PEFC Certified Fashion!
From high heels and handbags made from cork, wooden frames for eyeglasses, to the rayon and viscose items in our wardrobes, forests provide so many essential ingredients.
PEFC Certified Fashion!
20 March 2014 Forests for Fashion
Forests and fashion come to the forefront for this year’s celebration of the International Day of Forests, Friday 21 March. Forests, while usually associated with the production of wood and paper products, also provide materials and fibers that make up many of the common consumer products that we use today, including in the fashion industry.
“From high heels and handbags made from cork, wooden frames for eyeglasses, to the rayon and viscose items in our wardrobes, forests provide so many essential ingredients,” said Sarah Price, Head of Projects and Development at PEFC International. “It’s really a great product story to tell, yet currently most consumers would never guess that their shirt contains fibers from a forest!”
In celebration of the International Day of Forests, the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE) is holding a special event ‘Forests for Fashion – Fashion for Forests’, focusing on innovative forest fibers, and how they contribute to a greener economy while being fashionable and marketable.
Taking place at the Palais des Nations in Geneva, Switzerland in the afternoon of Friday 21 March, the celebration consists of series of events, including an art performance, a conference and an opening of a fashion exhibit. Sarah Price will take part on the Forests for Fashion Roundtable, highlighting the importance of sustainable forest management in relation to an environmentally responsible fashion industry.
“Through strengthened collaboration with other sectors – like the fashion industry – it’s great to support the continued innovation and utilization of forest fibers, while ensuring these industries are also contributing to the sustainable forest management of the forest,” continued Ms. Price.
Why stop at fashion?
“The use of forest products knows no boundaries,” Ms. Price concludes, “as was shown with the unveiling of UPM’s Biofore Car at the Geneva Car Show earlier this month – running on wood-based fuel & made from wood and cellulose fibre composites.”