In June this year, Amsterdam’s Fashion for Good launched a new theme in their Good Shop: COLOUR, exploring the alternative methods to colouring textiles and footwear. The Good Shop is the concept store within the Experience – the world’s first interactive museum for sustainable fashion and innovation.

The space showcases six inventive brands and designers challenging current dyeing and colouring processes in the fashion industry. Whether it be through naturally sourced dyes by artisanal dyer Audrey Louise Reynolds, or transforming plant-based substances to engineer an organically coloured collection of vegan shoes like Belgian designer ROMBAUT. Or using cutting edge technology from WeaReSpinDye to colour backpacks for Fjällräven.

_

THE PROBLEM.

 Colour has a rich history in fashion, shading our clothing so we can express who we are. Natural dyes were once the standard throughout the industry, but synthetic dyes which created more brilliant, and a wider range of tints, quickly replaced them. Using 5 trillion litres a year, fabric dyeing now accounts for 20% of global water pollution and is responsible for countless health and environmental issues from the 8000 chemicals used in the process.

Fashion for Good believe there are better ways to colour our clothes without causing harm.  

_

THE INNOVATORS DOING THINGS DIFFERENTLY.

The brands presented in the Fashion for Good – Good Shop each have a unique approach to colour, giving us vibrant options to brighten our wardrobes while painting a brave new path forward for fashion. Selected are innovations used by familiar brands such as Tommy Jeans, Fjällräven, adidas and POPUPSHOP but also the trailblazing techniques of pioneers like Audrey Louise Reynolds and ROMBAUT.

Designer and sustainability consultant Audrey Louise Reynolds scavenges ingredients from the environment to create all natural, artisanal dyes and advises major brands around the world on how to colour better.  

Belgian designer Mats Rombaut wants to show fashion can be both exciting and sustainable, offering vegan, organically dyed footwear, including lettuce sandals.

Fjällräven uses an innovative technique to colour their polyester that was developed by WeaReSpinDye, an alumni innovator of the Fashion for Good Accelerator Programme.

The PVH Corp. Denim Centre in Amsterdam is the first innovation centre of its kind, where the recycled Tommy Jeans are created.

_

 EXPLORING ALTERNATIVES.

Along with the Good Shop, the COLOUR theme functions as an overarching driver for Fashion for Good’s programming over the three months, with events, workshops and panel discussions aligned around COLOUR, dyeing, digital printing and more. Visitors to the space are invited to dive into the topic with leading experts, expand their knowledge, and learn from innovators about the pioneering solutions changing the industry and what they can do to make change happen.

_

 CHANGE WITHIN REACH.

Following the previous two successful themes, SPLASH and NAKED, COLOUR continues to demonstrate that Good Fashion is not only possible, it’s within our reach.  

Stay tuned for more updates from Fashion for Good, and follow their story via the link below: 

Images provided by Fashion for Good, by Dave Pelham Photography.