On Saturday 10th August, in London, the Old Truman Brewery welcomed the second Bare Fashion event, and I had the chance to be there.
From 11 am to 6 pm, it hosted about 40 pop-up shops, including fashion, beauty, watches and (of course!) vegan food brands. Given how the place was full, I can tell for sure that this event was a success.
The same catwalk took place twice, at 2 pm and 5 pm.
Lots of different designs were featured, from understated looks to more eccentric ones, both for women and men. It displayed a great diversity of fashion items made by the present brands, without compromising beauty and quality (and, of course, always vegan and sustainable).
At 3.30 pm, I had the opportunity to listen to a fashion panel: the speakers were Sascha Camilli (the author of Vegan Style: Your plant-based guide to fashion, beauty, home and travel and editor-in-chief of the Vilda magazine), Kay Lovelle (a vegan model and fashion activist), and it was hosted by Marta Canga (a vegan and sustainable fashion blogger and influencer).
To me, that was the most interesting part of all. The three of them talked about sustainability, circular fashion and new materials.
They underlined that vegan isn’t always synonymous with sustainable. Indeed, vegan means “without harming animals”; according to this definition, artificial fabrics (including plastic in various forms) can be considered vegan. On the other hand, plant-based fabrics are indeed sustainable, as well as vegan.*
The question of affordability was also raised: the simplest way to buy at the same time sustainable and vegan items without breaking the piggy bank is to choose second-hand products.
According to the speakers, people need to stop thinking that vegan fashion is cheap and low-quality. I totally agree with this statement: it is the brand’s job (and mine, when translating your copy) to make prospects aware that vegan fashion is every bit as good as “usual” fashion. Indeed, the panel also told rightly that the key to expand vegan fashion is it make it look “normal”.
There is nowadays a myriad of new textiles and techniques both vegan and eco-friendly: from Ecopel’s faux-fur made of plastic, to the now famous Piñatex, designers have the choice! As said by the speakers, these new fabrics need to become mainstream in order to be more affordable (and thus possibly bought by non-vegans).
As concluded by Marta Canga, the vegan fashion industry and its players are waiting for the “Beyond Meat” equivalent (what Sascha Camilli called “Beyond leather”).
My job as a translator is to help vegan brands to get known in France in order to expand the vegan fashion industry, for a cruelty-free future without borders!
* about this topic, I would recommend to give a look at this article by Eluxe Magazine
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