Sustainable Fashion: An Alternative Trend in Africa International Conference

Sustainable fashion has become a highly debated and increasingly covered topic worldwide. Clothing companies at an increasing rate are transforming their business models and improving their supply chains to reduce overall environmental impacts, improve social conditions in factories, etc. There is also a growing awareness among consumers, especially younger generations and more people are seeking to buy clothes that have been made “sustainably’. Sustainable fashion also called eco fashion’s goal is to create a system which can be supported indefinitely in terms of human impact on the environment as well as social responsibility.

There are various organisations working to increase opportunities for sustainable designers and increase the visibility of the movement among them being Fa254 and GIZ who will be holding a conference “Sustainable Fashion: An Alternative Trend in Africa’’, on April 20^th In Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. Its purpose is to assist African fashion designers and entrepreneurs with fashion related businesses to create products that encourage social change and respect the environment. Scheduled to be held at the German House, the conference will tackle various sustainability issues including, important sustainable techniques when designing, producing, marketing and distributing. The conference will also shed light on the what the best fabrics and colours are when it comes to producing sustainable garments.

Speaking at the conference, bringing in expertise and knowledge about Sustainable Fashion will be Karen Jessen the award winning designer of Berlin based brand Benu Benu. She will be joined by fellow ‘Berliners’ Magdalena Schaffrin the creative director of Green Showroom and Fa254 founder Waridi Schrobsdorff as well as Bethlehem Tilahun Alemu, founder of Ethiopian brand Sole Rebels.