Bibi Russell

Bibi Russell  who is an UNESCO Artist for peace, is a household name in Bangladesh popularly called "The pride of Bangladesh". She is an inspiration for the rest of us in Ethical fashion and craft communities. 

Bibi is a fashion designer and former international model from Bangladesh. Born and raised in Bangladesh, she was the first Bangladeshi girl who went to am international fashion school. She studied in London College of Fashion, earning a graduate degree in 1975. Here she was encouraged by a teacher to model for her own graduation collection and she did so in front of the best in the fashion industry back then.Her first assignment was a grand 14 page shoot for Harper's Bazaar! She has worked as a model for different magazines including Vogue, Cosmopolitan and Harper's Bazaar. She also worked as a fashion model in fashion shows until 1994, working with Yves Saint Laurent, Kenzo, Karl Lagerfeld and Giorgio Armani. Bibi believes this has given her the knowledge and understanding of the industry which helped her become the role-model she is today.

Bibi didn't let this success get to her head. Her vision was clear. She was not in fashion to become a supermodel or a famous designer for any international brand. Although people still remember Bibi as the first Asian supermodel, what she wanted out of all that learning in fashion was to strive for Bangladesh and its craft. She gathered enough strength and focus to cut out from everything else and returned to Bangladesh in 1994 to save and revive the crafts of her country. 

Bibi Russell
(Image courtesy: Robert Frank Hagens of 1we-One world experience)

Bibi started Bibi Productions, her own fashion house, fusing indigenous Bengali cultural elements into her line. With assistance from UNESCO, she organized her first European fashion show in Paris in 1996. As of 2004, her company employed 35,000 weavers in rural Bangladesh..She has won many awards and accolades and still continues to be a role model for all women working with communities for the greater good. The Asiaweek magazine highlighted her as "one of the 20 people to watch in the millennium"


When I spoke to Bibi recently, I was amazed by her dedication and respect for people. Nothing deters her from her motive of working endlessly for the people of her country. She is truly the messiah for Ethical fashion and someone who's footsteps we should all follow. In Bibi's words, "The people of Bangladesh have made my dream come true and now I am working on making their dreams come true. When the world is moving towards eco-friendly and ethical practices, I only see a bright future for our nation that has been sitting on these principles for ages"


Bibi's sign off message:
In Bangladesh there is no middle class, you are either rich or poor. I am here to help you come out of the poverty line. I am with you and you have to work hard with me to bring you out of poverty. I do not believe in charity- it never helps! People can buy from me thinking of it as charity once and they will forget about it but I want to share the beauty of the craft which YOU will create. Bibi productions is for the people of Bangladesh.

So Ethic, The heart of fashion at Pret A Porter, Paris

PRET A PORTER PARIS® in Paris as a primary show, and special trade shows for different markets, with ATMOSPHERE’S for creators and designers, THE BOX for high-fantasy accessories, SO ETHIC for Ethical and eco-friendly fashion, THE TRAIN in New York and LIVING ROOM in Tokyo.

With its brand spreading out internationally, its attraction grows as a “fashion traffic point”.


They are the two main focuses of this essential sector. 
Ethical, fair trade and recycling, use of organic materials...

So Ethic is the window for fashion brands which specialise in sustainable approaches. All the future trends are there, in a committed, demanding, highly fashionable selection. It is now an essential stopover for buyers from specialist stores, multi-branded retailers, mixed concept stores and also department stores.

Choosing a media “show”

The “fashion event/salon" which offers direct contact with your clients, your future clients, trendsetters and journalists. The cost per contact is the least expensive of all the medias (radio/TV/posters/cinema/Internet) and allows for an immediate return on investment. It’s also a source for enrichment, knowledge and inspiration through meeting with others.

Putting your brand in the spotlight

By showing off its universe, its history, its people and designers to make you stand out, and attract buyers looking for something new.

Benefiting from the international recognition of the leading international fashion rendezvous

All the creative brands of today ( Isabel Marant Etoile, Paul&Joe, Tara Jarmon, Vanessa Bruno, Antik Batik, By Malene Birger, Blaak, Heimstone, Jerôme Dreyfuss, Save the Queen, Nathalie Garçon, .....) and references in the female market ( Derhy, Lilith, Didier Parakian, Garella, Fuego, Infinif, ...) launched themselves at PRET A PORTER PARIS®.

Obtaining financial assistance: the defi subsidy

Paris offers an international resonance and important media coverage. PRET A PORTER PARIS® welcomes more than 1100 journalists. You can keep them informed with your press kits made available to them in the press office, or present them with your leading silhouettes in the trends forum, or live during the catwalk shows.

You have the possibility of applying to DEFI for financial assistance with your participation at the PRET A PORTER PARIS, ATMOSPHERE and THE BOX salons. This subsidy is aimed primarily at exporting companies, creative startup companies and French fashion companies.

This assistance may amount to as much as 75% of eligible expenditure involved in the participation of the salons (space rental, decoration, communication, fashion shows, etc.)

To consult the criteria for eligibility and request financial assistance, download the form from HERE

Source: PRET A PORTER WEBSITE

Amazing Textures by Designer Samant Chauhan

Watch on YouTube - samant chauhan

The light fabric from a small village in India all set to dress up into a lovely evening gown for a runway show in Paris. The textures are to die for! Samant Chauhan proves it yet again, he has no parallel in India for chic Ethical Fashion.

Minimum fuss, Maximum style by Anuj Sharma, India

Anuj Sharma got his post graduate degree in Apparel Design from the prestigious NID, India. He was awarded the 'Charles Wallice India trust scholarship' in 2002 to study Masters in High performance Sportswear Design from the University of Derby, UK. 


Recently selected as one of the four finalists for the'International Young Fashion Entrepreneur' of the Year award by British council, India, Sharma works with areas of craft development and performance wear. His other interests have included teaching fashion and understanding human behavior with the help of fashion. 


He was also awarded the Marie Claire Most Innovative Designer of the Year award in 2009.


He has previously shown his collection in Japan and at the Lakme fashion week in Mumbai. This revolutionary designer has developed a new concepts (patents applied for) to make garments that have minimal or no stitches on them! His missionary motives, revolutionary ideas and commitment to design have won him many accolades. 


Anuj’s philosophy is about sustainability and longevity instead of fashionable fickleness. He teaches crafts persons and weavers to become independent and make “designer” garments and would rather mobilize action and money for them than for a show at Paris Fashion Week. He makes his clothes with minimum fuss, minimum manpower, without any machines.

Both Knot For You, his 2007 collection, and Button Masala of 2009 were big hits. His latest New Improved, Button masala is a collection of garments that can be worn, then opened up, and refashioned into something else depending on your mood and ability. New, Improved worked with rubber bands just as Button Masala worked with buttons.

This is the Anuj Sharma genius. His easy, fluid, anti-fit dresses aren’t just dresses. They can be turned into a cushion cover, a bag, a shirt, a kurti or anything else by re-knotting or re-buttoning the fabric. He can teach you how in less than five minutes and make ten garments in half an hour. Take a worn, boring shirt from your man’s wardrobe to Anuj and he will turn it into an exciting bag or knot your stole into a tube top while you sip your coffee.

The garments are immensely wearable, modern and have a point of view. Audiences clapped loudly, industry bigwigs hugged him and fashion critics hailed him as Indian fashion’s wacky and ingenious beta. 

Melbourne awaits to unknot these beautiful creations at the humble Ethical fashion hub SO ETHIC.

mail@soethic.net

With inputs from Shefalee Vasudev  who was the editor of Maire Claire. She is working on a book on Indian fashion to be published by Random House India in 2011.

Bamboo Sunglasses- The fastest growing Ethical style statement soon to arrive in Melbourne

Watch the Promotional Video on Youtube

Bamboo is the planets fastest growing wood resource and can grow up to 60cm in one day, to celebrate this UnitDot Eyewear which bases all its sunglasses and optical lenses around a bamboo foundation launched in the UK on May 6^th 2010.

UnitDot bamboo sunglasses the brain child of Hong Kong based designer Cyrus Wong are to be released by the UK based licensee Mr. Colin Ball from Chelmsford in Essex. 

When asked “Why should people buy UnitDot Sunglasses over any other brand?” Colin Ball responded, For years the bigger and well known brands have dominated the sunglasses market but they still choose to only deal with regular high street fashions and not address the important global issues that we face everyday. By choosing Unitdot over other brands customers still receive the ultimate in up to the minute fashion styling, while also showing awareness of eco fashion and the issues that surround the problems with our planet. Buying one pair of bamboo glasses is the first step toward small lifestyle changes, at a very small cost.

There will be three styles available within the range; a classic aviator, a perspex aviator and a tortoise shell affect wayfarer design.

Along with being able to plant a tree for each pair bought, £2 will also be donated to the UNICEF Children’s appeal worldwide. SO ETHIC is Australia's first retailer of these ethical sunglasses. Grab one at an Introductory price of AUD140

mail@soethic.net
Tel: 03-98276062

Source: Your story

Flora and Fauna from Canada now at So Ethic, Melbourne

About the designer:

Pauline started working in the fashion industry in Toronto after studying Fashion Design at Ryerson University. Drawn by BC's beautiful surroundings and the abundance of wildlife, Pauline moved to Vancouver where flora&fauna, the eco-fashion label flora&fauna was born.

Drawing inspiration from beauty in nature, the irresistible cuteness of animals, and the intricacy of the planet's delicate eco-system, all of flora&fauna's pieces reflect Pauline's deep love for the natural beauty in our world. With a blend of clean lines, rich colours, and lasting style, flora&fauna incorporates nature and animal themes into each design, and is proud to support local animal welfare and nature conservation organizations.

All of flora&fauna's pieces are locally, ethically, and sustainably made.

Flora and Fauna range will be available at So Ethic in Melbourne soon! 

mail@soethic.net

Auralistudio, Newyork comes to Melbourne's Ethical fashion hub

Auralistudio Takes pride in making beautifully designed, timeless pieces that are also practical and fashion forward. Every peace is made responsibly with love and care.

They strive to be sustainable and considerate to the planet in all of our practices with the use organic, sustainable, natural and recycled fabrics only. The textile processing includes low impact methods, leaving green fabrics with a minimal environmental footprint.

The pieces are produced in New York and Puerto Rico.

Aurali Studio treats their employees and collaborators as a part of their family and they are all creative partners in a collective design effort. rarely one comes across a company that cares about the community, and the effect our actions have on the planet’s welfare.

Its easy to see that they love what they do through the clothes they send out to the world.

So Ethic is happy to bring Aurali to Melbourne and we feel confident that this Ethical brand will find many fans amongst us.

mail@soethic.net

Bangladesh's Pride- Bibi Russell comes together with So Ethic, Melbourne

Born into a prominent Bangladeshi family, Bibi spent time in outlying villages in the rural areas of her country, soaking up the strong colours and distinctive patterns that marked out the fabrics made by local craftspeople. This childhood experience sparked an interest in hand-woven textiles that led her to Britain and become the first woman from her country to study at the London College of Fabric in 1972. In 1975 she modeled her own collection at the graduation show, which launched her modeling career. For nearly 20 years her beauty and grace populated the world's fashion magazines and catwalks.

By the early 1990s, Bibi decided that it was time to return home, relocating to the city of Dhaka to establish what she calls her dream and build a worldwide reputation for the hand-woven textiles she remembered from her childhood. A tru humanitarian at heart, Bibi Russell also strives to alleviate the suffering of street children. "Our world, our future lies in the hands of the next generation," says the designer, "Be they poor or well fed, they are tomorrow's leaders. I have taken it upon myself to teach them to be self-sufficient young people and to encourage self-employment."

In 1996 Bibi presented her first ready-to-wear collection at a fashion show entitled Weavers of Bangladesh, held at the UNESCO headquarters in Paris . UNESCO has supported all three of Bibi Russell's major shows in Europe . The second show in August 1997, Colours of Bangladesh, at the Castell de elliver in Palma de Mallorca was launched and supported by HRH The Queen of Spain.

Owing to Bibi's growing popularity, she was made a guest at the cultural event Knitting Together Nations - Fashion and Crafts from Women of Bosnia an Herzegovina , jointly sponsored by UNESCO and UNHCR, held in December 1997. She was also voted Woman of the Year by Elle in 1997. In September 1998, with the support of UNESCO and the British Fashion Council, Bibi staged her third show in London, Stars of Bangladesh, where HRH Grand Duchess Maria Teresa of Luxembourg and Ms. Clare Short, a Member of the British Parliament, were guests of honour.

The following year on 13 May 1999 the Fashion Space Gallery in London exhibited Bibi's work, coinciding with her receiving an Honorary Fellowship of the London Institute in recognition of her outstanding contribution ot the field of fabric and design. UNESCO recognised her unfailing attempt to support human dignity, development and the eradication of poverty with the honorary title of Designer for Development, UNESCO Special Envoy on 4 October 1999 and the title of Artist for Peace on 27 November 2001.

The year of 2003 proved to be another year of success for Bibi in promoting her cause. She was awarded You Can Change the World by the Club of Budapest and played an important role in presenting the Images of Asia fashion show in Denmark, dedicated to the weavers of Bangladesh. The United Nations Association of Spain awarded Bibi the prestigious Peace Prize 2004 for her efforts to fight poverty in Bangladesh and for her dedication in building a bridge between cultures, between modernity and tradition. Bibi Russell held her first show in Germany in 2005, presenting her spring/summer collection at IGEDO.

To this day Bibi Russell continues to pursue her commitment to fighting poverty and improving the social and economic development of weavers in Bangladesh . Fashion for Development seeks to blend the creativity of the local artisans with that of Bibi's professional design and fashion background to secure market outlets for the artisans and thereby preserve and revive the weaving heritage of Bangladesh .

SO Ethic is honored to be associated with a name like Bibi. We welcome her on board.

mail@soethic.net

Como No? The artistic bags and boots from France

Take some core characters of a clear conscience and add an identical course of ethics. Throw-in some common aspirations and dreams and mix them by hand. Powder this with some touches of madness. Here comes alive the project Como No.

After their degrees in international business, Manue and Candou meet in Master de Com' in Nantes. Soon they both had advertising jobs in Paris. The experiment in agency of Com’ was brilliant, informative and funny, but the obscurity was that it was not for them. They felt the inner need to feel more useful, to be expressed and act in a field which they like by combining their tastes for the fashion, their experiences and their need to be close to people. Here then, they carried rucksack on their backs to traverse the world with the objective to think of which they really are, to create a life which was different from the rest.

With the sight of each colour, with discovery of each odour and all the marvellous places and especially through all the people they met, of these exchanges and human generosity, they raised a simple question “Como No?” (Why not?) The answer seems obvious.

Como No?... is the simple question that triggered it all…

They launched out the challenge to create an original mark of fashion accessories which resembles them. Without any hesitation, everything would be done in the country of their heart, Argentina. And of course, because they put all their heart and soul into this project, it is with these cordial volunteers that they chose to advance towards a respectful world of the individual and planet. They called upon Arno, painter and friend, who worked on the collection and the graphic identity of the mark. They share with him the same values and aspirations and are secretly jealous of his creative talents!

COMO NO it is a mark of ethical fashion accessories manufactured in Argentina. It is also a mark which engages in a step that is responsible for sustainable development. The duo Emmanuelle Boschat and Candice Augereau chose to work hand in the hand with Argentina’s co-operatives of the province of Buenos Aires. With an ecological concern in mind, COMO NO uses mainly cotton cultivated in the north of Argentina without chemicals (cotton in conversion) uses dyes without heavy metals in an endeavour to find solutions that are more ethical each time. It’s interesting to see the re-use of the fabric falls from the clothing industry used in their chic boots and accessories that are manufactured using artisanal processes making each creation a single object a visual treat!

Watch out for their limited edition bags, boots and pouches at SO ETHIC, Melbourne. Their full range can be checked here.

mail@soethic.net

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