One of the great advantages of being in a fashion event is that I meet a lot of personalities and get to understand a lot more about Australian living. In 2019, we did the 2nd TPK Fashion Expo featuring 2017 Britain’s Top Designer, John Herrera and his award winning Agila Collection. There I met this wonderful lady who has been making waves in the Australian fashion industry - contributing to the move against climate change through sustainable fashion. She is Emily Kate Symes.
Emily is an eco-ambassador, model, entrepreneur, designer and a sustainability expert. She loves the environment and features the beauty of nature as well as her love of fashion on her Instagram account @ekoandlux with an audience of 29,700 followers. When I met her during the fashion show preparations in 2019, I was enamoured by her charming and pleasant demeanour - quite refreshing for a top model from Manila. She was very welcoming and introduced to us her passion project Ecoluv. EKOLUV is an online store that allows people especially fashion aficionados the opportunity to rent or buy pre-loved fashion pieces – some of which she models on her Instagram page. EKOLUV is committed to promoting sustainable and ethically conscious ways of living by providing an online platform enabling people to make more conscious choices with their purchases by encouraging products which take into consideration the three “P’s” – People, Profit and Planet.
Moved by the fact that Australia produces about 6,000 kg’s of clothing and textile waste every 10 minutes, Emily created this online platform to help people recycle their fashion pieces by selling them or having them rented out and earn from the process. This adds more value to your expensive clothing purchases and lessens the possibility of adding to the clothing and textile waste that Australia contributes to the amount of rubbish in the world.
What’s more amazing is that 5% of all profits from the rentals and purchases go to Opportunity International Australia which helps microfinance poverty-stricken families by giving them a hands up instead of a handout. The organisation provide loans to families to help them purchase items that would help them start a business – like a sewing machine, or seeds to start a vegetable farm, businesses which can transform their lives.
Aside from teaching people how to earn from their fashion pieces and Emily also advocates sustainable fashion. It is producing fashion in environmentally and socio-economically sustainable manners and more sustainable patterns of consumption and use which necessitates shifts in individual attitudes and behaviour. This starts with mindful purchases when it comes to clothing and constantly checking your wardrobe before make the next purchase.
Watch out for this lady by following her on Instagram or visiting EKOLUV at https://www.ekoluv.com