Ethical fashion is riding the recession in style, with a major show opening in Paris on September 25. The Ethical Fashion Show, the world’s largest event devoted solely to sustainable fashion, is now in its seventh year. Over a hundred brands represented the four-day long fashion show that has outgrown its humble origins in disused ware-houses to occupy the new Docks en Seine building, home of the French Fashion Institute.
The clothes on display ranged from the impressive but quirky — a jaw-dropping couture dress made from recycled film stock — to the more wearable and commercial, like 50s-style skirts in organic cotton and silk from French/Vietnamese brand All, and British company Terra Plana’s recycled leather shoes.
This year the show was taken over by Messe Frankfurt, the world’s largest trade show organiser — a sign that despite the recession, ethical fashion is still a growth market. “It’s become more professional, it looks a lot more like a trade show now,” said Gilles Richard of childrenswearbrand La Queue du Chat, who have been exhibiting here for four years. 
Several brands from Britain also made the trip. Sarah Ratty of Ciel, who was showcasing a stunning new digital print, colour-fixed with algae, said she had been lured here for the first time by the involvement of Messe Frankfurt. “It’s nice to be able to have a platform abroad to showcase great British design with a green twist,” she said.
Other highlights included an ingenious dress by Danish company Diffus, embedded with tiny lights that visibly react to the CO2 levels in the environment around it. Celebrating the UN’s Year of Biodiversity, there was also a particular focus on sustainable fabrics, including loose-knit scarfs and jumpers made from nettle, pineapple and super-soft banana fibres.
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