Greetings from lovely Vancouver, British Columbia!

I'm here for the city's Eco Fashion Week, founded six seasons ago by Myriam Laroche with the goal of "informing and inspiring the fashion-conscious, and sustainable-minded, alike, in a way that harmonizes beauty and the environment. After all, innovation in fashion—the future of chic—is inextricably linked to innovation in, well, sustainability."

For as huge an industry as it is, apparel production is behind the curve in terms of having a unified blueprint for how it will evolve in response to the soundly proven evidence that its current state of consumption (mass produced fast fashion) and production (unethical labor practices, a huge carbon footprint) is on course for disaster. When the idea of "green fashion" had its big moment some years ago, it never quite beat its rap for being slightly uncool and faddish, but that's insane: An industry that bases its whole identity on being one step ahead of the game has a responsibility to innovate, and to make the way into the future attractive and desirable. It's the whole point.

Pre-show ate Eco Fashion Weeks Robson Square digs.
  • Pre-show at Eco Fashion Week's Robson Square digs.

Click over to MOD for the whole scheme.