Shoe fair to reduce footprint
MELBOURNE: The Australian Shoe Fair (ASF) will put its best environmental foot forward this September with a raft of new eco-friendly exhibitors. Organisers said first time exhibitors that had already confirmed their participation were UK label Terra Plana footwear, imported by Sydney based company Pre-Loved, and Charmone by Cradle Lifestyle.
Pre-Loved - which released its sustainable clothing label at Fashion Exposed in 2007 - would launch its expansion into footwear with Terra Plana. The ASF launch would comprise a range of around 40 to 50 trans-seasonal styles, confirmed Pre-Loved proprietor and director Tanya Greenwood.
"This label has never been shown in Australia before, so our presence at the fair will really be about creating some initial interest around the brand."
Prices for the label ranged between $85 and $420, she confirmed, adding the footwear used a variety of eco friendly materials including chrome free leathers, recycled rubbers and foams, latex soles and high tech, low pollution man-made fibres.
Pre-Loved had also been working with social awareness organisation Anti-Apathy, resulting in the "Worn Again" line, a collection of casual shoes for men and women fashioned out of reclaimed materials gleaned from silk parachutes, T-shirts, tweed jackets, jeans, seat belts, motorbike tyres, rubber soles and ex-military jackets.
Meanwhile Charmone footwear was designed to be both eco and animal friendly, a spokesperson for the brand confirmed. "Traditionally, non-leather shoes were considered inferior due to poor construction, lack of breathability and generally being harder on the environment. But Charmone has found a way around the problem by using high-quality Italian microfibres that are constructed exactly like leather, making them breathable, lightweight and colourfast."
"The process of creating microfibre is less harmful to the environment than the process of tanning, factory farming and processing leather. In addition, the materials are free from harmful PVCs; instead a light polyurethane coating is used, which is less damaging to the environment."
The Australian Shoe Fair will be located with Fashion Exposed & preview at the Melbourne Exhibition Centre from September 14 to 16.
By Belinda Smart