The Power of One

The fashion industry united at Pure London this week to champion the Power of One campaign advancing the UN Global Goals for Sustainable Development

Launched last week at Pure London – the largest festival of fashion based at London Olympia – the Power of One campaign is designed to galvanise the fashion industry into making it more ethical, sustainable and inclusive, championing individual actions and powerful steps to collectively create a better, more sustainable future for our world.

Scarlett Curtis’ pledge ‘Actually, I Can’The three-day event at London Olympia welcomed thousands of buyers and influencers, new sectors and new brands, inspiring speakers and leading change-makers putting the future and how to make it sustainable, circular and inclusive top of the agenda. Retailers including John Lewis, House of Fraser, ASOS, Topshop, Miss Selfridges, Quiz, Matchesfashion.com, White Stuff, Paul Smith, and Victoria Beckham attended, while across the three stages topics including diversity, body shape, ethics and environmental issues were discussed by the Ellen MacArthur Foundation, Professor Caryn Franklin MBE, Hilary Alexander OBE, Scarlett Curtis, Orsola de Castro, and Tamsin Lejeune – each one making their Power of One pledge.

Pure London invited everyone to adopt one of five simple pledges – Get Dirty, Turn It Down, Pass It On, Ethicool, and Actually I Can – to advance the UN’s Global Goal 12 for Responsible Consumption and Production. Power of One organic pledge t-shirts made by I Dress Myself were available with a £3 donation per t-shirt going to charity Labour Behind the Label. Champion Hilary Alexander OBE prompted the audience,

“Come clean! Get Dirty and make baby steps to a sustainable future. We invite the consumer to back sustainable brands, think carefully about your choices, and give the world a chance by collectively making a difference.”

A huge increase in brands with an ethical standpoint and environmentally-made collections exhibited this season as part of the new Pure Conscious section, demonstrating the pace of growth and interest in this sector as it drives to become the norm. Professor Caryn Franklin MBE highlighted the fact that the global marketplace is changing, culturally, geographically and politically, but “change can take time, it requires tenacity, consistency and requires us to be fixed on the vision, to become a stakeholder in the things that matter to you… whatever that is and no matter how small. All it takes is the power of one to drive change.”

Future trends by WGSN were brought to life on the catwalk with a special appearance from Graduate Fashion Week winners and graduates, including Aurelie Fontan who showcased a collection made from home-grown biomaterials to demonstrate the possibilities for sustainable design in the future. For Lara Oyedele, owner of Empress Lounge the highlight was the great diversity of exhibitors, allowing her to network with businesses with shared values “meeting new Turkish, South African and Nigeria vendors I intend to work with. One of which has a great community project they are supporting in Istanbul which works well with my personal ethics.”

Julie Driscoll, Managing Director of Pure London and Pure Origin reinforced their commitment to ensure that the issues facing the fashion industry are top of the agenda. She commented,

“As we start looking forward to the February 19 show the focus will remain on collaboration across the industry to ensure the issues facing our industry are top of the agenda. We will continue to champion the power of individual change, to be an advocate for better practice in the fashion industry. Our Power of One campaign doesn’t end here; it is just getting started!”

So how do you get involved?

1. Take a photo of yourself holding up a sign with your pledge and send it to us so we can use it in our campaign activity. 
2. Post it on your social channels tagging #purelondon #powerofone #yourpledge – and invite your followers to share their pledge.

Please make your pledge and start making a difference.

#powerofone