It was a great honour for us to be part of the Young Climathon project and to admire the inspiring and great ideas of the students who worked with a wonderful energy on sustainable solutions to inform about fashion production and recycling. The Young Climathon has grown into a global movement that engages citizens in climate action and provides cities with continuous support for their local challenges. The Young Climathon is a platform, where students come together to address a specific climate issue and, with the help of mentors and various methodological tools, develop innovative solutions and turn them into projects.

The Climate Action academy fashion team consisted of Remy Rupp and Martin Leal from the 2811 agency. For the project, the challenges for sustainable fashion production in terms of a circular economy were identified together with experts and presented to the students, who then developed ideas and prototypes based on the results. On October 20, the ideas were presented to teachers, experts and mentors at the Lettverein under the title “Young Climathon”. These include Heide Kaul, Natalia Weimann, and Martina Vogt from the Lette Verein Berlin, Sarah Maria Schmidt from Fashion Changers, Jenica Clocker from the AMD Akademie Mode & Design, Stefanie Barz from LoopLook, Dominique Ellen van de Pol, Julia Krüger from Berlin Partner für Wirtschaft und Technologie GmbH, Simon Heeger from Lenzing Group and me for autark.berlin.

Six student groups presented their ideas and presentations. Great projects were shown, such as a clothing passport that uses a color scale to indicate whether the clothing was produced locally and under fair conditions or an app that provides an overview of the certifications. The challenge of how to deal with textile waste in Berlin was also addressed. There were suggestions as to what a network and platform for all stakeholders in the fashion industry for sustainable fashion production could look like. Small surveys were presented to show how sustainably different target groups actually shop and how much knowledge about sustainable fashion exists. A fantastic achievement for Letteverein students in their first year of training. We are very excited to see whether sustainability will continue to be embedded in the Lette Verein’s curriculum. After these great ideas and the enthusiasm for sustainability shown by everyone involved, we really hope so.

This Climathon event resulted from an inspiring and innovative 5-weeks program, funded by the Erasmus+ program of the European Union and supported by Climate-KIC, that sought to empower the students to use their professional development to bolster sustainability and circularity in the fashion industry.

Photo header by Ash from Modern Afflatus Unsplash 

The art of dressing eco friendly

It’s not easy to find a sustainable favorite label. Among all the offers to find out what materials are used to produce clothing, how the processing of the clothing is, how transparent the label acts as a company and whether does it also meet the personal fashion taste. I have been finding relatively quickly a designer who always surprises and inspires me. Gudrun Sjöden!

I like her design, it’s colorful with cozy wide fits, with beautiful patterns inspired from many cultures around the world. She focuses on long-lasting design, clothes that last as long as possible. She also advocates that we humans should consume less. She always has the environment in her mind when designing her fashion and it is noticeable in her choice of materials, such as Linen, Lyocell Tencel and Lenzing Modal.

Her ambition is to make the production of the clothes as environmentally friendly as possible. Many of her designs are sewn in Europe. Their company takes care to use less chemicals, they use chlorine-free and wood-containing paper for their catalog, and they make savings in the use of plastic and packaging materials. They prefer to transport products by ship instead of airplane or truck in order to protect the environment.

They have recognized the jungle of environmental labels and decided to developed their own environmental symbols to better inform their customers about the materials and production.

1. Gudrun’s good fibers, that informs about how sustainably the material is grown and produced.
2. Gudrun’s production, which provides insight into whether the product was made in whole or in part in certified factories.
3. Gurdrun’s unique handcraft, which shows that real handcraft was used for the production of a garment and that with the purchase you also contribute that this handcraft can continue to exist.
4. Gudrun’s good action, here with the purchase a welfare organization is supported. Scholarships are also awarded to young designers who want to support sustainable clothing.

Being environmentally friendly also plays an important role in the organization. For example, there are many Gudrun Sjöden concept stores in the world whose lighting has been converted to LED and where they rely on ECO electricity, repair their inventory and when making new purchases, look to ensure that the technical items, for example, are durable and repairable. Furthermore, they make regular factory visits, and establish measures to ensure compliance with the BSCI (Business Social Compliance Initiative) code of conduct. In their catalogs or on their website, they provide information about the manufacturing, production and delivery of the clothing. She introduces her designers and the seamstresses from the factories. For me as a customer it is a nice way to learn more about my garment and the individuals behind it.

Gudrun also offers large sizes, so she makes colorful fashion for strong women. She hires young and old models, from a variety of cultures. She thinks not only environmentally, but also diverse. An absolute forerunner, she was a pioneer for an eco-friendly clothing industry back in the eighties. I can’t stop enthusing about it because it’s an absolutely well-rounded concept.

Of course, long-lasting clothing is also more expensive, but it’s definitely worth it. All of my Gudrun Sjöden clothes still look the way I once bought them, even after six and seven years. I think for all companies that want to be environmentally friendly and socially conscious, Gudrun Sjöden is a great inspiration.

Photocophyright: www.gudrunsjoden.com, 2022

Gudruns World

Information: Advertising, uncommissioned! This text is an editorial contribution, which could well have an advertising effect on the reader unintentionally, without me being commissioned by any company for this!