Green is the new black: Fashion Takes Action runway show highlights sustainable fashion

When it comes to sustainable fashion, "if it's ugly, no one's going to buy it," saysKelly Drennan, founderof the non-profit organization Fashion Takes Action.

The groupheld a runway show this week in Toronto highlighting sustainably made clothing.

While socialconcerns might impel designers and consumers to consider ecologically minded and responsibly crafted garments, "sustainable fashion should always be about the fashion first,"Drennansaid.

The Fashion Takes Actionshow aimed tochallenge negative stereotypes around eco-fashion, which often evokes images of hippiesor notions of poor quality.

The event featured 10 Canadian labels that have embraced ethical practices andincluded a diversity of designs, fromhigh-end couture ballgowns to recycledcotton dresses.

But can sustainable fashion truly becomemainstream?It's one thing forindiedesigners to embrace the concept, but a another matterfor major chains and consumers to follow suit.

"I believe, eventually,sustainable fashion will have to become mainstream," saidAnika Kozlowski, whomonitorsthe Canadianfashion industry and is currently completing aPhD in environmental science, with a special focus onsustainable fashion,atRyersonUniversity.

"Consumers are aware about sweatshop labour, poor working conditions and some of the larger environmental issues, such as water pollution or chemicals used for growing cotton. The biggest problem right now is that despite consumers' best intentions to shop responsibly the retail environment, ads, blogs andmedia in general [support]mass consumption of products."

It's a myth that sustainable clothing needs to be expensive, she said."It's all relative. The consumer is much more receptive to paying for responsibly made clothing," Kozlowski said.

Paying garment workers a true living wage only adds 10cents to the final retail price of a T-shirt, she said,citinga recent report by Asia Floor Wage Alliance, an international activist group comprising trade unions for garment-producing countries.

Today, there is a mix of labels creating garmentsrespectful ofthe environmentand made in a socially responsible way: large brands with money for research and development, as well as smaller peers who control their entire production, saidKozlowski, who has studied the domestic fashion industry for more than a decade.

Butthere's still much work ahead for the wider world offashion to weavesustainability into its fabric.

For instance, Kozlowski noted,Canada lags behind European countries, Australia and the U.S., where both government and corporations support green initiatives in their respectivefashion industries.

Overall, "it will require new mindsets in how we sell and consume fashion," shesaid.

"Diversity of business models and new perceptions of what fashion clothing can be in terms of we what produce, use and consume will be the future of the industry."