Greenthisseason Year 2 Issue No.2

Green This Season MAGAZINE SUMMER 2014: year 2, Issue No. 2

Cover: DeepmelloImage courtesy of deepmello

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Dutch Basics

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Interview Roosmarie Ruigruik

InterviewDeepmello

AboutDutch Basics

The summer is magic!It’s just those long sunny days that bring out the best in everyone. For a lot of people it’s the season where you can just relax and prepare for a long and well- earned holiday. This season is simply magical. We hope you enjoyed our last Fashion Revolution Day Issue, we sure had a blast making it for you. We’ve met so many nice people during the Fashion Revolution Day. One of the people I met is Roosmarie Ruigrok (also the countries coordinator). Personally I think she is a gem; her knowledge, expertise is unmatched and combined with her generous and honest personality it makes her a true “sustainable fashion gem”. I met up with Roosmarie in Amsterdam to ask her about sustainability and fashion. The first part of our interview you can read in this issue.

We have so much in store for you this year. The slow fashion movement is growing and we love it. So many young designers are starting to create conscious collections and are looking for a cool international platform to share their collections. We have started to collaborate with some of these designers and you will see their edgy collections online soon. Stay tuned!

I believe that creative designers deserve a great platform, like the greenthisseason.com collective. With each one of them I discuss their needs and make a plan for a creative collaboration. Make sure you follow us on facebook.com/greenthisseason to stay tuned and up-to-date on our projects.

I hope you will have a great summer and that it will be a magical one. Enjoy the summer, be good and look good. Select your favorite summer outfit right here. Have a look at the magnificent collections of Anne Gorke, inspired by Artichokes and White wine, Christiane Milde, and Aleks Kurkowski, just to name a few.

And don’t forget to get yourself some sensational jewelry by Dutch Basics, beautiful handmade pieces, fair trade, and designed right here in Holland, made in Portugal.

Enjoy the summer.

Donna

“I believe that young creative designers deserve a great platform, like the greenthisseason.com collective.”

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Shop here

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But fashion for the sake of just fashion it is too empty. I believe more and more that we all should make an effort to be better and do good. Interested in various social, environmental causes, it was not more than obvious to think of how to create with concern for people and our environment, an exclusive ethical fashion design brand. Of course this is not done in just ‘one-go’. However, I started and want to continuously do things right and improve our methods. I choose to produce in Portugal with small ateliers and production facilities because I can personally follow the whole process. And it’s great to be able to say that I know most of the workers personally.

It’s satisfying for me to know that they are working under the right conditions and that there is absolutely no child labour. Dutch Basics also chose to use materials which are made with environmental care, like recycled leather, leather with no or very little chrome. There are so many more plans for the future to give body to the beautiful concept of Dutch Basics.

The idea to create Dutch Basics was born out of my passion for beautiful materials and design. I’ve been interested in style ever since I was a young girl, i’ve always preferred special combinations: classic items with a modern twist, clean-lined design that are eye-catchers, beautiful long lasting materials in minimalistic aesthetic, a functional twist in a beautiful design.

Dutch Basics

The woman behind the brand, Dóris Pires.

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Dutch Basics

The woman behind the brand, Dóris Pires.

You can find the Dutch Basic’s ollection here atgreenthisseason.com

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The ethical fashion design concept of Dutch Basics.

We believe in nurturing talent.

We create collections in collaboration with young inspiring designers.

We believe in smart fashion.

We believe in creating inspiring designs.

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Collections are made with the idea that fashion should be harmless and smart. Materials and

production are chosen with care and are mostly certified green.

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The richness of our surroundings is the source to our inspiration, simple forms that lead

to surprising new shapes.

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Starting out within the field of science, Deepmello’s aim was to find an alternative to the conventional process of leather tanning. This ultimately led to the development of tanning using the humble rhubarb root. This means that Deepmello can produce leather that is not only environmentally sound- but is also fashionably versatile.

Breathable, soft and renewably-sourced, the resulting designs have rocked the fashion world. The minimalist designs, which echo the Bauhaus, sit hand-in-hand with the luxurious textiles that flirt alongside the rhubarb leather framework. Their concept is not driven by ‘eco-chic’, it is instead enhanced by it; a rollercoaster of exciting and revolutionary design championed by it’s ethical production processes. This is how fashion is meant to be- that inspiration for the purchase tomorrow, but ultimately, the design for today.

I recently had the pleasure in speaking to Anne-Christin of Deepmello, to find out more about her inspiration for the development of this unique fashion brand..

Anne-Christin is that rare breed; a visionary, an intellect, a revolutionary. Not content to re-invent or re-use, she started a journey; a scientific adventure which culminated in the creation of Deepmello - a unique fashion venture of our times.

DEEPMELLOBy Jo-Ann Worthington

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DEEPMELLODeepmello prides itself on it’s use of rhubarb leather; how does this make your product differ from it’s competitors?Instead of chromium salts that are harmful to the environment, carcinogenic and allergenic, a special extract of rhubarb roots is used for tanning the hides. During several years of research, we have developed the method for preparing the extract and have implemented the solution in collaboration with our partners offering a high quality finished leather. We named it ‘rhubarb leather’- it is very soft, has a delicate fragrance remains breathable and is even suitable for allergy sufferers.It is also extremely important for us that the whole process of leather production takes place in Germany to 100%. This includes cultivating the rhubarb plants, the extract recovery, the origin of the hides, the tanning and the leather finishing.

You describe Deepmello as being ‘far from eco-chic’. Why do feel that it is important to be seen as much more than simply an ethical brand?In our opinion, we can only be successful if the final product is, besides a high quality material, also convincing in terms of design and functionality. Therefore, these parameters too are part of our main focus. For us it is

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a standard to work ecologically and ethically correct. It’s an essential part of the final products.

DEEPMELLO HAS RECENTLY BEEN FEATURED IN THE LIKES OF MAINSTREAM FASHION LITERATURE SUCH AS VOGUE, AS WELL AS RECEIVING A NOMINATION FOR THE MUCH-COVETED GREENTEC AWARD THIS YEAR IN THE PRODUCTION CATEGORY.

What is more important to you as a brand-being seen as a company that is innovative in the way it develops it’s production processes, or as a brand which is praised for it’s exquisite, edgy designs?For us both concepts go hand in hand; and therefore this is also one of our main advantages. To be mentioned in fashion magazines, is a recognition of the over-facing design but also an appreciation and recognition of our scientific work. We know perfectly how our specially developed material works and looks, and so with our brand Deepmello we are able to show how versatile using an ecologically sustainable product is-and importantly-how it can even be used in even different fields.

You have produced a number of fantastic collaborations with a number of ethical brands such as Anne Gorke and Esther Perbandt. For your next collaboration, if you could pick any well known global designer to work with, who would it be and why?If we could choose a designer, then it would have to be would be Vivienne Westwood, due to her thought leadership and timeless experimental views on fashion. Karl Lagerfeld is also an inspiration for us; his designs exude style and a sense of straightforward elegance. based on our favourite plant; the rhubarb!

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Your products and designs have clearly been meticulously researched and developed with a playful yet scientific mind- where do you expect your creativity to take Deepmello next?We continuously plan the expansion of our fashion collection. In particular, we would like to develop more products especially for men, because there are still too few alternatives interms of eco-fashion. Furthermore we also intend to make new, exciting and above all cross-industry collaborations; we have some exciting plans for working with the furniture and automotive industry, for example. And since the spirit of research is always with us, we are currently developing our own line ofnatural cosmetics which is of course again based on our favourite plant; the rhubarb!

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available online soon

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shop here

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Starting as a textile buyer, Roosmarie Ruigrok discovered her passion in fair supply chains. After selling her own company, Promax Corporate Fashion, she worked at Amnesty International, Fair Wear Foundation and as CSR consultant at “Elsewear Foundation”. In 2008 Roosmarie founded Clean & Unique. This foundation helps (small) brands and starters in fashion to learn more about sustainability. And if all this wasn’t enough she also worked for “Fairtrade” as Cotton manager in The Netherlands & Belgium..

I got to know Roosmarie a little better during our collaboration for the Fashion Revolution Day 2014. It’s easy to understand why she is so well respected in the eco fashion community. Her knowledge and experience of the fashion industry and all that it entails is unmatched. It’s all first hand experience that not many (if any) other people have.

When it comes to understanding the true character of the fashion industry, she’s definitely the go-to source for information. This modern day revolutionary knows her stuff. We simply had to take the opportunity to ask her some questions.

about roosmarieruigrokBy: Donna Darthuizen

shop here

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You’ve been involved with sustainability and fashion for a long time, even before it was a “trend”. Where did this interest come from?We continuously plan the expansion of our fashion collection. In particular, we would like to develop more products especially for men, because there are still too few alternatives interms of eco-fashion. Furthermore we also intend to make new, exciting and above all cross-industry collaborations; we have some exciting plans for working with the furniture and automotive industry, for example. And since the spirit of research is always with us, we are currently developing our own line ofnatural cosmetics which is of course again based on our favourite plant; the rhubarb!

That said, my parents involvement with the “more sensitive and fragile” side of society also meant that I witnessed quite some sorrow and misery. It made me realise, that that specific line of work wasn’t for me. I wanted something else, more dynamic maybe, and so I decided to go the fashion academy and become a designer. However my designer plan sort of backfired. After I graduated I found out that my ideas and the reality didn’t really match, you don’t graduate

and immediately become a designer. Fortunate for me, I got an opportunity to work as a buyer for a fashion retailer. Little did I know that this journey too would have me face sorrow and misery.

Already on one of my first business trips to a factory I encountered some serious “mishaps”: factories running at full capacity, after hours, exploiting people. I’ve even seen situations where I suspected child-labour. But of course this was always denied. I’ve encountered so many things that formed my personality and “opened” my eyes. For example, children playing in unnatural coloured blue and pink rivers, coloured by the waste and toxins from factories. Things that I never expected, but all this made me very conscious about the industry and I knew I needed to do something about this.

My conscious attitude and approach made me want to create a better environment. That’s why in 1991 when I started my own business, Promax, I made sure that the entire production line and all partners I worked with were rel iable, trustworthy and our relationship was build on total transparency.

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What’s more important for you, peoples working environment, or thematerial they work with?You can’t really see these separate, but if you’d ask me where to start, it would be with people: People, Planet, Profit. All these 3 are connected in business. But you have to start with people. If the people do well, the rest of the business will do well. And you know, when you think of the well being of the people you also think about how to protect them if they should happen to work with toxins or chemicals.

Unfortunately the fashion industry is (can be) aseriously polluting industry; just think conventional leather and denim, what is your take on this?All the toxins and chemicals seriously affect our water. And food and water safety is so important. Since 1972 the FAO (Food and agricultural organization of the United Nations) has been warning us, alarming us, to be careful with our water. And in these 42 years we’ve made some progress but it ’s going to take more actions to get where we need to be. Drinking water, fresh water, it’s my main concern and I think we all need to be careful and respectful with our fresh water supply. At the rate we’re polluting now, we can’t continue. The whole supply chain needs to take that into consideration as it’s key.

“You should always respect everyone in the supply chain”

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You’ve seen so much when it comes to fashion. You’ve been to so many places;basically nothing in the entire supply chain has any secrets for you. How easy is it to shop for you? Do you even enjoy it?Well that’s very easy, I have a very limited choice, I know where I can buy honest products so that’s where you’ll find me. And in case I can’t find what I am looking for, I can always make it myself.

I don’t even really enjoy shopping. Shopping for me is something completely different than for anyone else. Shopping for me is like going to work, I pay attention to everything single detail of a product. When I go shopping with my daughter I’m exhausted after a few hours. I analyse all I see and nowadays there is so much rubbish in the stores. I can get really upset about how products are displayed. You wonder where the respect for the apparel is. The quality is bad, the way it’s presented is bad, where is the respect for the product?

As conscious consumers we try to our best when we shop and look outfor green labels but there are so many. How do we go about this?There are over 400 certifications, so it’s easy to get confused. What you might want to do is stick to the “Golden standard”. Look out for GOTS and

Fairtrade products. And always shop consciously, think(!) about what you buy.

Want to know more about Roosmarie Ruigrok and her company Clean & Unique *click here

“Starting a sustainable tex tile supply chain is f inding out the DNA of your company”

Roosmarie Ruigrok

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Edelziege - Mongolian Cashmere for every

season.

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Spring season, you still manage to give me chills.

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Pure, honest, sustainable and fair trade.

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€ 228.00

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Noir habiba Sweater

€ 69.00

ADVERTISEDo you want to advertise in our Online Magazine?Send an email to: [email protected]

ONLINE SALESGreenthisseason.com is an online concept store, sales platform, that represents Independent Green Fashion designers. Are you an independent Fashion designer and do you want to have your collection represented via greenthisseason.com? Send an email with your look book(s) to: [email protected] subject: independent designer

Greenthisseason Year 2 Issue No.2

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