Photo: The Clean Cut team with Founder/Editor of Peppermint Magazine Kelly Sheenan, me (Siggi McCarthy) and my colleague at Ethical Clothing Australia Rebekka Carey-Smith.
The Clean Cut Designer Showcase was part of this year's Mercedes Benz Fashion Week in Sydney. You can read more about the sustainable fashion event here. Below is an interview I did with one of the lovely Clean Cut founders, Carlie Ballard.
Could
you please give me a little background on the Clean Cut team? What brought the
girls together?
The 4 of us who started Clean Cut are all Sydney-based
and really felt the void of a sustainable presence in the Australian fashion
scene. We could see what was happening in the industry locally and globally and
soon realised that we needed to create a meeting point and a presence to
celebrate the work of sustainable designers here in Australia. It quickly became
apparent that it was actually up to us to make this happen. I (Carlie Ballard) called
on 3 girls I had worked with over the past few years - Kelly Elkin from ALAS the
label, Lisa Heinze Author of newly published book Sustainability with Style and
Yatu Widders-Hunt published eco writer, blogger at Thinking Fashion and media and communications
expert. After our first meeting there was no turning back and we were planning
the vision for our organisation from day 1.
What
criteria did you consider when selecting designers to showcase at the event?
For the event we had a fairly strong idea of the
labels we wanted to represent. We knew we needed to showcase the labels with a
strong brand experience. And we also
wanted to ensure we represented many of the different mediums sustainable
designers are working with in this space. The Clean Cut showcase is about
celebrating the steps designers are taking toward a fairer and more sustainable
fashion future so we didn’t want to be purist with our choices.
Our industry has many bodies including Fair Trade Labelling Organisation (FLO), GOTS Certification, Made-By and Ethical Clothing Australia to name the major ones, so we sought a few labels with these
credentials. But for many grassroots companies (which this industry has many)
this is too costly, so it comes back to understanding their business model, the
task at hand, such as ensuring fair labour rights, sustainable
and ecological fabric choices and manufacturing, low and no waste pattern-making and empowering co-operatives to harness the beauty of traditional
crafts and sustaining livelihoods through business.
What makes Clean Cut different from other sustainable fashion runway shows?
From Day 1, we knew that if we (sustainable fashion)
were going to create waves and be included in the wider fashion community there
could be no compromise on aesthetic, quality or style. We also knew that we
needed to promote sustainable fashion outside of the sustainable fashion
bubble, and be inclusive to the wider fashion industry. We saw this as the only
option to make real change. We had to put on a production that was MBFW ready.
The best models, beautiful space, leading stylists to ensure sustainable
fashion stood tall next to the other MBFW shows during the week.
You
are developing an online directory that will eventually act as a ‘guide to the
sustainable fashion world.’ Could you please explain this in a bit more detail?
Yes, we’re really excited about this. We are calling
it a ‘Style Guide’. It’s basically a go to directory so consumers can easily
find the labels across the globe that are actively working in this space. This
is where much of the problem lies, the outlets for many sustainable designers
are limited and hard for consumers to get their hands on. So this will be great
for consumers to shop based on their values. Our mission is to bring back the
value in clothing, start getting people to make more considered fashion
purchases, buy quality not quantity. Our clothing choices are very defining so
it’s important that the social and environmental impact behind their
manufacture are taken into consideration too.
What
are your thoughts on the current Australian fashion landscape, with regard to
the sustainable design sector?
I’m excited! Changing the face of the fashion industry
was and is never going to be a speedy task. When I started in this space back
in 2007 everything that I entered into Google lead me to the northern
hemisphere. There were definitely brands working in this space in Australia but
they were limited. Today there are new design led brands popping up all the
time that are working with beautiful natural fibres and harnessing the talents
of artisans and importantly ensuring that fair working conditions are ingrained
into the core of the business. It’s definitely exciting to see well known
labels such as Ginger and Smart, Scanlan Theodore and Manning Cartell become Ethical
Clothing Australia accredited. Sustainable fashion
is growing, and pressure is definitely building for all labels to start to take
steps in the right direction. It’s the future of the fashion industry so it’s
only a matter of time.
How
do you think we can promote further sustainable and ethical design within the
local industry?
Definitely by having the Clean Cut Designer Showcase
each year to celebrate exciting labels in this space, but we also have lots of plans
to educate at the grassroots level. Students are completely aware of
sustainability now, so it’s really important that the emerging designers are
incorporating sustainable and ethical practices into their businesses. Also, Clean Cut is excited to be an industry
body to make change and assist designers with creating a more sustainable and
transparent supply chain.
Thank you Carlie!
Thank you Carlie!
