🌿 The Fashion Letter | #17 📩

Founded, designed, and produced in California, Vitamin A swimwear is inspired by 70s beach glamour.

The brand is leading the way with fabrics like EcoLux™, a superfine matte jersey, as well as stretch-ribbed EcoRib®, both of which are made from recycled nylon and plant-based fibers.

The prints are created, when possible, with water-reducing digital technology and the packaging boxes are fully recyclable and biodegradable.

There are hundreds of options to choose from — and each one is as eye-catching as the next.

Best For: Mix & match bikinis

Sustainable Materials: Recycled nylon

Price Range: $150 - $235

Size Range: XS–XXL

Before Vitamin A, worked on a design project with Patagonia founder and environmentalist Yvon Chouinard whose company’s use of recycled plastic bottles in their technical fabrics inspired her to attempt something similar in the swimwear space.

The future of fashion is small, ethical, and circular. FABRIC, a non-profit fashion incubator and business accelerator focused on sustainable practices is working to change that by building a fully circular supply chain in the United States, powered by many small businesses.

FABRIC is working to change that by building a fully circular supply chain in the United States, powered by many small businesses. It offers resources like digital product creation, small-batch manufacturing, fashion classes, and business services to support apparel entrepreneurs.

In this episode, Amanda is joined by Angela Johnson, co-founder of FABRIC. This episode discusses the following:

• Angela’s experiences as a designer, both at the beginning of her career, and as she started her own brand.

• Angela will explain how everything she learned working in the garment industry in LA (along with her loyalty to her home state of Arizona) led her to create a fashion incubator in Tempe, Arizona.

• The vision for the Eco Parc, a fully circular fashion manufacturing hub and what it will take to bring that to life.

• How important it is to keep up this work, even on the days when it is really hard.

By utilizing advanced technology and a no-minimum manufacturing model, FABRIC helps designers create and market sustainable fashion efficiently.

Since 2016, it has assisted over 1650 fashion entrepreneurs and provided substantial community support through discounted programs and volunteer efforts.

Upcycling Trends in 2024 - Instagram

Upcycling has become not only a hobby, but a business for many. And there are countless communities online where people share their projects, look for ideas and get inspiration for upcycling projects

Some fast facts:

• There are 5.6 million posts on Instagram using the hashtag #upcycling

• There are 443,000 posts with the hashtag #upcyclingfashion

• There are 105,000 posts with the hashtag #upcyclingfurniture

• There are a further 137,700 with #upcyclingideas

• Youtube’s most viewed video on the topic of upcycling has been seen more than 61 million times (up from 56 million times when we first checked in May 2023. In other words, that video is averaging more than 600,00 views every single month).

• When we looked up “recycle clothing” and weighted these searches against population, the UK saw 1,314 searches per million people in the population in 20, 21 and 22 combined, compared with just 495 in Australia, 385 in the USA and 226 in Canada

• The clothes variant keyword was the one with the highest searches per million in all of the four countries we looked at. This was followed by furniture.

WFTO SUMMIT X FASHION REVOLUTION SOUTH AFRICA📢

TUE 17 SEP to FRI 20 SEP 2024 - Cape Town, South Africa

The World Fair Trade Organisation (WFTO) is the global community and verifier of enterprises that fully practise the 10 Fair Trade Principles.

From small fashion producers to food, homeware and digital services, WFTO stands as a collective of activists and change-makers who are at the forefront of advocating for an equitable and sustainable world.

This edition promises to be a unique opportunity for participants to engage in enlightening discussions, exchange ideas, and forge partnerships that will shape the future of Fair Trade.

From 17-20 September 2024, they will be gathering for the International Fair Trade Summit, happening in Cape Town (South Africa) and online, to discuss how fairness can be ingrained into businesses for local and global impact.

Check out the programme at this link.