Del Forte Denim @ “Walk the Talk” eco-fashion night by monstro.

In New York people are blogging about it. In London there was an exhibition about it. And more recently brands such as Levis are making it - organic clothes. The eco/organic movement has been around for a while now and is growing fast thanks to the Internet and bloggers like fiftyRX3. Overseas labels such as Worn Again (London) produce 100% recyclable shoes while preloved based in Canada recut and restyle old clothes to be resold again

I was curious as to what was going on in the Melbourne fashion scene so I interviewed designer Lorraine Brusch about her thoughts on eco fashion and it’s place in Melbourne.

What can you tell me about eco-fashion in Melbourne?

Ha! Eco fashion and Melbourne! There’s not a lot happening at all! I wander far and wide across Melbourne and it’s suburbs, and haven’t witnessed anything to indicate that Eco fashion is alive and kicking, or even starting to sprout! I hope someone can prove me wrong on this, as I’d be excited to hear of any new developments!

Although, it really depends on what you term ‘Eco Fashion’. In terms of organic fibres, hemp and sustainable materials, apart from the drab shapeless fare offered in the Green Store on Brunswick street, or the various stalls at St Andrews market selling more shapeless hemp, and the new organic clothing store in Southbank (opposite American Rag) which stocks organic cotton clothing, alpaca and hemp then I haven’t witnessed much. Of course there is always the usual organic/hemp t-shirts sold as sidelines in Organic food stores and new age gift/book stores.

Melbourne has the ‘no sweat’ label of runners that look like converse which seem to be gaining momentum, and the excellent Brotherhood of St Lawrence venture called Hunter Gatherer in St Kilda and Fitzroy. They also sell their own label that’s produced in Melbourne (sweat shop free) alongside their recycled vintage clothing. There are many Australian online stores selling Eco clothing, but they tend to offer basics and not fashion items as such. I’ve seen some groovy kids clothing made from vintage fabrics (from the fabulous Flashback vintage fabric store in Westgarth), but still not on any major scale.

There seems to be this pervading idea that sustainable fashion should only be marketed to the tree hugging green set, which is a shame because it needs to reach a wider audience. Yet it’s not surprising, in the past eco clothing hasn’t been fashion forward. ‘Greenies’ are often shy of wearing fashionable clothing for fear it may indicate some sort of right wing consumerism vice in them, and don’t want to be seen as buying into the ’system’. Fashion cycles are short lived so it doesn’t fit with green philosophy, to be sporting a ‘disposable style’ ie a short lived trend. Hence, the all too often unfortunate ethnic styled loose fitting garments. Sadly we’re often left with goods that are ‘anti style’ and ‘anti design’. Why can’t one be both stylish and conscious? Surely beauty and design are not evil vices? It’s encouraging to see the amazing eco design philosophy and aesthetic emerging elsewhere in the world.

In terms of sustainability I think vintage and recycled is more on track than organic fibres, as even though organic cotton is grown without pesticides it’s impact on the environment is still huge due to the large amount of water it needs. I have been quite thrown by new research in Professor Lovelock’s book about the Gaia theory, it really does challenge some of my preconceived ideas of what really constitutes green and sustainable. I wish the Australian government would lift it’s ban on growing hemp here as it has so many wonderful benefits to the earth. Bamboo and lyocell are all things I’m looking at too in terms of alternative fibres.

In America and Europe eco fashion is taking off. Do you see the same happening in Melbourne?

I think a good indication of how we are doing compared to Europe and the USA would be to look at our organic food industry. I used to own an organic Pizza restaurant in Melbourne, so I have some experience with organic food supply. The organic food industry in Australia is seriously lagging in terms of consumption per head of population. I recently read in the Age that organic food supplies still account for less than 1% of all food sold in Australia. There are many reasons for this and the public are not really to blame. The cost of organic food here in Australia is much higher than that of conventional produce, due to lack of subsidy in farms, isolation from other markets and producers, the high cost of imports etc. Organic food and clothing can in some ways be seen as a luxury for the middle classes.

Politically we are in the grip of right wing times in Australia and as you know the environment is not high on the Liberal’s agenda, hence lack of awareness with the consumer about environmental issues. I think if the government is not prioritising the environment how can we expect the public to do the same?