Celebrity Life

First launched in Israel, Ginlee Studio has come back home to roost - with a sustainable vision in tow.

For more stories like this, visit www.thepeakmagazine.com.sg.

First launched in Israel, Ginlee Studio has come back home to roost - with a sustainable vision in tow.

For more stories like this, visit www.thepeakmagazine.com.sg.

Plants not only bring beauty to your home, but also to your body. Plant jewelry is a rising trend in the wellness scene. Here are some of its wellness benefits.  Wearable Plants Help Beautify Your Body And Mind During the last year, my spirituality has intensified. I pray often to the Christian God for meeting […]

The post Benefits of Wearable Plant Jewelry As A Wellness Solution appeared first on Gracie Opulanza.

I love the parable where Jesus at the wedding of Cana, turned water into wine. Imagine if Jesus turned up at my vineyard here in Tuscany? And turned my wine grapes into vegan leather? A company called Vegea has just done that in Milan, Italy. Welcome to the holy grail of a Grape Leather. These […]

The post Real Leather Versus Grape Wine Leather appeared first on Gracie Opulanza.

Designing or buying new clothes during a pandemic is a waste of money. It’s why this seasons it really makes sense to learn the art of upcycling, also known as creative reuse. Regarding textile waste within the fashion industry and how much ends up in landfills. Is why upcycle is the perfect skill to master […]

The post Upcycling Ideas To Turn Old Clothes Into New Ones appeared first on Gracie Opulanza.

It’s clear that we need to design, create and buy better in fashion — a push for best practices in both the environmental and social sides of fashion has major global resonance today. Throughout January and February, we highlight five exciting labels from around the world leading the way in stylish sustainability. The fifth and final stop of our journey is Mother of Pearl.

Based in London and helmed today by Amy Powney, who went from sweeping the cutting- room floors to creative director in 13 years, this British star in sustainability is stocked by the likes of Net-A-Porter, Harrods and Saks Fifth Avenue. Built on foundations that are both ethical and surprisingly creative, Mother of Pearl aims to deliver “beautiful clothes without compromising on integrity”.

Founded in 2002 by stylist Maia Norman, the former long-time partner of Damien Hirst, Mother of Pearl is now known for its quirky classicism, relaxed silhouettes and contemporary attitude, all contributing to a crisp yet intriguing look. The label offers a full wardrobe of year-round fashion, as opposed to a seasonal trend-based approach. In 2018 it launched No Frills, a fully sustainable line of core classics in a bid to slow fashion down. Daily wear is complemented with more flourished styles and elegant occasion wear – all spruced up with fresh cuts, hues and details such as pearls, ruching and dramatic fringing.

“We believe in transparency and want to give you access to the full story behind our products. We’ve created an online filter, which tags each garment with its sustainable attributes, showing you what we’ve managed to achieve for each individual piece,” the brand says. By offering transparency with each product you spend money on, it hopes to encourage buyers’ interest in the garment cycle, too.

Mother of Pearl’s London offices are now run on green energy and moving to compostable packaging made from plant-based materials. It also strives for working with only socially responsible factories, mostly around Europe. By using mostly natural and organic fibres rather than synthetic and man-made materials, the label hopes to create fashion that’s less harmful to the environment – the website provides ample detail on its fabrications, the brand’s approach and individual pieces.

The post London-based Mother of Pearl Embodies quirky and Sustainable Classicism at Its Best appeared first on Prestige Online - Hong Kong.

It’s clear that we need to design, create and buy better in fashion — a push for best practices in both the environmental and social sides of fashion has major global resonance today. Throughout January and February, we highlight five exciting labels from around the world leading the way in stylish sustainability. The fourth stop of our journey is Kika Simonsen.

Founded in 2015, Brazilian designer Kika Simonsen, the label combines her passions for art, culture and fashion. The label demonstrates sustainability with garments made from recycled textiles, designed to give women versatility and style. Linen blends, recycled cotton, knits and velvet, as well as silks, either pure or woven with metallic threads, make up most of Simonsen’s fabrics, and cuts are comfortable, chic and created with artful silhouettes in mind.

Unique painting prints and pattern brushstrokes in much of her designs are developed from personal experiments and artwork – usually made from many layers of acrylic paint – in the designer’s Sao Paolo studio. Bringing the theme of wearable art to the table, the designer is a champion of slow fashion. She infuses her Brazilian heritage and culture with a blend of traditional patterns and flattering, feminine drapery used in these distinctive, colourful designs.

This season’s collection is inspired by the Japanese term akai ito – the red thread of fate, invisible to the naked eye, that connects men and women who are soulmates for eternity. This thread can stretch or get tangled but will never break.

The aesthetic is colourful, bright and joyful, bringing together South American flair, Japanese shapes and a contemporary sensibility. All pieces are handmade in Brazil, using more eco-optimised methods such as dyeing processes that consume less water. We’re admiring voluminous shapes in this particular collection, where Simonsen fuses the tropical with oriental details and painterly prints.

The post Brazilian Designer Kika Simonsen Creates Artsy Garments From Recycled Textiles appeared first on Prestige Online - Hong Kong.

Born and raised in the UK, Sarah Fung studied jewellery design at Central St. Martins and immediately started her own brand upon graduation. After exhibiting at London Fashion Week, she was able to sell in prestigious stores such as Browns Focus in London and the now-defunct Colette in Paris, demonstrating her entrepreneurial streak at a young age.

A couple years later, she started a lingerie and swimwear label with her best friend, and did so well – it was stocked by Selfridges in London and Lane Crawford – that she eventually dropped her jewellery line. However, after several years Fung found lingerie production was becoming increasingly challenging, so she decided to end the business; shortly afterwards, Lane Crawford offered her a job in its Hong Kong head office. She packed up to move closer to her family roots, where “it was great to reconnect with family that I hadn’t seen for 15 years and get some hardened experience working in retail”.

Fung ended up staying at Lane Crawford for nine years, far longer than she ever expected. Towards the end of her time there, she again thought of starting her own business, at the same time noticing the amount of waste produced by the fashion industry. After doing some research and realising there wasn’t a consignment business in Hong Kong that felt luxurious and inspiring, Fung started Hula in 2016 in a 4,000-square-foot showroom in Wong Chuk Hang, where she could store and display pre-owned luxury items.

Her experience on both sides of the industry – design and manufacturing as well as promotion and marketing – meant that she had total respect for these pieces, and wanted to make it her mission to help preserve beautiful items for longer. “I felt that because of the popularity of fast fashion, consumers didn’t care how things were made and there was no respect for craftsmanship,” Fung says.

“Growing up the UK, where there’s less of a throwaway culture, also meant that I had a natural tendency to re-purpose, and shopping second hand was quite normal for me. I was surprised when I moved to Hong Kong and found there wasn’t much of a mid-market here, so I wanted to offer consumers a different way to shop: more variety with better quality at better prices.”

Starting Hula certainly had its challenges, the first and foremost being the need for Fung to convince consumers of the benefits of buying pre-owned luxury items. "The fashion industry is responsible for a good deal of world's pollution, from the way the cotton is farmed and the amount of pesticides used, to how the making of a single pair of denim jeans can consume almost 7,000 litres of water.

“Before Covid-19, we staged a lot of events and panel discussions at our warehouse space on tackling issues about sustainability, the environmental and the social impacts of the fashion industry (such as modern slavery) and giving our customers styling sessions – as all these topics are linked to sustainability,” Fung says.

Becoming a more actively conscious consumer is a big part of it. “Do your own research about brands before you buy. Try to buy from sustainable or ethical brands, beware of ‘green-washing’ and look for materials that are better for the environment,” urges Fung. “Think before you buy – do you really need it, do you think you’ll get the wear out of it and, most important, can you resell it if you no longer want it? If the item is very cheap, question why that is so.”

One of Fung’s main targets is fast fashion: “These items are often badly made. They use cheap materials and their manufacturers are usually not treated fairly. In general, they tend to have fewer wears and their value depreciates to nothing as soon as it leaves the shop door, so it’s very hard to resell.

“Buying pre-owned versus new is one of the quickest ways to save fashion from polluting the Earth, apart from buying nothing,” she says. “Buying pre-owned still allows you to have fun with style but to do it consciously. Although sustainability is a big topic right now and customers are shopping more ethically, there’s so much information on companies, what we should eat, what damages your skin, what materials to buy, etcetera, that it’s really been an overload of information. Covid-19 has also made people think and shop less, but definitely shop better.”

Fung, however, expresses gratitude to the big players, especially luxury brands, that are taking sustainability seriously and helping to make it “sexier”, shaking off the stigma it once had. This is also why the second-hand market is now gaining so much traction. “In general, even though the fashion industry has been pushing boundaries visually and culturally, it’s been unwilling to change for so many years that we now have this catastrophe within the fashion market and the whole industry needs a total revamp," she says.

"The problem won't be resolved overnight. While we try new fabric innovations and friendlier productions methods. we're still far behind in making fashion sustainability more mainstream. That's why buying pre-owned is something we can all take in to help save the planet," urges Fung.

The power, ultimately, lies with the consumer. “Consumers really can change company behaviour and ethics, as the
more we buy into something, the more of it they make. As the saying goes, ‘Vote for your future with your wallet,’ because what we spend our money on is a very powerful tool and will dictate how companies act and how we see our future.”

Although there’s been a shift towards buying pre-owned items in Hong Kong, superstition has partly held this market back from developing over the last decades, because second-hand clothing was thought to be “unlucky”, having been passed on from the dead or sold due to lack of money. However, Fung has seen a change in recent years: those who weren’t so sure are slowly coming around and buying pre-owned items is at last being seen as cool. “It’s our mission to make buying pre-owned a community worth joining and something you should feel proud to be part of,” she says.

Consumers are also starting to shop based on sustainability and company ethics. The internet has given us a lot more information and transparency for consumers to be able to choose which businesses they should support or not. “Sustainability is here to stay, so much so that I believe that in the future we may not even need to say the word, as everything we do will be sustainable and ‘the norm’. I believe this business model and circular economy is the future of fashion retail. It’s a win-win – consumers want to monetise their wardrobe and look good for less, so it’s a no-brainer,” says Fung.

Asked about the fashion brands she admires, Fung points to labels with simple aesthetics, such as Khaite, Gabriella Hearst and The Row. “Before I started Hula I’d rarely seen or tried on Chanel pieces, but it’s got to be the best in terms of craftsmanship and design. Its pieces belong in a museum – I can understand why they’re worth so much and retain their value. And that’s the beauty of buying pre-owned: you suddenly have an array of brands to try under one roof, and high-end luxury becomes more accessible!”

The post Hula’s Founder Sarah Fung on Building Her Own Pre-owned Designer Womenswear Business appeared first on Prestige Online - Hong Kong.

A guide to shopping while saving the planet.

The post The founders of fashion brand Asket want you to buy less clothes appeared first on The Peak Magazine.

A guide to shopping while saving the planet.

For more stories like this, visit www.thepeakmagazine.com.sg.

It’s clear that we need to design, create and buy better in fashion — a push for best practices in both the environmental and social sides of fashion has major global resonance today. Throughout January, we highlight five exciting labels from around the world leading the way in stylish sustainability. The third stop of our journey is The Summer House.

Breezy, tropical and effortlessly chic, from artisan-made luxurious separates to zero-dye sleepwear, The Summer House is one of India’s leading and most exportable sustainable fashion brands. Care is taken with both human and environmental impact, a dual-pronged social and eco-driven approach to each step of the fashion process that gives the label a wonderful appeal.

Founded by Rekha Datla and Shivangini Padhiyar in 2015, the label sources eco- friendly fabrics from around India, such as organic cotton – all of it Global Organic Textile Standard (GOTS) certified – and works with a Gujarat co-operative to spin the fibres into yarn, which is then hand-woven into fabrics ranging from soft khadi to sturdy denim. It also showcases India’s long heritage of hand weaving and printing techniques using local craftsmen to create original, unexpected and timeless prints and designs.

Weavers in Madhya Pradesh, West Bengal and Andhra Pradesh, and block printers in Karnataka and Gujarat are all engaged to help create the fabrics. All clothing is made in the brand’s Bangalore production studios, giving it full control over workmanship and added transparency in the fashion cycle.

Collections are aptly named – Wonder Wander, The Flowers Will Return, Cherie and All White. The aesthetic taps into a lightweight modernity alongside touches of traditional craft in the fabrics, some abstract or minimal patterns, stripes and the serene range of hues. Silhouettes are blissfully airy.

The Summer House also has a House and Home section that works directly with craftsmen and NGOs to ensure they benefit more directly from each sale, instead of masses of middlemen. “Minimal, functional and hardworking are the three words that best describe our homeware,” says the brand, and the elegance and respect for natural materials is indicative of the quality hand craftsmanship and conscious design.

“For homeware, our team works in a well-lit, happy studio and earns fair wages.We provide training that gives each person the opportunity to enhance their skill and grow in their career. At no point is financial gain given precedence over physical and mental health.”

The post The Summer House: India’s Leading Sustainable Fashion Brand appeared first on Prestige Online - Hong Kong.

I am living on a stunning estate here in Tuscany Italy. I have access to amazing countryside surrounded by olives trees and vineyards. My outdoor lifestyle even in full lockdown does not limit me for access to countryside walking. I need a lifestyle boot that allows me to walk in boots with comfort. Whether I […]

The post Tracey Neuls – FARGO Countryside Lifestyle Boot Reviewed appeared first on Gracie Opulanza.