.... The green tidal wave is not just another strategy from marketing bureaucrats who want us to believe that organic cotton grown by fashion capitalists can save our souls and let us consume without guilt. It is grounded in the fact that disappearing seasons are making more and more of us think about the future beyond the next three months and a growing knowledge among people in industrialized countries that wealth and plain consumption does not make us happier. The new green consumerism is filling a political void in people’s lives, and non-green consumption is being looked upon as anti-social and disruptive.

This new type of consumption is based on principled and sustainable products and the rising eco-awareness is affecting the fashion industry. Both wholesalers and retailers are sitting up and paying attention to these green aspirations.

‘Green fashion fairs are emerging and they seem to find an audience’, tells Vidya Narine, director of the Rendez-vous fashion fair in Paris. She believes that the interest for the environment within the fashion industry is linked to a general yearning for sustainability in all fields of life. From sorting the garbage, going to work by bicycle, and buying Weleda products to choosing non-polluting detergents for your laundry. The list is long.

Narine believes that the first test for the fashion industry is showing corporate social responsibility in production. Failing to follow codes of conduct can be devastating for the brand image, as seen in the extreme example of former Nike CEO Phil Knight who was denounced by Michael Moore in the film "the Big One" for making money by selling shoes made with the labour of children and pregnant women.

Distinct voices in fashion are past making clothes merely for pretty appearances, embracing  looks that are perceived as les processed and more authentic instead. For the 2007 fall collection Balenciaga had moved from last seasons futuristic, extreme silhouette to a more holistic and multicultural aware aesthetic using ethnic fabric references, taken from Eastern European folk embroideries and African, Peruvian, Mongolian, and Balinese patterns. All thrown into a cultural re-mix, combining these multi-ethnic notes with street style, tailored looks and bouclé tweeds....