lNo.3| July 2020 sh.

GEORGINA LIOSI

Becoming a Sustainable Consumer. A small talk with our favorite girl in town

PRESERVING TRADITION Preserving tradition: A passionate journey to Sustainable success. lush.

Editor-in-chief Iason Raissis

Street Style & Global Editor Athina Krizel Runway & Global Editor Iris Zimble Runway & Archive Editor Fivos Dimitrakopoulos Opinions & Global Editor Laura Lamberti Editor-at-Large Terry Raissis

lushbyir.org

THE JULY SELECTION lushbyir.org | 02 Editorial

03 Cover Story

O8 Opinions

11 Global Industry

16 Archive

THE MAY SELECTION lushbyir.org | 1 Production Transparecny for a more Sustainable Industry

The globalization of luxury fashion businesses has created an international supply chain for its design, production, and retail activities in which it involves a high number of people across multiple roles and locations. Human skills are fundamental to each of these elements, yet recognition and reward for each of these contributions often perpetuates staggering social inequality, cases of negligence, violence, and oppression, with women being the most vulnerable and most at risk.

It is no more that the fashion industry is one of the most female dominating industries in the world. In many developing countries like Bangladesh, garment industry has women paid less than the minimum wage that is needed to fulfill a worker’s daily requirements. It is extremely important to understand that “minimum wage” is already half of what can be considered a living wage. Although, apart from the wage gap, gender discrimination, physical abuse, labor exploitation, lack of hygienic work conditions, irregular working hours and human rights violations are also some issue that need to be dealt with.

A way to let customers know where and how are their clothes are made is with supply chains transparency. By that we can achieve consumers knowing more about how and where their clothes are made and under what working conditions so that companies which defy the rules can be held accountable. Apart from the ecological agenda and perception of , transparency and accountability can lead to a change that the industry is in need of as opposed to human rights.

Our third issue is deveoted to promoting sustainability in fashion while promoting brands that are moving towards more sustainable and ethical production methods both enviromentally and socially. We hope you enjoy the issue, and feel free to give us your feedback on our social media.

Iason Raissis

EDITORIAL lushbyir.org | 2 Editor: Iason Raissis Media: Alexandra Diona, Stavros Habakis

Georgina Liosi: Becoming a Sustainable Consumer

I met with Georgina via video call on a Friday afternoon, June 12th, to be exact. Our discussion developed mainly around sustainability both in fashion and in daily life environmental dilemmas.. We talked about how through simple actions and changes in our habits we can contribute to the fight against climate change. Georgina is an actress, we met her through the role of Dilek in TAMAM Series of ANT1 channel of the Greek television, and then we enjoyed her in theatrical performances one of them "The 4 Girls" (Ta tessera koritsakia) a debut performance for the Greek stage that left its mark both to those who watched it and to its own producers. Today she works in theatre, but she is also enrolled in other forms of art, her love of the big screen follows her everywhere since she constantly creates new videos and short films. Even through her Instagram account she presents and discusses sensitive and important issues both about the environment, human rights... always using multiple forms of art.

COVER STORY lushbyir.org | 3 Let us begin by you telling me who Georgina truly is. First of all, let me tell you that I myself cannot tell you who Georgina is, for every person I think I am different, and how every person sees and describes me is different. All I can tell you is that I am an actor, and in addition to theatre I try to take part in other forms of art thxtat express my deepest artistic needs, whether that includes projects with Alexandra Diona, or videos with Spyros Maltezos I think that whatever I do is dominated by acting since it is the form of art that expresses me the most.

Where does your love and care for the environment come from? How did you decide to join the fight against climate change? I do not think anyone needs to influence you to raise awareness for such issue. What I think is that any person my age who has seen “Pocahontas” as a child must have some sensitivities towards and the planet. I have had a connection to nature since I was a little girl, my dad loves it very much, and he taught me how to love it too. If you talk with him you will see... he knows about plants, animals, he is very caring and loving. However, I think we do not need an excuse to love and take care of nature, and it may not be so difficult, as long as we are careful and think a little more about our daily actions.

Do “The four little girls” love nature? Quite excited as she tells me, this performance is very important to Georgina..., "The four little girls love and defend nature. The play takes place in world war II, in the wreckage of a house, there these four girls fantasize about a reality full of colors, fruits and people."

COVER STORY lushbyir.org | 4 I know you are in love with the big screen. Have you thought about doing something about the climate crisis? Look, art is a medium through which we convey our own perception of a subject, I would definitely like to do something but not some didactic film. Maybe a story that will leave something to the viewer and pass on its important message.

Can you tell the people reading the issue what they could do to reduce the use of plastic and simultaneously help in the battle against the climate crisis?

First of all, let me tell you that in the world we live everything is pushing us to harm the environment and because there is no information whether it is about or solutions for a more "clean" lifestyle it is difficult in Greece to get into the process of changing your behavior. Now... in what one can do, I think the most important thing is to distinguish the garbage and recycle the packaging properly. A smart daily solution is to carry with you a canteen or even a glass mainly for your water and coffee, so you avoid daily use of plastic cups and bottles. Still, for straws I recently learned that are not recycled there are solutions... i.e. multi-purpose straws, whether metal or , there are many different solutions and really these simple acts and changes in habits help a lot.

In order to direct our discussion a little, tell me what you think of and especially in Greece which is the most widespread part of fashion with the largest consumer list.

I will start by telling you that it is very gratifying that people have clothes to wear. I remember... when I was younger that if a pair of pants were torn sometimes it was a problem because there were no clothes at such affordable prices. Now, of course, I know that fast fashion is harming the environment to a humiliating degree, but I think companies have already started to direct production based on more environmentally friendly methods. Already H&M is making an effort to become fully sustainable and ethical by 2030... that is very important and can have a lot of benefits in the world as long as it is done diligently and methodically.

COVER STORY lushbyir.org | 5 To end our conversation, let me ask you if you believe that change is possible. Do you side with Gen Z and do you have hopes of a better world?

Of course, I have hope, if you think about it in any way, I belong to this new generation that you mention. I think things generally have a direction to the better. There is more awareness, and more and more action and campaigns are taking place on tackling climate change, things are slowly changing, and we will change as well or so I hope

COVER STORY lushbyir.org | 6 . Editor: Laura Lamberti Preseving Tradition One Media: Sveva Ferrajoli Archive Stitch at a Time

Among the hills and vegetation of the Southern Italian area of Cilento, southm of Salerno, just a couple hours from Naples, lays the town of Bellosguardo. The women of this town of brick walls and rich vegetation , have been embroidering and stitching sheets, blankets, and pillowcases for wedding trousseaus for centuries, before being progressively pushed out of the market by department stores and most recently .

Over time these agile-handed women whose creations had blessed the beginning of countless unions, gradually became anachronistic figures standing in the background of the era of mass . That is where Sveva Ferrajoli comes into the picture, about 9 years ago.

This savvy businesswoman with what would reveal to be glorious instincts set out to reconcile two elements which she very tellingly described not as desires but as “needs”, the need to help the women of the interior zones of the poorly connected hilly area of high Cilento continue to provide for their families doing what they love rather than having to be forced to endeavour in long, tiresome journeys, and the need to transform the tradition of crochet and embroidered wedding trousseaus into something that could be sustained; kickstart its evolution so that it could survive.

Ferrajoli’s visionary intuition led her to give birth to a project consisting in providing the women of Bellosguardo with precious fabrics such as cashmere and diverting their artistic skills toward the production of luxury products rooted in the southern Italian crochet tradition.

While the workability of the fabrics clearly differed from that of the traditionally used , traditional designs were adapted to these new materials.

The products of Ferrajoli’s homonymous line include completely handmade shawls, purses and other products that only pass through the laboratory for the finishing touches. The most famous of the fabrics used for Ferrajoli’s line is undoubtedly the 10% baby cashmere, 90% vicuña hybrid, the price of which is adjusted in the same fashion as that of gold. She reveals to me all this information on the phone, in the warm tone of someone who is talking about a project they have dedicated everything to.

I take notes on a yellow notebook in Rome as she speaks to me from a town in the province of Salerno, unfortunately the interview cannot be conducted in person because the feeble body parts of our recovering country are still isolated from one another and interregional travel is prohibited.

OPINIONS lushbyir.org | 8 L.L. : “What was the initial reaction of the Italian and international fashion world at the launch of your project? Did the market reveal itself to be favourable since the start or did it take time for the initiative to take off?”

S.F.: “While the project was met with overwhelming consensus on the part of the “appassionati,” the market response was different because of the elevated price of her products.” Due to the elevated cost of production, the collection could only have a place in the very niche market segment of luxury goods, in which there is generally an extremely reduced space of entry. Ultimately we managed to carve out a space for the brand.” And what a space she managed to carve out…. one that extends from the main square of Capri to the boutiques of the Hamptons. Ferrajoli highlighted her customers’ interest not only for the material product she offers but for the tradition and the history behind it, pointing to the fact that the anglo-saxon world has been the entity that demonstrated to be most attracted to the world of luxury crochet.

A “virtuous circle” is the endearing expression she used to describe the relationship between her clients and the products.

S. F. : “The market segment of Luxury goods is dominated by big names and brands caught up in a constant race to production that results in about 8 seasons a year. In the current context of the Pandemic, the emergence of a countertrend seems to appear, spearheaded by Armani who spoke out against the immorality of the functioning of the luxury world in terms of its disregard for environmental sustainability reflected in the numerous seasons in constant increase. He explained that this is not art, it’s just business, and I agree.”

L.L. : “On the topic of business, there are two points I would like you to discuss. Firstly, the number of women employed in production, and secondly whether over time there have been or whether you are concerned that in the future there will be issues related to the new generations loyalty towards and interest for the craft.” “The number of women working on production depends on the volume of orders, there are periods in which I have 25 to 30 women working on several projects, and times in which there is no more than 5 or 6 women in production. Pragmatically speaking it made no sense to create a huge business around a product of the nature of ours. In terms of generational jump, the new generations are less interested but several of its exponents know the craft well. What needs to be done in order to encourage the survival of the craft needs to be done at the political level.

OPINIONS lushbyir.org | 9 L.L. : “Considering the current state of the world, do you believe that in the post-COVID19 era the world of international fashion will witness the birth of other initiatives and small, cultural sustainability- oriented businesses like yours, or will this type of business become increasingly more rare in favor of globalization and the homologation of markets? What will prevail, the ashes of the patriotic love that has burned in the hearts of Italians as they saw their country brought to its knees, and many others who have shared the same faith abroad, or the convenience of mass production? “The risk of the ‘made in China’ is always present, but I sincerely hope that this experience will result in an emotional ardor strong enough to render us capable of better empathizing with other people, of forcing us to reflect upon the nature the character of the commercial activities we want to put into place. We must priorities quality over quantity, and we must remember that the distancing that is on everyone’s tongue is not in fact a social one as we describe it, but a physical one.

There are in fact ways of nourishing the social texture of our society, of revitalizing it, and the values of our tradition are the key to do so. The complete and total shutdown of the country has broken the rhythm, and as slaves of the rhythm it is up to us to either take the opportunity provided by this period of hardship and reinvent ourselves, find new meaning in what we do, or revert to the same condition we were in before.”

OPINIONS lushbyir.org | 10 Editor: Iris Zimble Diesel's Media: diesel.com Efforts to Reduce Emissions Sustainability is a critical topic in the fashion industry. Clothing and are the second- largest polluters in the world. So, what are brands doing to tackle this problem? Diesel has taken a new initiative towards a more sustainable future.

Recently Diesel debuted the first collection called "Up-cycling for 55DSL'' during Milan's . Up-Cycling for... Overall, this collection had various items is a new project that Renzo Rosso the founder that intentionally look stitched together, different of Diesel has taken on. On Diesel's website, colors of jeans made into they define up-cycling as " the process of one, with a mix match of patterns, and put transforming used products and waste together different logos and graphics. Each item material into new products of higher from this collection comes with a QR code that quality and value." It will be a biannual directs the purchaser to a site of the item they got, collection, using Diesel new old stock, old the pieces of clothing used to make it, and a time samples, prototypes, and leftover materials. scale of the process. Each collection will hire a new designer to showcase sustainability interpreted Diesel is showing full transparency with this through different creative minds. This first additional component. Overall, this is a small step, collection was designed by Andrea Rosso the but a powerful one made by Diesel to work towards son of Renzo. This collection used the a sustainable future and hopefully influence other deadstock, and prototypes from 55DSL the name brands. sporty sub label of Diesel from the mid-90s. The intention of 55DSL was made "It's a nice philosophy to give old stock new life." to target a younger age group. In the Renzo Rosso. commemoration of the 20th anniversary of the launch of "55DSL '' they released fall/winter collection, however, a year later it was integrated into the main Diesel

collection. Up-Cycling for 55DSL has a limited number of only 5,055 pieces made in total.

GLOBAL INDUSTRY lushbyir.org | 11

Editor: Athina Krizel Media: vintagestockreserve.com/ Introducing: Sustainable Shutterstock.com Streetwear

Fashion has been and will always be a significant aspect of our well- being. However, fashion is a fast growing industry that benefits from the current mindset of . Many brands that rule the industry are fast fashion brands that focus solely on profit and quantity. Fast fashion is one of the many acts that contribute to environmental issues by producing low quality garments that end up as waste. It also violates the human rights of their workers since it encourages child labor and extremely low salary jobs.

Because of the consequences, was introduced in order to alter the toxic system of the fashion industry. By slow fashion, we mean production and consumption in a more sustainable and ethical way. This can be achieved by supporting local charity shops, thrift stores, by upcycling and by buying clothes from ethically made brands. Nevertheless, as streetwear gradually evolves and becomes more and more popularized, it is necessary to inform the youth about the impact of purchasing clothes carelessly. Many believe that following the steps of slow fashion is challenging but it is actually possible to follow trends and spend a reasonable amount of money with purchasing the minimum or zero amount of fast fashion. This is why, we have decided to introduce to you some of our favorite sustainable brands that can change your streetwear game.

GLOBAL INDUSTRY lushbyir.org | 13 DANG STHLM

Julia Dang, a fashion and lifestyle vlogger with over 500k subscribers, launched her own clothing brand in hopes of creating a brand that cares about the buyer, the manufacturer and the environment. DANG STHLM is a brand that focuses on comfort wear and basics that will last and enhance your wardrobe. Most of their clothing pieces are genderfluid and compliment every body type. In order to achieve her goals of DANG being a conscious brand, Julia and Mickey Ho, who also contributed in founding DANG STHLM, have decided to work independently with a trustworthy small group of people. Since it is of high interest to Julia that her workers never get exploited, she ensures to have clear communication with her workers and the production to be done in a respectful and moral work environment.

On top of that, all of their garments are produced with deadstock materials and other sustainable fabrics such as , econyl and tencel. For those who may not know, deadstock materials are rolls of fabric that are no longer of use to the mills or fashion factories. Although by using deadstock, fabric waste is minimized, the production of a collection is limited to the amount of fabric that was sourced. So make sure to get your hands on the latest collection of DANG STHLM.

Vintage Stock Reserve

VSR was created by Tommy and Jordan, two high school friends who were interested in vintage pieces and thrifting. They begun their journey in 2018 and have transformed used clothing into unique and colorful garments. They specialize in vintage custom pieces, created by enhancing the vintage aspect of the garment and adding modern fashion elements to it. Most of them are altered by dyeing, sewing and are sourced from local thrift stores or charity shops.

Vintage Stock Reserve circulated rapidly on TikTok for their upcycling videos and thrift hauls. Their main goal is to educate others about the benefits of buying used clothing instead of participating actively on the environmental impact of fast fashion. By uploading their videos online, they can also show their own creative and unique way of expressing themselves through fashion. As of now, they have gained many supporters who are now part of their journey as a growing company.

OPINIONS lushbyir.org | 14 Marine Serre

Marine Serre is a well known brand that is worn by many celebrities, such as Beyoncé, Ariana Grande and BLACKPINK. It is also known to design “futurewear”, which correlates to futurism, innovation and environmental consciousness. The majority of her collections are made by upcycled materials, deadstock and used clothes that are redesigned and resewed to create new fashion masterpieces. Marine Serre has uploaded REGENERATED SS20, a series of videos on Youtube that show us the process of different upcycled fabrics to creating a part of her collections.

Serre is a very politically aware person and has shown her views in many of her collections. Her signature mascot of the brand is the crescent moon, an Islamic symbol and has incorporated it to manyof her designs. In her latest collection MIND MELANGE MOTOR FW20, she introduced a second mascot which is the salamander that is able to live in both water and earth. From the name of the collection and by adding a hybrid as her mascot, we can perceive that, as her encouraging others to mix and match different materials, textiles, accesories etc. but with a sustainable mindset.

GLOBAL INDUSRTY lushbyir.org | 15 Editor: Fivos Dimitrakopoulos Media: Maurice Sedwell, FIT Four Black Designers That You Should Know!

With the advent of streetwear, fashion has become all more diverse since the early 2000s. As creatives of colour made their way from music or visual media, the world of fashion became a space that welcomed people of colour. In light of recent developments, we are, therefore, going to shed light into four black designers that shaped fashion in older times, and understand and, appreciate their contributions to the art.

Andrew Ramroop Born in the Caribbean island of Trinidad, Ramroop moved to in 1969 where he began his career as a tailor. Having tailored his first at a young age, he was well equipped to progress in the world of high fashion and soon was hired by Huntsman & Sons in the early 1970s. Four years later, he would go on to work for Savile Row tailor shop Maurice Sedwell, which is suggested to be the only shop that would hire a black tailor in Savile Row.

After a successful time at MS, he managed to buy the shop in 1988 becoming the first black Savile Row shop- owner. His legacy continued strong and in 2008 he opened the Savile Row Academy to train young tailors in the art. For his contributions, he was knighted as an Officer of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire (OBE) by the Queen. Ramroop continues to design and make at Sedwell.

ARCHIVE lushbyir.org | 16 Stephen Burrows Born in Newark, NJ in 1943, Burrows was the first internationally renowned African American fashion designer. While interested in fashion from a young age, he began his career in 1968 while working alongside artist Andy Warhol in New York. Having studied at NYC’s Fashion Institute of Technology, he was accustomed to ‘classic’ couture techniques but, he wanted to push fashion-forward and created garments with a signature curly edge, dubbed the ‘lettuce hem’ as well as pioneering colour-blocking in fashion. His designs were unapologetically 70s. In 1973, Burrows was invited in the historic Battle of the Versailles , he was only one of five black designers and the youngest overall by more than a decade. His forward-thinking design gave him eight awards as well as several positions in associations including the CFDA. His garments have been worn by the likes of Michele Obama, Brooke Shields and, Farrah Fawcett.

Ann Lowe Lowe is the first renowned black designer, born in 1898 in Alabama, still under strict racist laws. She worked as a seamstress and in 1917 left her husband with her son to pursue a career in fashion. After enrolling in a segregated design school in NYC, she moved to Florida where she opened her first salon. After returning to New York, she kept designing and in 1946 made a dress for actress Olivia de Havilland, to be worn during the Golden Globes awards, however, she was not credited for her work due to her skin colour. In 1950 she opened her store in Lexington Avenue, NY from which she created some of her most important works. Her salon was heralded as “society’s best- kept secret” and her dresses, which were hand made only went to the most important clients. She once stated that she was “an awful snob” and wanted only the wealthiest and most important people to wear her garments. She is most well known for the white wedding dress made of Jackie Kennedy (later Onassis) at her wedding with former US president John F. Kennedy. She died in 1981 after a long illness and, even at the top of her career, she was almost broke as her clients talked her out of higher prices for the garments.

Arthur McGee Born in Detroit in 1933, to a dressmaker, he was interested in fashion from a young age. Like others, he moved to New York to study fashion in Traphagen and FIT but was continuously told to drop out as no one wanted to hire a black designer. He had always been vocal about his mistreatment in the industry which included an inability to use his name when signing’ garments. At 24, he became the head designer for Bobby Brooks, an established label, and was the first black individual to do so. His work infuses stylistic cues from Asia and Africa, with looser silhouettes and exotic fabrics. Having worked at several labels, his garments were sold at many department stores, marking the first time they sold garments designed by a person of colour. He was prolific with his work until the late 1980s and mentored a large number of other black designers including Stephen Burrows and, Jeffery Banks. He died in 2019 in NYC after a long illness.

ARCHIVE lushbyir.org | 17 Online Issue No.3: www.lushbyir.org July, 2020 Issued bimonthly

lush. by Iason Raissis

Cover Photograph: Alexandra Diona Cover Model: Georgina Liosi

Appear in this issue

Georgina Liosi/ @g.le.fou Andrew Ramroop Julia Dang/ @juliaadang

Contributors

Iason Raissis/ @iasonraisis Alexandra Diona/ @ashinyday Stavros Habakis/ @stavroshabakis Sveva Ferrajoli Photo Archive

STREET STYLE lushbyir.org |