California Apparel News

As the Spring 2021 fashion weeks around the world were produced using limited-capacity or outdoor runway shows, filmed presentations, and virtual garment showcases using digital models, Vegan Fashion Week founder and producer Emmanuelle Rienda bypassed the production of an October event. Instead, Rienda prepared to unveil her next new venture to promote vegan work within the fashion industry.

“People are tired of suffering, drama, pain and their lives being torn apart. I want to come up with a message and a dream that people can start doing something that is positive,” Rienda explained. “It’s not about judging—it’s about this issue of animal exploitation that is directly linked to pandemics, and this is how you can start to move forward, be creative, and still love life with beauty and compassion.”

On Oct. 15, Vegan Fashion Week announced the launch of its Vegan Fashion Library. Debuting online and within a 2,000-square-foot space in downtown Los Angeles, the initiative is dedicated exclusively to vegan designers and was created as a space to support ethical artistry. For Rienda, an ethical approach to fashion is not limited to cruelty-free goods. It is her mission to promote vegan fashion that is also kinder to the environment.

“It’s not only about animal free. It’s also about canceling plastic and [toxic] chemicals,” she said. “Trying to be as green and compassionate as possible.”

With this mission, Rienda recognizes that there are a few uncomfortable areas through which she must tread in order to make progress. This includes examining resources that aren’t vegan but are byproducts of more-wasteful traditions of consumption as she opts to include brands that source leather waste, which would otherwise be destined for the landfill. While all products displayed in the showroom are free of animal products to create a completely vegan space, Rienda remains willing to work with certain brands that carry animal-free products, in addition to other goods that utilize leather waste, yet are committed to ecologically sound practices and a goal of creating a cruelty-free world.

“My goal is to show that Vegan Fashion Week is open-minded, and we want to include people who have a sustainable approach and are using waste,” Rienda said. “The goal, of course, is to transcend the industry with these vegan innovations to stop generating any leather. The message is that, right now, in the world we live in, there is waste. It’s a cruel process, but the waste is available.”

While the online site is accessible to the public, the onsite showroom features clothing, shoes and accessories that are displayed for fashion-industry professionals only. Retailers and stylists who are searching for more-ethical options to dress clients for awards shows, photo shoots or on film sets can make appointments to view pieces that are cruelty-free and more ecologically sound, relying on fabrications that comprise materials such as apple, cactus and pineapple leather; plant-based wool; and peace silk. Respectful of guidelines from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Rienda has made curbside pickup and return available.

“I wanted a space where people can touch the materials and they can discover the designers. I am sad that the industry went fully virtual,” Rienda said. “It’s something I am trying to change because fashion is still an art form and we need to touch materials. We need colors and sensations. If it’s done in a safe environment that is respectful of the guidelines, you can live life again. We are showcasing designers from all over the world who are promoting new ways of producing ethically.”

With the launch of the Vegan Fashion Library, Vegan Fashion Week is featuring the work of ethical designers including Benedetti Life; Bohema; Enda, which is relying on botanical dyes including turmeric and rose; Infantium Victoria, which uses the cruelty-free wool alternative Weganool; Julien Esteves Berthier; The Sweet TraveLife; Sylth Virago; and Sylven New York. Eventually, Rienda will unveil different areas within the showroom to create a full-vegan-lifestyle concept space in order to illustrate the potential for fully cruelty-free, ethical living.

“We are going to create the first fully vegan house with designers providing vegan furniture. There is a kitchen for vegan food and, in the bathrooms, we’ll activate with beauty brands,” Rienda explained. “We are not talking about big corporations. We are talking about individuals who are creating from their hearts for a better future. Before business, it’s about compassion, and it’s real.”

Additional information regarding the Vegan Fashion Library can be found at veganfashionlibrary.com.