In a world of waste, we choose zero.

In a world of machines, we choose the human touch.

Last May, Eco Fashion Week Australia (EFWA) brought the Buya Subi Project fashion show to a full house at the Vancouver Public Library.

Led by founder and creative director Dr. Zuhal Kuvan-Mills, the runway showcased work from 21 designers from Australia and beyond.

Related story: Okaridge Park redefines luxury retail in Vancouver

Dr. Kuvan-Mills is no stranger to the Vancouver fashion community. Nearly a decade ago, she debuted one of her first collections at Vancouver Fashion Week.

Today, she calls the city her second home, crediting its designers and journalists with reconizing her talent and encouraging her path in fashion.

The Buya Subi Project launches a new four-year EFWA initiative exploring the intersection of culture and sustainable fashion.

It is a landmark collaboration between EFWA, the Central Sulawesi government, the Consulate General of Indonesia in Vancouver and the UN Sustainable Development Goals initiative. 

At the centre of the project are women in Palu, Indonesia, who handcraft silk textiles on manual looms using a tradition more than 300 years old. EFWA is helping preserve that heritage at a time when globalization continues to pressure local craft communities.

Buya Subi, a traditional textile from Central Sulawesi, is more than a handwoven fabric. It embodies community, tradition, and a deep respect for the environment.

With support from the Sulawesi government, each of the 21 participating designers received two square metres of Buya Subi fabric and was invited to create a runway look around it.

The resulting pieces honoured the textile’s cultural significance, foregrounded environmental responsibility, and helped create a pathway for local women to build a sustainable craft economy through tourism.

Ultimately, the Buya Subi Project is about more than preserving textile heritage, craftsmanship, and design. It is also an invitation to rethink how—and why—we buy fashion.

Photos: Simon Lau

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Above photo: Atelier Biologico Firenze, Italy

Related story: African Fashion Week Vancouver: Joyful and colourful

The fashion exhibition and runway shows showcase the work of various artists and designers, including Atelier Biologico Firenze from Italy, Green Embassy from Australia, Central Sulawesi, Indonesia, Sylvia Calvo from Spain, Zuzana Hrubos from the Czech Republic, Gia Dianna from the USA, and others.

There was an exceptional display of talented eco-designers from Australia, including Amee Dennis, Beads N Pods, Emergent Art Glass, Emily Craig studio, Fabric of Nature, Funk N Soul 97, Keli Studios, Leah Kelly, Ashley Majoni, Mon, Regis, and others, who were prominently showcased in both evening runway shows. 

EFWA Florence edition featured artist talks with several speakers throughout the two-day gathering at Spedale del Bigallo, a heritage hostel located on a hillside with views of Florence. It is believed that the original building on the property was a hospital constructed in the 13th century for the needy, the ill, and pilgrims.

In the early 15th century, civic records indicate the addition of a church attached to a main building that featured rooms on two floors. Meanwhile, on the opposite side of the church stood a residence for priests and a home for the farmer.

Today, it is known as the Bigallo hostel, offering dormitories and rooms with a total of 52 beds, located within one of the region’s most historic accommodations. It provides guests with a connection to Florence’s history, a stunning garden, and a panoramic terrace for dining, all complemented by an unforgettable view of the city.  

Florence is recognized as the birthplace of Italian fashion, especially during the 1950s. While Milan later emerged as the fashion capital, Florence continues to hold a significant place in the narrative of Italian style, particularly for its contributions to bringing the Italian fashion industry to the forefront of the global scene. Therefore, it is only fitting that EFWA selected Florence to host their opening global fashion show.

EFWA’s next conceptual fashion art show global tour stop is set for Vancouver, Canada, in September. Stay tuned for more details as they become available.

Photos: Simon Lau

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Above photo: Zuhal Kuvan-Mills earns acclaim for her Ghost Glacier collection.

Related story: Sylvia Calvo showcased her Indonesia collection at EFWA

Dressed in a strapless, floor-length white gown, the first model stepped onto the runway and revealed her violin, which was hidden behind her back. She began to play, and the room quickly filled with the music of Palladio by Karl Jenkins. Unbeknownst to the audience, the model was Kristy Hughes, a professional violinist with the Community Chamber Collective. This eight-member collective was seated in the balcony, performing for the entire Green Embassy fashion show under the direction of Shaun Fraser.

Ghost Glacier by Green Embassy was the grand finale for EFWA, featuring fashion designer Zuhal Kuvan-Mills, who showcased 20 couture outfits conveying a critical, thought-provoking message about our environment. 

The initial garments were solid white, symbolizing the glaciers of the ocean. As the show progressed, we noticed increasingly blue hues in each piece. By midway through the show, the blue tones became evident, accompanied by the music from the Phantom of the Opera that filled the room. The final outfit featured a long blue dress paired with an embroidered white scarf worn by the model, representing oceans nearly devoid of glaciers.

Over the past decade, I have admired Zuhal Kuvan-Mills’ creative mind as she crafts couture garments while also taking steps to preserve our environment. On her Perth farm, she raises several alpacas from which she gathers fibres to create outfits. She consistently works with natural materials such as alpaca, merino wool, silk, and organic cotton, never wasting a single piece of material. 

Green Embassy’s eco-fashion creations are fully handcrafted in Australia and have gained international recognition as the country’s first organic fashion label. Their textiles and garments hold certification from Global Organic Textile Standards, which are the premier benchmarks for quality assurance in the global organic textile industry.

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I had the pleasure of meeting Sylvia Calvo at Eco Fashion Week Australia 2017. After reviewing her sustainable fashion collection, I discovered she is an innovative, eco-friendly designer gaining recognition in Europe.

Related story: Jose Hendo wows audiences with ancient barkcloth at EFWA

Her commitment to using sustainable materials, like salvaging jute coffee bags from Barcelona’s Harbour, is innovative. She collaborates with Hilaturas Jesús Rubio to shred and repurpose these bags into new yarn. All are locally crafted in Barcelona, bolstering the local economy, minimizing carbon emissions, and contributing to her couture collections.

In her latest Indonesia fashion collection at EFWA 2024, she repurposes cotton coffee bags sourced directly from Indonesia through a joint project involving local growers and This Side Up, an Amsterdam-based specialty coffee importer.

The project began with This Side Up employing a local artist to create an original design and colours for the cotton coffee bags. They decided to silkscreen the bags using inks derived from food waste, like coffee grounds, to produce a brown colour, thereby avoiding toxins and generating more jobs within the local community.

Preparing cotton coffee bags for reuse before their first use has eliminated the transportation carbon footprint. 

At This Side Up, the Amsterdam warehouse has benefited from using vibrant cotton coffee bags. These bags have improved inventory management efficiency, minimized shipping errors, and reduced operational costs by lowering the carbon footprint associated with additional deliveries and pickups due to mistakes. 

Sylvia Calvo has created something extraordinary with her partners based on Circular Economy principles, positively impacting the entire value chain from Indonesia to Barcelona. 

In her studio in Barcelona, she creates garments from cotton coffee bags. From skirts to pants, each item highlights circular sustainability by utilizing minimal new materials and a high proportion of recycled content.

The message for all of us is to embrace the beauty of eco-friendly fashion and allow our wardrobes to reflect our values—because looking stylish should never be at the expense of our planet.

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Born in Uganda, Jose embodies a unique blend of cultural heritage and contemporary design that challenges today’s throw-away culture. Her commitment to sustainability is evident in every piece she creates, showcasing a new approach prioritizing ethical values and environmental responsibility.

Related story – Eco Fashion Week Australia values diversity among models

Her recent collection, presented at Eco Fashion Week Australia in Perth and Busselton last November, was visually stunning and one of the most unique runway shows during the month-long event. Australian models showcased their fashions in various looks, proving that eco-fashion is anything but boring.

Jose Hendo’s use of barkcloth

Jose Hendo’s designs prominently feature barkcloth, which was declared a UNESCO World Heritage material in 2005. Barkcloth is regarded as the oldest cloth created by humans. In Uganda, trees from the family of Moraceae regenerate new bark cloth that can be harvested annually for up to 50 years.

As a fashion designer, she incorporates a range of eco-friendly fabrics, such as organic cotton, silk, hemp, and bamboo, and top-of-the-line materials like linen, wool, and denim. Each creation is not just a garment; it’s a one-of-a-kind piece that promotes the use of organic materials while telling a story about mindful consumption.

By utilizing upcycled textiles and sustainable practices, Jose Hendo crafts stunning eco-fashion pieces and encourages consumers to rethink their choices. In an industry often criticized for its environmental impact, her work stands as a beacon of hope for those seeking stylish yet responsible fashion options. 

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Diversity is part of all designer runway shows today, but the industry standard expects female models to be a minimum of five feet 10 inches tall and have a size two figure. As female models have caught up to their male counterparts, male models must now be six feet two inches or taller once the ladies put on their high heels. 

Above photo: Designer Joschua

Dr. Zuhal Kuvan-Mills, Director of Eco Fashion Week Australia, has always selected models of various heights and body sizes, reflecting the world in which we live today. Her models ranged from five feet to the standard and included different body types. Typically, shorter models are used for catalogue photography and as fit models.

Fashion runway shows are designed to be an immersive experience that conveys the designer’s brand. Usually, it lasts less than 15 minutes, resulting in months of preparation and hundreds of thousands of dollars for fashion models, a backstage crew of make-up and hair artists, tailors, lighting technicians, runway photographers, choreographers, musicians or deejays, emcee, and a stage manager.

Over the past decade, social media has made fashion shows more theatrical, which I find distracting. However, nothing replaces a well-made and cohesive collection on the runway. 

Top European designer seasonal collection shows now feature more than 100 models lasting up to 30 minutes. Their straight-line runway shows always leave a lasting impression that captivates audiences, for it is all about the garments.

When I review a designer collection from the front row, the first outfit must wow me, and the anchor – the last garment must be awe-inspiring. During the show, the assortment must build on the collection for their prospective clients.

A designer collection isn’t remarkable because of extravagant staging. Selecting the right model who speaks to your audience, regardless of height or body measurement, creates memories that remain with us. 

That’s the winning formula with the fashion models from Eco Fashion Week Australia.

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Dr. Kuvan-Mills undertook carpal tunnel surgery at St John of God Mt Lawley Hospital when an idea to repurpose caregiver scrubs into a fashion line was born. 

“I was speaking to the nurse on duty pre-surgery, and we discussed the amount of potential textile waste across many industries where staff wear uniforms. A discussion with this environmentally conscious nurse on her uniform’s potential destiny just before I entered the operating theatre was the source of my idea,” said Dr. Kuvan-Mills. 

Gift of Hope

With the idea firmly planted, Dr Kuvan-Mills then discovered St John of God Foundation’s ‘Gift of Hope’ project, which supports cancer patients experiencing financial hardship related to their treatment. 

In discussion with EFWA local designers, Green Embassy, Fabric of Nature and Deadly Denim, Dr. Kuvan-Mills inspired the group to create a clothing collection from hospital uniforms to present during what has now become a month-long sustainable fashion festival in Busselton and Perth this November. 

The ‘Aqua’ collection is inspired by water shortages and changing weather patterns. It will be showcased during the month-long festival and will be available for sale on the show night of November 16 at Midland Junction Arts Centre. All proceeds from the EFWA sale that evening will be donated to St John of God Foundation’s Gift of Hope project.

EFWA at Busselton Jetty

Part of the collection will also feature on the festival’s opening night on Friday, November 1st. The festival will also seek to set a world record with a 3.6 km fashion catwalk over the Indian Ocean on Busselton Jetty, with local, national, and international designers and many creative community groups participating. 

Related Story: Discover the luxurious Aplaca fashion collection by Ahblo

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Titled “Closet of the Anthropocene,” their third international event will include a series of fashion runway shows and exhibitions at various art galleries starting in November 2024.

“Anthropocene” defines a new geological epoch or planetary era in which human activity impacts the ecological balance of the planet and is the main driver of change, on a global scale.

Above Photo: The Face of EFWA 2022, Talisha Lee-Karuthiru. | Zuhal Kuvan-Mills

Fashion artists invited to exhibit

EFWA 2024 will explore this geological era and its implications on design, textiles, art and fashion disciplines. 

For the past several years, the luxury fashion industry has focused on their sustainability practices which has become top of mind with consumers as to the impact of manufacturing on our planet. 

The festival will bring together over 50 international and Australian fashion artists using sustainable textiles and fabrics. Plus examine the relationships between fashion and geology, and the future of Anthropocene.

Related story: Australian Eco-Fashion designers steal the show

Swan Valley to host EFWA 2024

The fashion shows are held in Swan Valley region followed by art exhibitions in Fremantle, Geraldton and Bunbury, Western Australia.

”I hope that visitors who view our shows and exhibitions will think deeply about the beauty of our world and how important it is for us to protect it,” said Zuhal Kuvan-Mills, Visual Artist, Curator and Founder of EFWA which is based in Western Australia. “We have a responsibility as fashion artists and consumers, to do our part in protecting our planet.” 

EFWA’ Closet of Anthropocene will faciliate a discussion with artist and consumers on waste, pollution, consumption and environmental destruction. Also make a call for optimism with new ways of imagining a vibrant fashion future.

Watch for further EFWA 2024 news here at Style Drama.

Updated: This story has been updated with EFWA scheduled in November 2024.

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Sylvia Calvo’s unique designs answer the question what do you get when you cross high fashion with waste fabric? In fact, creating fashionable collections out of burlap sacks is the challenge that she wakes up to every morning.

Recently, Sylvia Calvo returned to Eco Fashion Week Australia with her second collection which truly impressed. She took as inspiration the arts and culture of her hometown of Barcelona which hugs the coastline of the majestic Mediterranean Sea.

This stylish Spaniard’s fashionable collection, which included pieces for both men and women, used not only reclaimed coffee bean bags but also organic cotton and hemp. This mix of fabrics, used to construct wearable separates, gave us a more diversified collection and broadened the appeal of Calvo’s unique brand.

Any good fashion designer needs to evolve over time and I was pleasantly surprised with the addition of impressive hand painting and embroidery on her fabrics. This experimentation with new techniques is what makes Calvo stand out as an eco-designer.

Although they are made out of waste fabrics, there’s nothing throwaway about Calvo’s clothes. One outfit that impressed on the runaway was an emerald green skirt with a blouse covered in alpaca and natural gems applied on coffee bag burlap. Calvo also showcased a men’s tailored jacket with hand crafted wooden buttons that would not have looked out of place on the streets of Barcelona.

She presented t-shirts and light outerwear and, new for 2019, is a line of bags, offering an entry level eco-fashion item for those just dipping their toes into greening their closets and thus widening her brand’s appeal.

Sylvia Calvo’s motto is “waste to value” and it can’t be denied that her designs impact our environment only minimally while offering wearable and stylish clothing for today’s eco conscious men and women.

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The runway show consists of sustainable fashions from first- and second-year students made a marked as this young talent created eco-friendly designs can be fun and personable.

Not surprising as Curtin University is global campus with almost one-third of its student body consist of international students. Offering up a multi-cultural and inclusive environment to develop young minds.

Here are some of the looks from Curtin University sustainable fashion student show.

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