| Inaugural ecoStyle Takes First Steps Towards Sustainable Success |
|
|
|
For immediate
release
Inaugural ecoStyle
Takes First Steps Towards Sustainable Success
Designers,
Architects, Celebrities, and Environmental Campaigners Unite to Save the
Planet
December
10 -
ecoStyle organisers, NYC Inc and IMG Fashion, last
night presented a high profile line up of international celebrities and VIP
guests that descended on Malaysia to focus
attention on the importance of ecological and environmental sustainability
through design and style.
Graced by royal patron
Y.A.M.Tunku Laxamana Tunku Dato’ Seri Utama Naquiyuddin ibni Tuanku Ja’afar
Al Haj, the inaugural ecoStyle Gala took place at the Mandarin
Oriental Ballroom in Kuala Lumpur.
As Asia’s first
dedicated event focusing on sustainable style and design with a mandate to
educate the industry and consumers on achievable ways of adjusting their
lifestyle for the benefit of the planet, ecoStyle’s primary objective was to
demonstrate how design can positively impact environmental
sustainability.
The ecoStyle Gala
was a spectacular event, attracting some of the the who’s who of the style
and design communities and bringing together sustainable high-fashion,
eco-consciousness and a good cause with proceeds from the night going to a
Malaysian environmental cause through EarthPledge, ecoStyle’s event partner and
beneficiary.
“Through collective ethical commitment
and education it is possible to get everyone to adopt green practices in almost
every sector and part of life. If we can educate every person in the world to
choose a green product over a non-eco alternative, our impact on the future of
the planet will be enormous.” said Simon Lock, Managing Director, IMG Fashion
Asia Pacific.
“This is the first
time an event such as this is seen in Malaysia and we are proud to have the
opportunity to put Malaysia on the fashion map in this way,” Lock
elaborated. “It is also a privilege to know that what we’re doing will in turn
benefit a Malaysian environmental cause.”
In an outstanding show
of support for this worthy cause, Grammy Award Winner Kelly Rowland,
internationally renowned supermodels, Hana Soukupova and Ling Tan, television
presenter and MTV VJ, Denise Keller along with a host of high-profile
environmental campaigners from around the globe joined organisers on the ground
in Kuala Lumpur.
Kelly
Rowland, a founding member of Destiny's Child - the top-selling female recording
group of all-time - and a best-selling Grammy Award-winning solo artist in her
own right, arrived in Malaysia to perform exclusively at the ecoStyle Gala.
Opening with the aptly titled ‘Dilemma’ and ‘Survivor’, Kelly rocked the house
with the dynamic performance in support of raising awareness of the importance
of environmental consciousness.
Supermodels, Hana
Soukupova and Ling Tan, also flew in – on carbon offset airfares, of course – to
show their support to this worthy cause not only through their attendance at the
ecoStyle Gala, but also by participating in the ecoDiary initiative, outlining
some of the small changes they have made in their daily lives for the benefit of
the future of the planet.
At just 22 years old,
Hana Soukupova has become one of the worlds most sought after and respected
supermodels, gracing fashion’s most prestigious runways, starring in major
international ad campaigns and featuring in magazines across the globe.
Speaking of how she
would take ecoStyle’s message of sustainability out into the wider style
community Hana said “I think its a great
thing and its amazing to show people that we can make changes and make our
environment safer by doing so many easy things that take so little time, like
recycling and using environment friendly fabrics! We all truly can make a
difference!”
Ling Tan, the first
Supermodel from Southeast Asia, has changed the face of fashion with her exotic
beauty. Although ethnically Chinese, Ling was born and raised in Kuala Lumpur,
Malaysia and was more than happy to play the role of homecoming queen to raise
awareness of the importance of environmental issues at the inaugural ecoStyle.
Ling’s ecoDiary was a great talking point throughout the evening, with it’s
messages such as “Can you imagine a world that is both green and stylish?” – and
by the end of the night, we could.
The ecoStyle Gala was
hosted by Denise Keller, VJ of MTV Asia and internationally sought after
fashionista in her own right, with existing contracts as a Longines ambassador
and as the fashion ambassador for MasterCard across the Asia Pacific
region.
Several local
celebrities, including Tiara Jacquelina, Lina Teoh, and current Miss Malaysia,
Deborah Henry, added more than a little glamour to the red carpet, alongside two
of Malaysia’s leading designers, Bernard Chandran and Melinda Looi, whose
creations were also showcased during the one of the event highlights, Earth
Pledge’s FutureFashion catwalk collection show.
With the
current collection unveiled on the runway at ecoStyle for the very first
time, FutureFashion features unique creations by some of the world’s
leading fashion designers made exclusively from environmentally-sustainable
fabrics and textiles. An initiative of Earth Pledge, the FutureFashion collection
includes more than 50 pieces from some of the world’s leading fashion designers
including Oscar de la Renta, Diane von Furstenberg, Proenza Schouler, Rebecca
Taylor, Karen Walker, Halston, Derek Lam, Heatherette, Imitation of Christ, Toni
Maticevski, and Jayson Brunsdon.
Another highly
anticipated part of the evening was the announcement of the winner of the
inaugural ecoStyle Award, established to acknowledge the most
environmentally-friendly and stylish innovations in design around the world. The
winner, nominated from the fashion, architecture and the product design stream, was chosen by a Selection Committee comprised of
five high-profile, hugely influential international figures known to have made
significant environmental contributions in their own right. They are Y.A.M.
Tunku Laxamana Tunku Dato’ Seri Utama Naquiyuddin ibni Tuanku Ja’afar Al Haj,
H.E. Khaldoon Khalifa Al Mubarak, Karena Albers, Leslie Hoffman, Yang Lan and
Majorie Yang. Besides the six core members, the Committee is co-chaired
by Simon P. Lock, Managing Director of IMG Fashion Asia Pacific,
and Nicole Yap, Managing Director of NYC Inc.
The winner of the
inaugural ecoStyle Award was leading architect, Dr. Ken Yeang, who has been
designing green buildings for more that three decades. Other finalists for the
inaugural ecoStyle Award included Anna Cohen ready to wear, Jurlique beauty
products, Dr. Ken Yeang, Knoll furniture, Q Collections furniture, Stella
McCartney, and Terra Plana footwear.
“There
is a huge growth potential for sustainable designs and we hope that the
ecoStyle Award will raise awareness not only in Malaysia but also on a
global scale of what we can do to make a difference,” said
Lock.
True to its objective,
the dress code for the invitation-only ecoStyle Gala is ‘Fashionably
Vintage and Recycled’.
ENDS.
For images and further
information please contact:
Ms.Catherine
Rodwell
IMG FASHION Asia
Pacific
Communications
Manager
P: +61 2 9260
2340
M: +61 413 584
543
About IMG
FASHION Asia Pacific
IMG Fashion, a division
of international sports, entertainment and media giant IMG, is the global leader
in the management and production of fashion weeks and designer fashion
events. Its portfolio of events in the United States includes FashionWeekLive
presented by Sephora and Mercedes-Benz Fashion Weeks in New York, Los Angeles
and Miami. Internationally, IMG Fashion produces, manages and/or represents Rosemount Australian
Fashion Week in Sydney, Lakme Fashion Week in Mumbai, MasterCard Luxury Week
Hong Kong, ecoStyle Kuala Lumpur, Fashion Fringe in London, Milan Fashion Week,
Fashion Week in Moscow, Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week Berlin and Pakistan Fashion
Week.
IMG Fashion’s The Daily
Group publishes The Daily Front Row, the bi-monthly The Daily Mini, The Daily
Front Row Extra and www.fashionweekdaily.com, all content that is also syndicated to newspapers and
magazines across the globe.
The divisions network
also includes IMG Models, the world’s number one modeling agency with offices in
New York, London, Paris and Milan and Art + Commerce, the worlds leading agency
for photographers, art directors, stylists and makeup
artists.
About NYC
Inc
NYC Inc. is a creative
direction association which provides entertainment, production and network
capabilities to Asian counterparts. It assists Asian companies and governments
with consultancy, intellectual property expertise and large scale production
capability. Furthermore it facilitates access, through its networks, to all
areas of the US entertainment industry, including producers, photographers,
music industry players, photographers and filmmakers.
About Earth
Pledge
Earth
Pledge identifies and promotes innovative techniques and technologies that
restore the balance between human and natural systems. Through demonstration,
education and research, Earth Pledge delivers viable models to government,
industry and communities.
Earth
Pledge accelerates the transition to sustainability by promoting urban
ecological solutions through seven initiatives. Green Roofs, Waste=Fuel,
FutureFashion, Farm to Table, Limit 450, Pacific Park and Guardian Trust deliver
tools and pilot projects to create awareness and demonstrate the financial,
social, and environmental viability of sustainable technologies. Through
targeted research, we quantify the costs and benefits of these approaches, and
use the results to support public policy initiatives.
FutureFashion, one of Earth Pledge’s main
initiatives, celebrates environmentally conscious fashion by working with
industry and the public to promote the use of renewable, reusable and
nonpolluting materials and methods. With a growing library of over 600
sustainable materials and an ongoing collaboration with the world’s top
designers, Earth Pledge offers guidance and resources on sustainable materials
and the designers who use them.
Earth
Pledge's newest publication, FutureFashion White Papers, is a collection of
essays by a diverse and international group of contributors aimed at educating
and offering solutions for safe environmental practices for apparel and textile
industry and consumers. An invaluable and ground-breaking resource for all
people interested in sustainable fashion.
About Tourism
Malaysia
Malaysia is proud to be the most eco friendly country in
developing Asia having taken the necessary steps years ago with respect to
adopting policies for conservation from industry to tourism. Tourism Malaysia
supports this exciting new programme because it not only brings the world to
awareness about Malaysia, but because it is for a noble cause. It is a proud
moment for Malaysia to be able to take the lead on such an initiative as we will
be engaging the international arena and highlighting not only the
progressiveness of Malaysia as a developing country in Asia but the only that
has taken steps to conserve its natural environment, including one of the last
natural rainforests.
Share this Article:                        Advertisement |
