Sustainable Fashion in Madrid: Love in times of Haste
Take a breath. Travel. Be inspired. Leave the mind blank. Draw sketches ... Create. Spanish sustainable fashion denounces the lack of a creativity in modern fashion collections, an industry that could well have been part of "A Confederacy of Dunces", by John Kennedy. Fast fashion has banished all creativity and, therefore, all individuality in the wake of haste. To face it, Spanish slow fashion has presented an alternative to the new conventionalism marked by fashion that dresses us all in the same rags. Welcome to Sustainable Experience, the area reserved for sustainable fashion brands features at the Momad event. Rediscover a love for fashion, a love for people and the planet.
Searching for a sustainable experience, on September 12 we traveled to the capital of Spain, Madrid, to learn about the new releases of the main sustainable fashion brands present at Momad, the most important fashion fair in Spain. Among the brands participating in Sustainable Experience, the area reserved for sustainable fashion, we found collections that represent true treasures, ultra-feminine fashion of unparalleled quality, sublime manual work and a social and ecological stories capable of changing habits of consumption. We picked our favourites for you.
The collections found at Sustainable Experience showed a high level of sustainability in their products, many of them presenting a high level of design applying great innovation both in materials and in sustainable components.
© Ana Ikigai
Marita Moreno won the first prize of the 2nd edition of the “Fashion, Sustainability and Business” contest. The prize is a free stand for the February 2020 edition. In addition to the vegan collection, which launched in 2017 in response to a demand in the market Moreno now has an excellent collection of footwear created from pineapple leaves (Piñatex). Moreno’s sustainable line uses leather that has not been treated with heavy metal treatments; and her recycling line is developed from recycled remains from previous collections. Furthermore the Portuguese fashion brand has a very exclusive line, for men and women, with only 100 pairs, duly numbered. They are unique sculptural pieces, the designer Marita Moreno explains.
For us, another star brand of this edition was Ana Ikigai, not only because of the extreme beauty of her ultra-chic collection, with a sweeping personality a 100% Spanish character, but also because of the hard work that each of the pieces involves. Her pieces have been made by passionate artisans from the designer’s home region. Ana Ikigai also has a social mission which resonated with us: “Las Niñas” (The girls). “Would the world be just as violent if it would have been led by women? I don't know, but I do know about the real and existing inequality that governs us today ... both in the west and in the east. In many less developed countries with different cultures, girls, for the simple fact of having been born female, lose their right to go to school, to receive an education and are even repudiated. Making this change, lasting, effective and long-term is only possible through education, so that once trained they can choose their destiny, in addition to influencing and transforming their communities ”- says the designer, who collaborates with Plan Internacional.
© D The Brand
© D The Brand
Indeed, the collections found at Sustainable Experience showed a high level of sustainability in their products, many of them presenting a high level of design applying great innovation both in materials and in sustainable components. Other companies stood out for integrating high doses of crafts in their collections, without neglecting the design in their proposals.
D the Brand was our third favourite in the exhibition. Winner of the First Fashion, Sustainability and Business Contest of Momad, the brand makes clothes in a responsible way, contributing some positive change to the current fashion industry and conveying a positive message of love and hope, for people and nature. Sabina Deus Muñoz, creative director of D, was born and raised in Durazno, a small town in Uruguay. Now she lives in Madrid. Sabina defines the style D as an extension of herself: minimalist, perfectionist and, especially, with awareness. “We do Prêt-à-porter but we become obsessed with every detail as if it were couture, so we produce in national factories, to achieve a first quality product and also contribute to the conservation and creation of jobs in the Spanish textile sector. We opt for sustainable fabrics, certified with Oeko-tex Standard 100 and GOTS, and produce only capsule collections, to maintain exclusivity and minimize waste.”
Coba Complements, Magan Barcelona, The 13 Snake Project, Cruca Madrid, Nehcca Jewelry, La Higuera de Grazalema, Bamboleira, Bohonomad are brands we recommend you to meet. Each of them represent an excellent example of a better - more positive fashion, for the environment and for the human rights.
But there was more. Around 40 sustainable fashion brands made up the Momad Sustainable Experience space in this edition, covering all fashion subsectors, from accessories, to sunglasses, from women's fashion to a smaller representation of men's fashion, as usual in the sector. Coba Complements, Magan Barcelona, The 13 Snake Project, Cruca Madrid, Nehcca Jewelry, La Higuera de Grazalema, Bamboleira, Bohonomad are brands we recommend you to meet. Each of them represent an excellent example of a better - more positive fashion, for the environment and for the human rights.
© Marita Moreno
Making culture through the Green Saturday
In addition to meeting new sustainable collections, the curious who wanted to know more about the future of sustainability could attend the Green Saturday. This event was one day dedicated exclusively to sustainable fashion, held on September 14 at Momad Forum. Throughout the day, selected sustainable companies and institutions informed the entire audience about new essential codes good for the fashion sector, and how best practices can be implemented. Experts spoke about interesting topics related to the main problems and the main solutions within the fashion sector. “The speakers are great national and international professionals in the industry who have a very important qualification and trajectories in the fashion and sustainability sector” – organizers assure.
Luxiders Magazine was present at one of the round tables, sharing dialogue with Violeta Valdés, Director of Beauty and Fashion at Marie Claire Magazine; and Belén Kaiser, a freelance journalist who, among others, works for El País, one of the most important newspapers in Spain. We talked about the importance of the media to create culture, in this case, sustainable culture, as part of consumer education that, in Spain, is still far from sustainable consumption habits in fashion.
+ info: Momad
