New Zealand Eco Fashion Week hit the capital this month, showcasing ethical and sustainable fashion at its best. As part of fashion week, The Designer Runway event also took place with over 20 international and national designers presenting ethical, eco-friendly and upcycled collections. New Zealand ethical label, ReCreate, was awarded New Zealand Eco Fashion Designer of the Year for 2015 with their selection of organic basics and silk-cotton range designed by Ashleigh Lloyd.
Ashleigh began designing for the ReCreate store a year ago after graduating in Fashion Design and Communication Management from Massey University in Wellington in 2013. As a young child she was taught sewing from her grandmother and mother. The ReCreate store aims to provide the same opportunity for skills to be passed onto the next generation that Ashleigh experienced. She has always had a passion to be involved in an area of the fashion industry that makes a difference in people’s lives.
The new silk-cotton collection featured at eco fashion week showcased a variety of simple yet sophisticated garments drawing on the idea of versatility and being able to dress them up or down depending on the occasion. The fabric used for the silk cotton range was created by a small business in rural Cambodia. Their vision is to provide fair employment for rural families who are living in poverty by using the traditional Khmer skill of hand weaving fabric on a loom.
During the Khmer Rouge regime in the 1970’s, many traditional skills were lost as families were torn apart and millions of people died. However by reviving these skills through paid enterprise, families have been able to regain their livelihood. Employees receive fair wages, the ability to work from home, flexibility for mums to work and care for their children at the same time, as well as an allowance for each child to progress through school to a university level. In addition to the skill of fabric weaving, the business has worked with employees to regain the art of traditional Khmer organic dyeing techniques. Together they tested hundreds of natural materials like local barks, vegetable skins and flowers to find natural and organic dye colours that can be used to dye fabric.
Not only is this an amazing environmental practice, but they have literally rebuilt a lost cultural art. The materials used to create the fabric for the ReCreate range were Indian Almond leaves and Sappan bark. The fabric used in these garments is also recognised by the International Trade Centre, a joint agency by the United Nations and the World Trade Organisation, as providing an effective solution to poverty in rural Cambodia.
Once the weaving is complete, this fabric is then sent to the ReCreate sewing centre in Dey Tmey, Cambodia where it is sewn into beautiful garments.
Here, a team of women have the opportunity to work with fabrics that have been locally made using their traditional skills, as well as learning new techniques and gaining confidence in creating this brand new range. Each woman receives fair wages with matched savings, full sewing training, personal development opportunties and an excellent work environment. The garments featured on the runway will be available in Spring on the ReCreate website: www.recreatestore.co.nz. 100% Certified Organic Cotton garments from the ReCreate Autumn range are available now via website pre-order.
By Erana Pound
Photos from Recreatestore.com
17th June 2015
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