The global fashion industry has faced a reckoning in recent years as wearers awaken to the exploitation, waste and pollution created by the unsustainable pursuit of fashionability in the 21st century.
There are alternatives emerging and those at the leading edge will be showcased in the welcome return of Eco Fashion Week Australia (EFWA) on runways and exhibitions across Western Australia in 2022.
EFWA founder and designer Zuhal Kuvan-Mills said art shows and avant-garde design exhibitions will present the work of fashion artists and designers across the world and challenge conventional notions of fashionability.
A Closet of the Anthropocene, named for the current geological age in which human impacts have predominantly influenced climate and the environment, is the central theme for the third EFWA.
“It will showcase fashion artists’ visual interpretations of the current climate concerns using textile and fashion as a medium. Exhibitions will include fashion shows, public workshops, artist talks as well as seminars with industry specialists,” Ms Kuvan-Mills said.
“Fashion art in the age of the Anthropocene awakens us to the physical and environmental effects of this new geological epoch shaped by human activity. We have planned three-months of exhibitions and activities to bring attention to important ecological issues related to what we wear.”
More than 50 artists and designers will explore subjects and themes related to climate change and be shown in galleries across Western Australia from 4 November 2022 to 5 February 2023. As CEO, Ms Kuvan-Mills has announced the team will include Marilyn R Wilson as fashion editor and Jane Milburn as sustainability advisor.
There are many ways you can be involved, so visit the website to register your interest https://www.ecofashionweekaustralia.com/designer-registration-form
Schedule of Events (current at September 2021)
4– 18 November 2022: Art Geo Cultural Complex, Art Gallery Busselton, Busselton
18 – 20 November 2022: Fashion Runway Shows, Perth
25 November – 11 December 2022: Contemporary Art Gallery Fremantle
2 December 2022 – 29 January 2023: Geraldton Regional Art Gallery, Geraldton
24 December 2022 – 5 February 2023: Bunbury Regional Art Gallery, Bunbury
5 January – 5 February 2023: Gallery Naturalist, Swan Valley
Images from the 2018 EFWA:
