February 17, 2020 – By Beatrice Tridimas
Queues around the block (yup, I joined ‘em), cameras snapping constantly and several congregations of well-dressed people, Fashion Week has hit us, and it’s been a little overwhelming. There’s so much to see, so much to do and so much to BE.
- Why does it feel like everyone attending fashion week is in my tube carriage, on my bus or in my local coffee shop? No one, NO ONE, looks this good on the reg…
- 1PM on a Friday: a little giggle at seeing all these well-dressed people out and about in London’s gloomy daylight – they all look like they should be strutting about Berghain at 2AM on a Saturday
- Everyone has coffee.
Anyway, for you sweet readers and the general public (i.e. me), fashion week is a lot of scrolling Instagram for highlights and not attending the actual shows, so what’s actually available for you to take part in?
It turns out, quite a lot, AND it happens to be pretty sustainable.
My favourite was the calming factory-cum-display-cum-coffeeshop-cum-store at Mulberry House. Oh, yes. It was everything you want: elegant, intimate, coffee-providing, red, yellow and blues off-set with pastel tones and wooden panelling, AND a little bit of sparkle (including some sparkling wine).
The Portobello Bag
The Portobello Bag is Mulberry’s most sustainable design yet. It’s crafted from gold standard leather, which, whilst it’s still the real deal and some of you may share some assertions about this with me, seeks its merit from being a certified by-product of the meat and dairy industry and is as clean as leather gets.
The thread, oh yes, even the thread is sustainable. When we think about sustainable garments, are we really thinking about the buttons, the zips and the STITCHES? Not really. But Mulberry are, and they’ve chosen a recycled polyester thread. Dreamy.
To experience the Portobello Bag in full, they showcased a little exhibition replicating how the bag is made in Mulberry’s carbon neutral factory down in Somerset.
They’ve also created a signature colour, Mulberry Green (which is also the name given to their Responsibility Approach), that’s both colourful and calming, soothing and invigorating, an injection of nature that suits the city.
All in all, we love it!
Mulberry Exchange
Mulberry has always provided a bag repair service (way ahead of the game), but this weekend they introduced Mulberry Exchange, a service where you can bring in your old Mulberry bag, get it authenticated and appraised, and swap it for a different bag or whatever Mulberry purchase you fancy.
They’ve got interactive down to a T.
And at the back of the store...?
The music gets a little louder, the lights a little lower and the stairs go down, down, down. Lanterns of different sizes create a pathway through a room of video installations, celebrating Mulberry’s green initiatives. It was atmospheric, sensual, entrancing, and very Instagram.
Favourites?
It had to be the Portobello bag in Mulberry green, but I was also a pretty big fan of this vintage, sparkly beauty!
Now you’ve felt pretty much like you’ve been around Mulberry House with me, what else is there to see?
If you can brave it, LFW’s Positive Space at 180 The Strand is hosting the first ever London Fashion Week swap shop with the Global Fashion Exchange and Patrick McDowell. This is the ultimate LFW fun, where you can bring in old clothes in exchange for a token that you can use to buy other items at the shop!
The rental industry is also making big moves this LFW, and it’s available for you to get your hands on! Selfridge’s
Fellow rental company, My Wardrobe HQ
Queuing over and five new Mulberry bags resisted, it’s been pretty great to see sustainability embraced with arms wide open this London Fashion Week. And the best part is, unlike so many things in LFW, sustainability has been made accessible to the everyday shopper, so go ahead and see what you can find!
Beatrice Tridimas
Beatrice is an ethicist and book-lover, pursuing her passion for writing at KeiSei whilst studying for a masters degree at UCL. She graduated from the University of Edinburgh earlier this year.
