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The first week of April was packed with fantastic fair fashion highlights: Thursday’s opening of the Glore Fair Fashion Store in Frankfurt, Friday’s photo shoot with fashion from African exhibitors at the show Faire Welten in Mainz, and then the grand finale at the weekend with the GREENSTYLE MUC (GMUC) in Munich.
It surely was not easy to top the fantastic premiere of GREENSTYLE MUC from last October. But from my point of view, Mirjam Smend managed to go one step further with the second edition of the green fair that took place from 5 to 7 April 2019 in Munich. Just to name a few reasons for that: a more centrally located location, an even more varied program, top-notch talk guests, a wide range of green exhibitors and more delicious organic snacks and drinks.
As with the first GMUC, consumers had the opportunity to hear exciting insights into the current topics of the sustainable (fashion) scene as well as to get to know more than 35 international Fair Fashion and Organic Beauty Labels, to try their products and buy them right there.
Very obvious at GMUC: Eco is the new chic
Thanks to fair fashion events for end consumers like the GMUC, it is very obvious that the obsolete, but partly still prevailing, prejudice of the organic muesli look has nothing in common with eco fashion these days. That’s great! Because with looks like the ones below, nobody really needs fast fashion for a cool style!
By the way, you can find the brands behind the styles in the individual picture descriptions.
SHOOTING-CREDITS: Fotographer: Daniel Sommer // Styling & Production: Daniela Golik, Mirjam Smend // Hair & Make up: Michaela Häusler // Models: Anne Jensen, Elena Boldyrewa, Stefan Roesinger // Location: JAMS Music & Design Hotel, München
My fair fashion discoveries at GREENSTYLE MUC
In addition to saying hello to some of the fantastic fair fashion labels that I already know, such as MARIA SEIFERT, ME & MAY, FITBUDDHA or HESSNATUR, I was also able to make new discoveries while strolling through the fair:
#1: For FRIENDS THAT RHYME, the founders and girlfriends Nadine and Sabine go on a treasure hunt for very special vintage fabrics during their travels. They then make unique beautiful clutches from these. All pieces are handmade and limited.
#2: Anyone looking for extraordinary African jewelry will surely find what they are looking for at HIITU. Also on offer: vegetable tanned bags, accessories and fashion. The company combines traditional craftsmanship with modern design. In doing so, fair production comes first, using as much sustainable materials as possible.
#3: Julia Hernandez, the founder of JUTELAUNE, has fair-produced shoes with a holiday feeling in her program. Both the Espadrilles and the Avarcas are traditionally made by local craftsmen in Spain.
#4: Ever heard of Pinatex? The so-called pineapple leather is one of the eco materials that Christina Bussmann processes for her MARAVILLAS BAGS. There are also bags and purses made of vegetable-tanned leather or wood.
#5: Also with the current collection of NINA REIN it is very obvious that eco is the new chic. For her young label, the designer Julia Ickert combines strong colors and purist cuts. The result: feminine and timeless favorite pieces for Office & Co. Of course fairly produced, made of natural and environmentally friendly materials.
GMUC with a packed conference program
The exchange with the people behind the brands is always very fascinating for me. But on the two days that I was able to be at the GREENSTYLE MUC, there was not much time for it. The reason: The conference program and the parallel running workshop program were so much filled with exciting topics that I would have liked to clone myself. Some of the inspiring talks I heard was about “Fair Fashion – Where do we stand?”, “Water 3.0: Bye-bye Microplastic & Co.!”, “What you always wanted to know about disposable fashion”, “Circular Fashion” and “Leather vs Vegan Leather”.
If you could not attend the GMUC, but would still like to know more: All the talks, as well as the press conference and the launch of the book “Simply Plastic Free Life” by Charlotte Schüler were recorded and can be viewed for free on the GMUC website.
All beginnings are easy – with Green Blogger tipps to a sustainable lifestyle
The last talk of GMUC conference program was called “Community Power – the new way of blogging”. Green bloggers talked about how they share their enthusiasm and knowledge on green topics beyond blogging. And some did just this on site giving valuable practical tipps during their workshops:
Plastic-free Life – Here’s how it works: Charlotte von Plastikfrei Leben has not only launched her first book “Simple Plastic-Free Life” during GMUC, in which she shares her experiences and tips for all beginners of a plastic-free life. In the workshop she also showed how we can make our own laundry detergent from only three ingredients. Charlotte has avoiding plastic waste literally in her blood, because her mother has been running a shop for plastic-free goods in Munich for many years.
Capsule Wardrobe: Laura by THE OGNC loves minimalism and sustainability. In her workshop, she gave insights on how she built her own Capsule Wardrobe and gave useful hints on style, color scheme, and materials for anyone who wants to try it. By the way, Laura not only runs her own super-beautiful blog, but also regularly writes articles for the Fashion Changers platform.
#It’s also possible without … garbage: Marisa from Myfairladies shared in her workshop how she has considerably reduced her own garbage over the last few years. Even though she sometimes still faces challenges too, her message was: just start, learn step by step, and motivate others. Like Marisa does it. In addition to her job and blog, she volunteers in the association Oberland Plastikfrei e.V. for environmental protection and conscious consumption. She also lectures on waste reduction and advises companies on how to become more sustainable.
Online Marketing for Sustainable Brands: Magdalena von Freemindedfolks is a real bundle of energy and just as entertaining and insightful was her talk about the comparison of online marketing between conventional and sustainable producers. The main message: Classic online marketing does not work for green brands. And Magdalena knows what she’s talking about. Because as the founder of the sustainable interior shop Freemindedfolks she faced the same problem, she analyzed and tested everything for her own website. In the workshop, she shared many valuable tips and strategies for analyzing website performance, SEO optimization, and increasing shop conversion rates. She regularly shares her knowledge in lectures on online marketing and business workshops. In German and English.
GMUC in April: Munich’s kick-off for the Fashion Revolution Week 2019
You surely have heard of Fashion Revolution before. If not: The Fashion Revolution Org. is committed to the necessary change in the fashion industry towards fair and environmentally friendly production throughout the whole year. During the GMUC, the two Fashion Revolution Ambassadors for Munich, Mirjam Smend and Marisa Kohler, talked to Arianna Nicoletti (Fashion Revolution Germany) about this year’s Fashion Revolution Week. Sure, there are also events near you that you can find in the FashRev Week event calendar.
Join the Fashion Revolution: During the Fashion Revolution Week, which takes place from April 22-28, 2019, the #whomademyclothes question gets maximum attention. If you also want to be part of it, then:
- photograph yourself with your garment so that the brand label is clearly visible
- tag your social media posts with the names of the corresponding brand
- share the photo between the 22.-28.4.2019 with the hashtag #whomademyclothes on your social media channels
- tell your families, friends, colleagues, … from the action
- ask again and again after the Fashion Revolution Week #whomademyclothes
Come-together of the green community
Why do I regularly travel across the country to participate in fair fashion events? Because it is incredibly motivating and rewarding for me to be part of the growing green community. Therefore, the exchange with the other Green Bloggers on site was an absolute highlight of GMUC for me. If you do not know one or the other, be sure to check out these great (mainly German) blogs:
AUF DIE HAND: On her blog Aline gives many practical tips for the “Zero Waste Lifestyle”, including waste prevention in everyday life, plastic-free life and more sustainability. She also gives lectures, seminars and workshops on the topic.
BEAWEAR: Samira offers a platform for sustainable initiatives and companies and is also committed to fair fashion in her many offline activities. For example, she carries out Fair Fashion Tours in Munich.
G R O S S ∆ R T I G: As one of the few male fair fashion bloggers Alf-Tobias presents on his blog sustainable fashion for him & her. Last year, he also published together with Dr. Kirsten Brodde the book “Einfach Anziehend”.
LAI CHUN: Sandra has been sharing her passion for sustainability and ‘slow adventures’ on Instagram for quite some time. Now she has also started her very own blog, which will focus on fair fashion for women and men.
LIVELIFEGREEN: Alex shares on her blog the journey of her family to a more sustainable life – from plastic free and zero waste, minimalism and DIY (DIY) to vegetarian and vegan cuisine.
PURISTICA: Anna writes on her blog about Eco Lifestyle with a focus on Fair Fashion. You will find chic sustainable fashion and beauty labels, interviews and a shopping guide. She also started THE GREEN CHALLENGERS.
Come to the third GMUC in October 2019
Yeah, that was quite a long article – and you made it here, so thanks for reading it up. 🙂 To be honest, the second edition of the GREENSTYLE ⎢MUC had so much to offer that I can not even mention everything here. Therefore, come and join yourself next time. The next opportunity is from October 11th to 13th, 2019.
All the best, Mary
Photo credits: Petra Ruehle, Voetter
