This year, Portland’s Fashion Week claimed the honor of being the first-ever US sustainable Fashion Week production. The show, but not all of the fashions, were super eco-friendly.
The runway was made of bamboo, the staging with sustainably harvested wood, low voltage LED lighting poured down from overhead, and electrical tape was banned—it’s not recyclable.
Many of the designers and artists involved in Portland Fashion Week did go green with eco-friendly collections and chose healthy-looking, even if inexperienced, models.
Showing Off in Ecological Style
2009 Portland Fashion Week Goes Seriously Green
Trend Themes
1. Eco-friendly Fashion - There is a disruptive innovation opportunity for the fashion industry to produce eco-friendly collections and use sustainable materials such as bamboo and recyclable materials like low voltage LED lighting.
2. Sustainable Fashion Week - Creating a sustainable fashion week production presents an opportunity for further innovation and experimentation with eco-friendly materials and practices.
3. Healthy-looking Models - The fashion industry could potentially disrupt the standard for models and include healthy-looking, inexperienced models in their fashion shows, appealing to a wider audience.
Industry Implications
1. Fashion - The fashion industry has an opportunity to shift towards more sustainable and eco-friendly practices to reduce their environmental impact.
2. Event Planning - Event planners can explore sustainable and eco-friendly initiatives, like using sustainably harvested wood for staging and incorporating low voltage LED lighting.
3. Modeling - The modeling industry could potentially disrupt the standard for healthy-looking models and inclusivity in fashion shows, appealing to a wider audience and promoting positive body image.