The fashion industry is—what one would expect from fashion—upfront in taking action when it concerns evironmental issues:

Puma, the world’s third-largest sportswear brand, has responded to a Greenpeace challenge to ‘detox’, by publicly committing to the elimination of all releases of hazardous chemicals from its entire product lifecycle, and across its global supply chain by 2020, putting it firmly ahead of its competitors Nike and Adidas in the race for a toxic-free future.

On Vivienne Westwood’s blog ‘Get A Life‘ you can read about her project
in Africa where she is working with a local community to produce not only environmental conscious design, she shows us how her brand contributes to provide locals in Nairobi Kenya the trade of producing bags by means of a chance to make their living in a descent manner and also to value trivial matters or take precautions—for instance the sawdust when bones are made into buttons.

In line with global developments the Amsterdam International Fashion Week launched the ‘Green Fashion Competition’ with the aid of the Dutch Ministry of Economic Affairs, Agriculture and Innovation initiated The Green Fashion Competition to inspire and encourage a change towards a more sustainable fashion industry. By offering a complete ‘prize pack’ they provide the prize winners with the tools to really start as a fashion business.

Besides cash prizes The Green Fashion Competition provides young entrepreneurs with business related workshops, coaching, connection to the AIFW network and a platform during the 16th edition of AIFW. The United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) has recently launched a partnership with The Green Fashion Competition to support the competition’s efforts in identifying talented entrepreneurs. This first Edition of the competition was won by Elsien Gringhuis.

Unlike the first edition, the competition has currently been divided into two categories. The first category is for fashion entrepreneurs who are already working in the fashion industry and who aspire to lift their company to a higher plane in the (international) market. The first prize in this category is
€ 25.000, -. Young fashion creatives and graduates who are starting out, can register for the second category with first prize € 15.000, -. Participation is open for Dutch as well as international applicants.

Conditions and more information (concerning participation in the competition) can be found at:
WWW.THEGREENFASHIONCOMPETITION.COM