an oversized silhouette, making clothes that are sexy, desirable and obtainable, Goodone presented their first collection as part of estethica at LFW September 2009. In November 2008 Goodone was chosen as one of 3 finalists for the RE -New Designer of The Year award.
Goodone design and produce innovative, quality, one-off clothing which is made from hand-picked, locally-sourced, recycled fabrics. Goodone is currently working on an exciting project with ‘Fashion Targets Breast Cancer’, up-cycling all their past T shirts into limited edition black and white dresses, which will be launched in April.
Minna:
Finnish designer Minna Hepburn started collecting lace, brooches, buttons and other beautiful finds from strolling around local antique markets in the Dorset countryside. She started making tops and dresses from Scottish lace and embellishing them with her beloved findings.
This season Minna brings together a ‘grown up’ look with luxurious lace/wool mixes, cropped wool jackets made with British wool and fitted dresses made from recycled fabrics. Minna celebrates strong, sexy silhouettes with the hourglass shape as a starting point.
Nina Dolcetti:
Elisalex Grunfeld de Castro graduated from Cordwainers in 2005 and launched her high-end upcycled, luxury shoe label Nina Dolcetti at estethica at London Fashion Week in September 2008.
Aware of waste within the fashion industry and the environmentally unfriendly effects of leather tanning, Nina Dolcetti shoes are designed and constructed to reuse off-cuts and unwanted pre-consumer waste to create daring, architectural and design led pieces that are as avant garde as they are elegant.
Handmade in a small family run factory in East London, Nina Dolcetti shoes represent a new breed of conscious design that confidently walks the line between decadent pleasures and environmental awareness.
The North Circular:
The North Circular launched this autumn as a knitwear label that utilises the talents of grandmothers and high fashion models to create directional fashion pieces. The inspired idea by Lily Cole, Katherine Poulton, Central St Martins graduate Alice Ashby and entrepreneur Isobel Davies (Izzy Lane Founder) sees contemporary knitwear accessories made from ethical wool of rescued Wensleydale sheep. Expertly knit by hand in the UK. The north Circular is available at www.thenorthcircular.com
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