Last Wednesday it was showtime once again for
Ethical Fashion in Berlin. This time the venue for the
Green Showroom had been moved to the
Kronprinzenpalais. A stunning building with a lot of pre-wall fall retro charm and a long trail of history. It has hosted the Hohenzollern Kings and seen a few heads of states in its time. I strongly suspect catwalks & gorgeous girls in stunning frocks were a first though.
Arriving in one of the convenient shuttle taxis connecting the E-werk site with its posh and not-so-little-anymore-sister site we had a good browse around the exhibition where Ala and I met new & familiar faces!
Having set the bar high with her
S/S 2014 collection Dutch designer
Elsien Gringhuis didn't fail to deliver yet another strong and intelligent collection. For Winter 2014 she was exploring the idea that all things connect. Situations, people and events respond to signals - good or bad vibes you send out and not everything is what it seems at first sight. The gorgeous sleeveless organic wool coat for example can be zipped off half length, worn as a jacket or swapped for another contrast bottom. Elsien stayed true to her classic, angular and elegant signature with a beautifully cut, boxy sleeved, grey marl sweat top and introduced natural rhubarb tanned leather a collaboration with German brand
DeepMello as a new material for Winter. The black sweatshirt with leather lined front detail is my new fav for next season and I just had enough time to give it a quick try as seats were going fast for the evening scheduled runway showcase featuring
Dutch Eco Design.
Dutch designers always had a strong presence at the Greenshowroom since it first appeared on the Berlin fashion horizon in 2009. The show was a special treat for this season sponsored by the Kingdom of the Netherlands. Another brand featured in the show was Dutch brand
Studio Jux who made it their goal to look AND do good as they build up their label using only sustainable materials.
'Jux' is German for fun and by employing and fairly paying tailors from Nepal one of the poorest counrties in the world they're making sure that their fairly paid and treated employees have plenty to laugh about. Their mantra is: 'My tailor is my rockstar' - deffo a label to watch ❤
