Can a Fashion Week even be sustainable? Georgia investigates the harmful environmental impact that the annual fashion weeks across the globe can have, from the physical event itself, to the mindsets that the events encourage; suggesting that fashion is ‘seasonal’ and therefore encouraging more and more consumption. However, cities like Helsinki are pioneering sustainable fashion weeks, inspiring other cities to follow suit.

Ben is SFW’s Digital Programme Lead, responsible for creating content using recorded interviews and How To workshops. Ben is a young creative who works in and around Bristol as an image consultant, photographer and stylist. He strongly believes that it is time for a change in the fashion landscape, including more representation, education surrounding manufacturing and a real effort to alter the perception around single use clothing.

The world is seeing a rise in second hand shopping as consumers seek cheaper, more sustainably-sourced alternatives to fast fashion. In the US alone, the resale market has grown 21 times faster than the new apparel market in the last 3 years. Buying second hand has several environmental and social advantages. It could also mean that fashion brands begin to provide more environmentally-conscious clothing as they seek to keep up with the growing second hand trend.

Amelia Crews is the Ambassador Lead for SFW. She is a recent graduate in Business and Digital Marketing and has joined SFW because of her love of clothes and her desire that we learn to see the beautiful value in pre-used clothing. She believes that, rather than supporting a constant stream of new clothing, we should learn to create new from the old and find more value behind what we wear.

Alex has joined our Communication Team to look after Sustainable Fashion Week's social media channels. Having worked for the fashion industry, Alex understands first-hand the destructive environmental impact it has. Her passion for sustainable fashion, and embracing sustainable lifestyle choices where one can, is what drove Alex to join SFW.

Last year, Labour Behind the Label launched a campaign demanding more transparency from school uniform supplier Trutex. The campaign was hugely successful and shines a light on where our school uniforms come from and how we can make more eco-friendly choices when it comes to buying our Back to School kit.

Georgia is overseeing our social media content and the way we develop our ‘brand’ through our messaging. Georgia was drawn to SFW because of the focus on community involvement and trying to make sustainable fashion accessible. She loves that SFW isn't just focusing on those who are already involved in sustainability and condemning those who aren't; SFW is about bringing everyone on board in ways that work for them.

We’re so excited to have Mya-Rose on the SFW team. Mya-Rose (AKA Birdgirl) is an inspiration to us, having done so much work in supporting access to nature for Visible Ethnic Minority Communities. She is going to support us in reaching out to the diverse Bristol communities and in ensuring our programming is representative.

Claire Haines has joined the SFW team as our Programming Lead for City Wide Events. Her background in event management and charity makes her the perfect fit for this role. Claire loves fashion and the outdoors, but hates waste and is constantly learning about new ways to tackle sustainability issues.

One huge economic impact of Covid-19 has been the damage done to the fashion retail industry, as shops closed their doors and customers vanished into their houses. Consequently, major companies cancelled their orders from garment factories in Bangladesh, India, Cambodia and many other countries.

Holly has joined the SFW team as our Programming Lead; planning the marketplace at our Hub Event and putting together a programme of workshops. She has a background in law and for 9 years has run the vintage clothes store @vinrougevintage.

How do we link the destruction of ecosystems and the Black Lives Matter movement? In this opinioin piece we look at how they’re systemically linked through the practices of extraction and exploitation in modern capitalism.

Image from Environmental Justice Foundation.

Isabelle has come on board to oversee the delivery of all the SFW programmed content. She has a background in event management and is now keen to put this experience to good use by helping supporting SFW in creating a vibrant, creative and inspiring event in 2021.

Ceilidh is our Strategy Lead. She works with the SFW teams to help guide and shape the core strategy. Her input supports our clarity of what SFW is, why it’s needed and who it’s for.

Each week we’ll introduce you to a member of the SFW team - giving them a moment to talk about why sustainability in the fashion industry matters to them. This first week is the turn of our Founder, Amelia Twine.

SFW is managed by a small team of volunteers and we’re looking to add to the team. Are you highly motivated to support change in the fashion industry and in consumption patterns, whilst encouraging all parts of the community to take the journey with you? Do you have a couple of hours per week to help us plan and deliver our 2021 event? Have a read of the three voluntary roles we’re recruiting for below and get in touch if you would like more information.

The word ‘sustainable’ is bandied around with quite a bit of abandon these days. It can be found in the marketing communications for an environmental movement focused on climate justice and simultaneously for a large, multinational company in the sales of its mass-produced products.