Eco Fashion Week, a Vancouver-founded, not-for-profit event that highlights environmentally friendly designers and garments, has canceled its 13th edition for 2018 and will not move forward with additional shows. Following eight years and 12 editions, the fashion event dedicated to showcasing and promoting sustainable practices in the fashion industry, has canceled its 13th edition indefinitely.
Organizers of the Vancouver and Seattle-based non-profit event noted a lack of support, which made it increasingly hard to produce a sustainable event that its volunteers could properly organize. Founded in 2010, EFW offered a platform for 160-plus environmentally minded designers and labels from over 15 countries, including Vancouver’s own Mishel Bouillet, Obakki, and Bianca Bellatoni. It brought together 100 speakers and 80 vendors as part of its panel discussions, which saw figures like Esther Speck, vice president of global sustainability at Lululemon; local designers John Fluevog and Nicole Bridger; and Tony Shumpert, vice president of reuse and recycling at Value Village, converging in Vancouver to address how we can more sustainably produce, reuse, and dispose of clothing.
Although EFW is bowing out of Vancouver’s fashion circuit, Laroche hopes that designers, retailers, and consumers alike will continue to re-evaluate their own manufacturing and consumption habits.
