Courtesy: Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week Australia
The Green Of It All
IMG today announced the first chapter of a three-year plan to embed sustainable practices in both the event and venue operations of Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week Australia (MBFWA) and Mercedes-Benz Fashion Weekend Edition (MBFWE). Both 2019 events will take place at Carriageworks in Sydney from 12-18 May.
With the support of City of Sydney, IMG will implement new initiatives that aim to reduce the environmental impact of its events. These changes are inspired by the strides many Australian designers are already making and designed to promote further sustainability within the national fashion industry.
“It’s fantastic to see one of Sydney’s biggest fashion events working to reduce their environmental impact and acknowledge the importance of sustainability within the fashion industry,” Lord Mayor Clover Moore said.
“We are very proud to support the ‘Fashionably Conscious’ seminar which will help businesses embed sustainable practices to reduce their waste and emissions – actions that are critical to tackling the industry’s environmental impact.”
This multi-year approach will first focus on waste management and sustainable operations in 2019; immediate steps include, but are not limited to:
· Elimination of single-use plastic water bottles: IMG, in partnership with frank green, will introduce the total elimination of single-use packaged water bottles in our back of house areas, and no plastic bottled water in our guest areas, in collaboration with San Pellegrino. This step-change initiative will directly reduce the environmental impact of the event through glass bottles or refill stations, avoiding an estimated 11,000 single-use plastic bottles. frank green stainless steel water bottles will be distributed to over 2,500 event staff at Carriageworks, including designer teams, hair and makeup artists, models, production crew and volunteers. Additional water stations will be introduced back of house at the Carriageworks venue, providing easy access for the bottles to be re-filled. The event has also eliminated plastic straws, serving beverages with paper straws upon request.
· Elimination of printed collateral onsite: IMG will no longer print hand-out collateral onsite at the event, limiting all printed materials to instructive signage and moving all other assets to digital; further, IMG will discourage both event partners and designers from doing so.
· Energy efficiency in MBFWA/MBFWE showrooms: Onsite runway showrooms at Carriageworks will increase energy efficiency through the introduction of intelligent lighting fixtures. These new designs will allow for efficiency across time, heat and power consumption. Energy consumption will be monitored closely to help inform where future efficiencies can be found.
In addition to these event improvements, participating designers taking a sustainable approach include BASSIKE, BONDI BORN, LEE MATHEWS, TIGERLILY, ELK, CLEONIE SWIM, LÉ BUNS and SILK LAUNDRY. These brands have incorporated sustainable and ethical practices in recent years, including the use of sustainable textiles, fabric dyes and inks, plastic-free packaging and recycled textile waste initiatives.
To invite conversation around the fashion industry’s 21-billion-dollar responsibility, IMG will host a seminar focused on fashion’s ecological footprint and touch on ways in which Australian labels, organisations and events can incorporate sustainability into their business models.
“Fashionably Conscious,” presented by City of Sydney, invites experts to discuss who is radically influencing the sustainability agenda here and abroad, where can progress be celebrated, and what has yet to be learned. Panellists will include: Chris Buchanan, Chief Executive Officer of Tigerlily; Jackie Frank, patron of Thread Together and Marie Claire Australia Launch Editor and Publisher; Renée Carpenter, Sustainability Manager at Bassike; and Marnie Goding, Co-Founder and Creative Director of ELK.
The session will be held at 5pm on Friday 17 May at Carriageworks, as part of MBFWA Seminar Series, accessible to the industry and the public. MBFWA Delegates receive complimentary access to the seminar series as part of their registration. Press and industry registrations are now open at auregistration.mbfashionweek.com, while tickets are available for purchase at mbfwe.com.
Minister for Jobs, Investment, Tourism and Western Sydney Stuart Ayres said it was an exciting step for the event. “Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week Australia has been a trailblazer since it began and this is another example of organisers showing leadership and setting the trend. Through this event and the support it receives from the NSW Government via Destination NSW, Sydney is celebrated as the style capital of Australia and with this kind of initiative I’m sure that it will attract global attention as an innovator, which is a great profile for the Harbour City and our State.”
For more information, please visit Mercedes Benz Fashion Week Australia online at mbfashionweek.com/Australia, or follow @fashionweekaus, #MBFWA and #MBFWE across Instagram, Twitter and Facebook for exclusive designer content, livestreams and more.
In addition to Mercedes-Benz and Destination NSW, MBFWA is brought to life with the support of City of Sydney, St.George Bank, AEG, DHL, Moet & Chandon, TONI&GUY, Amazon Fashion, Swarovski, Superga, Sanpellegrino, Ovolo Hotels, Vittoria, Tempus Two, Peroni, Disaronno, Hewlett-Packard, GlamCorner, Carriageworks and frank green.
Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week Australia is an IMG event.
Daniel Quintanilla
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