I do 30

A really cool, compelling campaign!

Some excerpts from the website:

"In Europe, alone, if every household turns its washing temperature down from 60 or 40 °C to 30 °C, we can actually save 12 million tons of CO2 a year – this corresponds to the annual emissions from three million cars."

"We would all like to help the environment but not at the cost of smelly and stained clothes. Fortunately, thanks to modern low-temperature washing detergents, clothes get clean at much lower temperatures than ever before.

That means that lowering the temperature of your wash gets you clean clothes, while saving you electricity and potentially saving all of us from millions of tons of CO2. With 70 to 80% of the energy usage of a washing machine coming from heating the water, this is one place where we are not just making a goodwill gesture but an actual difference. "

Read more here and watch videos at the Copenhagen Fashion Week to see how the people in the business are making the first change!

Copenhagen Fashion Week- The Green Walk

Copenhagen Fashion Week is on amidst all that excitement and glamour!

And here is great thing to do this weekend-

Eurowoman and Copenhagen Fashion Week bring together a great list of green shops - all in a walking range around the City center.

From sustainable body products to children's clothing to great new fashion arrivals- check 'em all out!

Wouldnt we all love to hear from each of these shops why and how they are being green? Watch out this space for more on that!

Mater

So, here is one real story of responsibility I know....
Mater is a design company in Copenhagen. Henrik Marstrand the founder of Mater believes in creating timeless and beautiful design based on an ethical design startegy. Mater creates and sells exclusive home accessories with working methods that support people, local craft traditions and the environment.

Mater is also involved in projects to improve the quality of life for their vendors India and Vietnam. In India they are setting up a wood drying facility to improve production and capacity at the wood factory. In Vietnam, they are working to implement Corporate Social Responsibility at a porcelain factory.

A very subtle icon in the packaging denotes the country of production. Every single detail in the packaging of the product is so meticulous that the information is there for those who seek it, yet not screaming to be a "eco chic" product. So beautiful!

Ecolabel at 5x70m2

5x70m2 – Student summer show

Recently, we were in Oslo and had been to DoGA- What exciting shows were on!

The exhibition 5x70m2 which is on at DoGA presents projects from five leading colleges within furniture-, industrial- and product design.

This was a very nice project for eco-labeling, see some pictures above.

I seem to have misplaced my notes, I dont know the student behind this project. How sad!

If any of you know them please let me know!

Recently, I have been seeing so much about eco-labeling and the streamlining required in this system. There are just so many lables that beyond a point the customer stops to care. What should his criterias be? How can one choose from an array of the same product from different vendors? These are questions that various students are trying to answer through their thesis work.

More on this soon.

Made-By

Made By is a company based in Netherlands that offers a track and trace feature as a service.

Isnt that so cool??

What we at Fennel try to do as a studio practice, here they make this available to many fashion companies. What better way to spread a culture?

See more of their track and trace feature here

And if you have bought any of the clothes marked with the made-by Blue button, pass it on to us! We would love to show to all the others.

Toxic Textiles?

A very thought provoking story on how pesticides are affecting our lives. Used very widely in cotton cultivation in India and other cotton producing countries, the pesticides today are not just a problem of the people who use them in farming. They have become a big concern for people who are exposed to them later while weaving, or making them into products or even using them.

see the video here

The Hindu, India's leading daily wrote a story here

Some excerpts:

"You see, if a person handles even a beedi without properly sanitising his hands after a spray session is liable to develop acute poisoning symptoms,”

The normal practice for farmers is to consume alcohol soon after returning from the fields.The giddiness and uneasiness caused due to exposure to the poisonous vapours goes away after a few drinks

RECYLCED CHIC

I love recycled stuff, but am not a big fan of recycled kitsch, but this line of fun jewellery by Yoav Kotik keeps me completely stunned!

Yoav Kotik, the designer of the "precious metal" jewelry line is a graduate of the Bezalel academy of art and design in Jerusalem. His works were presented in galleries across Israel, the UK, the Netherlands and Japan.

Fennel at the Sustainable Fashion Exhibition at Kolding

In May 2009, Koldinghus was the location for a unique exhibition. Fennel was also chosen to be at the Fabric for Thought exhibition!

We also got an invite to sell at a special exhibition organised on the 21 st and 22nd May to meet people and show them our ecoware.

Here are some pictures

Kolding Hus and our stall inside.

Our products on display at the show.

From Top, Fossil Palm Leaf Scarf in emerald colour, Fossil Skin scarf in white and our innovative paper scarf in violet.

Curated by the lovely Thit Juul Madsen, this exhibition for the first time brought together players in pursuit of ethical fashion values from America, Asia and Europe. The exhibition introduced designers at various levels- the creations of haute couture houses, the ethics and philosophies in the design of big fashion houses, the eco- recycle movement from smaller individuals and young design studios and the role played by big chains like H&M and Zara.

So finally, these values and ethics that many of us were talking about didnt seem to remain in the domain of some intellectuals. Everyone from LMVH to Zara had some stake in this, no matter how big or small.

The exhibition also brought together small jewellery designers who are trying to fight the odds of exploitation in mining and jewellery making.

You can now buy any of these products or browse our other products at www.fennel.dk

The Last Six months

I have been away from blogging for a while now, and ofcourse not doing very much for Fennel on the online front. But here is a quick update on what has happened in the last few months. November saw our first retail entry in Copenhagen. The Fossil collection went out to a beautiful scarf shop in the center. The scarves were in time for the holiday season.

All of February and March I travelled twice to America showing our products in New York, Los Angeles and San Francisco. Inspite of the economy, we received some very positive responses and are working out retail details now!!

How exciting!

Spring in Copenhagen was beautiful, with the museum shop in Trapholt and the Kunstindustrimuseet wanting to display our products. What lovely places to be in!

A Nordic map conference was held in the Black Diamond. And our lovely Copenhagen map scarves were the best things in the Diamanteboghandel. Perfect, hand drawn maps for the city explorers..

We have some new collections ready, small jewellery in the pipeline.... And a brand new online store...

Stay tuned for more updates, soon!

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