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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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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EFWA is more than a sustainable fashion runway show; it also includes gallery exhibitions and seminars that educate the public on the ever-increasing fashion waste and its effects on the environment and society. 

Above photo: Sylvia Calvo, Barcelona, Spain

More fashion news:

Green Embassy’s Ghost Glacier collection opens EFWA Busselton

Australians, on average, purchase 56 new garments a year, double the global average, according to the Australia Institute. Today, Australians are the biggest clothing consumers, creating a 300,000-ton-mountain problem of textile waste.

Dr. Zuhal Kuvan-Mills curated the Closet of the Anthropocene to celebrate their community’s creativity by re-imagining existing garments and saving them from landfills.

On opening night, invited guests at the Ellenbrook Art Gallery were treated to a private fashion show featuring over 50 models representing local and international designers participating in EFWA in Busselton and Perth. 

Several of the fashions displayed were outstanding: Ghost Glacier, a beautiful blue floor-length dress by Dr. Zuhal Kuvan-Mills that symbolized the melting glaciers. 

Sylvia Calvo’s outfit is constructed from hand-painted silk by Anna Albert, and discarded jute coffee bags were eye-catching.

Remarkable was the R3 Warrior Women garment, crafted by Uganda-born, British-based eco-stainable designer Jose Hendo, which was constructed from Barkcloth, an organic-bio-degradable cloth manufactured with no added chemicals or textile agents. 

The Closet of the Anthropocene brings to light one of today’s most significant global waste issues and should not be missed. 

EFWA is working to build awareness and find workable solutions to save our planet. 

For exhibition hours, visit Ellenbrook Art Gallery.

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More Fashion News:

EFWA aims for world record with longest sustainable fashion runway show

Under the artistic direction of Dr. Zuhal Kuvan-Mills, the new eco-fashion collection titled “Ghost Glacier” conveys a message about climate change and the melting of the world’s glaciers.

On the runway, the first model was dressed in a stylist’s long white dress, symbolizing our Artic white glacier. As her runway show progressed, each following model’s outfits became bluer, with less white symbolizing the disappearance of our world glaciers. 

Her collection celebrates the spirit of sustainability. However, the twelve fashion dresses in her collection that evening were world-class and could easily have been found on Paris, Milan or London runways.

Green Embassy’s opening show was just the beginning of EFWA fashion shows showcasing designers from around the globe. Fashionistas are guaranteed to experience some of the best eco-friendly yet stylish fashion for men and women. EFWA ‘s Busselton and Perth show calendar can be found on their website.

Green Embassy is known for its unique fusion of timeless textile sculptures, traditional handmade techniques, organically certified materials and luxury quality. Their wearable art pieces elevate slow fashion to luxury.

Dr. Zuhal Kuvan-Mills is the artist, designer, and earth ambassador for Green Embassy, Australia’s first internationally recognized organic fashion label. She focuses on modern, minimalist, functional, and alluring garments for earth-friendly consumers. Zuhal is inspired by ancient textile crafting traditions and the vivid beauty of Western Australia’s bush landscapes.

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The Busselton Jetty, the world’s second longest and southern hemisphere’s longest timber-piled jetty, will be transformed into the world’s longest catwalk in November for Australia’s Sustainable Fashion Festival 24. 

Located in the heart of Western Australia’s South West, this month-long festival will host spectacular global fashion shows. Its goal is to promote eco-friendly, ethical, and sustainable fashion.

Related story: The IT bag for spring

Presented by Eco Fashion Week Australia (EFWA), this ground-breaking event will transform the Australian fashion landscape and redefine the industry. 

The event will draw fashion lovers, designers, and sustainability advocates worldwide to the festival in Busselton and Perth. Set against the stunning backdrop of WA’s South West region. 

The festival includes runway shows, artist’s talks and workshops, fashion art exhibits, an upcycling challenge, sustainable fashion, and art exhibits.

Festival Director Zuhal Kuvan Mills says the event will provide a global stage for designers to present fashion in the new age of the Anthropocene, a term used to describe an epoch shaped by human activity’s impact on climate change.

“It’s been estimated that 92 million tonnes of textile waste go into landfills around the world every year,” says Zuhal. Cheap, fast fashion means people wear many of their clothes just a few times before throwing them out.

That comes at a huge environmental cost, and we urgently need to find ways to make fashion more sustainable.

The Sustainable Fashion Festival 24 will present ‘Closet of the Anthropocene’ to showcase the collections of more than 80 international and Australian designers who source sustainable materials and textiles to create unique pieces.

Mills is organizing her fourth Sustainable Fashion Festival in Australia, and Busselton Jetty is the perfect kickoff venue.

They look forward to inviting the world to join them on a sustainable fashion journey. Everyone can get involved, no matter their age, background, or fashion sense. You can learn more at EFWA.

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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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Demonstrating that Edith Cowan University program is very much a part of the fashion scene here in Western Australia.

To make it in the fashion world today, it requires talent, lots of hard work and integrity.

The fashion industry is a multidimensional business that requires strong relationships with fashion week organizers, stylist, publicist manufacturers, wholesalers, retailers and their clientele.

Often, we see fashion designers self-destruct because of their unethical business practices within the industry.

Perhaps one of theses students will be the new face of Australia’s eco-fashion future.

Here are a few of the looks from the ECU student capsule show.

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Eco Fashion Week Australia has partnered with Fremantle-based wool merchant, Scanlan Wools Pty and their partnering company Sunshine Textile Group from China to challenge local design students and established eco-designers to create one unique garment using only three square meters of Merino fabric.

Since the late 1700’s, wool has been very much a part of the Australian landscape. Western Australia now produces 71 million kg wool per year with over 95% of Merino wool destined for the luxury fashion market.

A total of ten student designers from Western Australia educational institutes plus six eco designers received Western Australian Marino wool that is created with superfine 18.5 micron fibers from Scanlan’s Merino wool growers, was sent to China to be woven at Sunshine’s’ wool mills and returned to Perth to be created into custom garments.

Last evening at EFWA, the final results on the runway were amazing. From high fashion glamour of long dresses and casual street style to children’s wear.

Eco-friendly consumers want to know how and where they fabrics are made these fashion designers has shown that Australia Merino wool is the choice when it comes to style, comfort and sustainability.

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Eco Fashion Week Australia has been successful in bringing together both established and emerging fashion designers as well as artists, activists, media, businesses, local governments and the broader community to raise awareness for environmentally conscious fashion in both Australia and on a global scale.

Now in its second year, Eco Fashion Week Australia’s expansion to a traveling, two-city runway show is all due to the efforts of Zuhal Kuvan-Mills, founder of EFWA and eco-friendly luxury fashion designer. Through both her own line Green Embassy and EFWA, Kuvan-Mills promotes sustainability and slow fashion with passion and determination.

Above photo: Green Embassy collection by Zuhal Kuvan-Mills | Model Lauren Di Meglio – Dane Selby Modelling Agency |Make-up Jessica Vlog | Photo Aiden Green

Port Douglas: Fashion for the Rainforest

Home to Australia’s Great Barrier Reef – the world’s largest reef system – and the vast tropical biodiverse rainforest of Daintree National Park, Port Douglas is the perfect location to bring home Eco Fashion Week Australia 2018 message of how beautiful and yet fragile our environment is and how we must consume less fashion in our daily lives in order to protect our planet.

After Port Douglas, the show travels to Fremantle, the port of Perth, for a second week of designer fashion shows. Both venues will feature business and educational programs, eco seminars and mending workshops, providing opportunities for each of us to learn how we can make a difference in our world.

As a media sponsor, Style Drama will be reporting on the latest eco fashion news from the front row and offering up luxury travel stories on the best of Port Douglas and Fremantle’s hotels, restaurants and attractions such as wellness, adventure and shopping options during the week.

Sustainability is the New Black

Zuhal Kuvan-Mills will be introducing Green Embassy’s new collection which is inspired by the Carnaby’s Cockatoo, an endangered species in Australia whose numbers are declining rapidly.

With their natural habitat of native vegetation cleared by urban development, this species is expected to be extinct in less than a decade. As the population declines, they are no longer breeding in up to a third of their breeding sites.

The cockatoos form lifelong pairs and live up to 50 years in the wild. But with a large portion of the population past breeding age, and very few younger birds to keep the species from declining, this bird’s days appear to be numbered.

Zuhal Kuvan-Mills created her Carnaby’s Cockatoo collection using a myriad of fabrics such as Australian merino wool, alpaca fiber, organic cotton, silk as well as cheesecloth and recycled window dressings. This represents just a sample of her collection which will be featured at both locations.

Eco Fashion Week Australia 2018

With the goal to inspire us to change our perspectives on fashion, Eco Fashion Week Australia showcases the most creative, artistic and beautiful designs while remaining socially and environmentally responsible. Need proof that environmentally conscious fashion doesn’t have to be drab? Look no further than Style Drama. Our coverage of the exquisite and fashion-forward collections at Eco Fashion Week Australia 2018 will make you an green fashion convert.

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In front of the main entrance, brightly blazing white lights spelled out the signature “VFW”. To hordes of fashionistas, influencers and others ‘in the know’, this signified that local and international designers had descended on the city to showcase their talent over seven fabulous days.

Bright Lights & White Tents

The large white tents, which created the perfect backdrop for the fashion collections, provided a unique energy and excitement to the local community and we hope that this will be VFW’s new home.

Vancouver Fashion Week Spring Summer 2019 Collections

Monday evening was Vancouver Fashion Week’s Opening Gala which featured single ensembles by over 20 designers as well as two designer collections. Phuong My’s stylish collection of women’s evening wear kicked off VFW’s first year at its new location.

Phuong My

Vietnamese-born My, a graduate of the Academy of Art University in San Francisco, launched her label in 2013, catering to stylish Asian women, including many celebrities.

Her collection at VFW featured luxury materials and shaped gowns of the sort that would be found on the red carpet in Asia and the Middle East.

Having exhibited her designs in New York, San Francisco, Tokyo, Singapore, Perth and Dubai, she now has 30 retail locations in 20 countries stretching from France and Italy to Dubai and Southeast Asia. With her international credentials and global reach, this up-and-coming style superstar was just the right designer to launch Vancouver Fashion Week’s new downtown location.

Above Photos: Phuong My | Simon Lau

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