And we’re in for it.
London Fashion Week kicks off today with labels, from high fashion to high street, showcasing their latest collections for the seasons ahead.
To mark the opening of London Fashion Week, the British Fashion Council has just announced its latest Positive Fashion initiative - the Fashion Switch programme – in partnership with Vivienne Westwood.
The Fashion Switch programme will see Vivienne Westwood and the BFC collaborate, championing green energy tariffs and encouraging labels to switch to green energy providers by 2020 – something that is even being backed by the Mayor of London.
The programme is off to a strong start – already signing up companies from Selfridges and Stella McCartney to Kering and Belstaff, but they are determined for it to go further.
‘We’re at the point of no return,’ Vivienne Westwood explained in an interview with Business of Fashion, talking about what led her to spearhead the sustainability campaign. ‘If we go beyond it then there will be a chain reaction where everything accelerates, all the methane kicks in: life on earth faces mass extinction, and as the Pope has just announced, “If we don’t go back we will go down.”’
She continued: ‘People are really interested in fashion and it’s so important that we’re working with the BFC, it’s a fantastic place to start: the fashion industry. It’s a stimulus to get everyone else involved!’
Chief executive of the British Fashion Council, Caroline Rush, also spoke to BoF about the campaign, praising the 76-year-old fashion designer for her work on the project.
‘Vivienne is leading the charge on the switch to green energy campaign,’ Caroline explained. ‘She was the one who came to talk to us, she was the one who went to talk to the team at the mayor of London’s office. No doubt she will be the one who is on the phone to other designers encouraging them to do the same.’
Sure enough, Vivienne has made her hopes clear, stating, 'If we can get half the country to switch as soon as possible, it would have a global effect.’
Just another reason to love Vivienne Westwood.
