23 October 2017

Ethical fashion to take centre stage at Canberra twilight market and industry events

| Glynis Quinlan
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Kelli Donovan of ethical fashion brand Pure Pod. Photo: Tracy Lee Photography.

Ethical fashion will take centre stage in Canberra on November 11 with a free twilight market for the public and a ticketed industry event for those looking to talk to and hear from Australian designers in this growing field.

To be held at the new Dairy Road Precinct the consecutive events will be run under the ‘Fashionably Numb’ title and will tap into a growing desire among Canberrans to buy ethically-made products.

“The world of manufacturing and fast fashion cycles has grown at an unsustainable speed, affecting the people making them, a devastating effect on the environment and insurmountable issue for charities,” said event organiser Kelli Donovan of Australian ethical fashion brand Pure Pod, which is considered to be one of the pioneers of the ‘Eco & Sustainable’ fashion industry.

“There is a growing concern from consumers wanting to reconnect with makers and designers and purchase products with a positive supply chain and story,” Ms Donovan said.

Ms Donovan said that Fashionably Numb is creating the events to enable consumers to hear not only about the issues but, most importantly, the solutions.

Twilight Ethical Designer Market

The Twilight Ethical Designer Market is being held during the Design Canberra Arts Festival and will be open to the public from 2 pm to 5.30 pm on Saturday, November 11.

“Pure Pod has created a pre-Christmas sustainable fashion event for all the family to come and enjoy on a sunny twilight evening at Dairy Road Precinct in Pialligo,” Ms Donovan said.

She said the event will feature ethical designer stalls where visitors are able to buy, try and talk to the designers and makers.

“We will have lots of interesting ethical designer stalls, a fixing and mending workshop by The Green Shed, upcycling designer sewing stall, Salvation Army pop up stall with Eco stylist Faye De Lanty and help from local Eco Stylist, Nina Gbor and Nikki Hogan.

“Come along and have some fun in Canberra, listen to cool vibes, enjoying a drink from Capital Brewery and yummy treats from Brodburger and Three Feathers.

“We will have a huge art installation in the warehouse made from 1500 pieces of white clothing lent from the Salvation Army,” Ms Donovan said.

“Each piece of clothing represents a person who died from a factory fire or disaster, like the Rana Plaza Disaster in Bangladesh in 2013.

“This was the beginning of the global @fashionrevolution movement which has made the fashion industry start to clean up their supply chains for a cleaner industry to help people and the planet.”

Click here for more information.

Ethical Fashion Industry Panel event

The second event of the day will be a ticketed evening event from 6 pm to 9 pm where VIPs and guests can talk and buy from the ethical designers in a more intimate atmosphere and then listen to industry experts on a panel event run by special guest Melinda Tually from Fashion Revolution Australia & New Zealand.

The panel will include representatives of Bison Homewares, Eco Warrior Princess, MoonBird, the Salvation Army and Pure Pod.

Guests will be able to enjoy beer from The Capital Brewery bar and delicious treats from Brodburger and Three Feathers, as well as relaxing music.

“Our panel event will ignite a discussion about how designers have the first impact to create positive supply chains in manufacture – from planting the seed through to production to selling and the end life cycle of a garment or product,” Ms Donovan said.

Click here for more information and click here to buy tickets.

Pure Pod

Pure Pod was launched in 2007 by designer Kelli Donovan and photographer Sean Watson, who both grew up in Canberra and studied at the Canberra Institute of Technology.

Pure Pod’s ethos is built on sustainability, ethics, a love of the environment and human nature. They pride themselves on using talented local crafts people, maintaining 100 per cent ethically Australian Made and keeping the local fashion industry thriving.

Kelli Donovan with clothing from Pure Pod. Photo: Tracy Lee Photography.

Pure Pod’s Bespoke lifestyle collections are made with sustainable fabrics, hand printed eco inks, natural fibres grown without pesticides and chemicals, natural dyes, trims made from bamboo, coconut, nuts and wood and clothing produced ethically in Australia.

“We recycle, reuse and revive as much as possible in our production and in our studio to minimise our overall footprint,” Ms Donovan said.

“By minimising the amount of chemicals in our clothing, we are helping to reduce the pollution in our environment and educate and give our clients a choice.

“The fashion industry is the second to third highest polluting industry in the world from its chemical farming practices and dyeing, factory waste, transport pollution and unwanted fashion landfill.” For more information go to: https://purepod.com.au/

Are you a fan of ethical fashion? Would you like to see this industry develop further in Canberra? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below.

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