Founded in 2019 by Franco-American Emmanuelle Rienda, Vegan Fashion Week is now reinventing itself with a new look and a new name: the “Ethical Luxury Summit”. Held in Los Angeles since its origins, the event took place on Monday and Wednesday at the California Market Center in Downtown LA.
“The Ethical Luxury Summit marks a turning point and a great evolution of the Vegan Fashion Week,” explained Rienda. “Six years ago, no one was really talking about vegan fabrics or sustainability. My personal journey, my encounters with emerging designers and our conversations on the use of recycled animal fabrics and ethically produced materials, helped our event evolve. Today, we are expanding our event to include ethical fashion. This new approach is now receiving more attention from fashion houses and luxury brands, and opening new doors.”
The highlight of the event, the “Golden Hour Fashion Show”, brought together a host of guests, including podcaster and bestselling author Jay Shetty; actress Richa Moorjani; Norwegian prince and shaman Durek Verrett; French actor and artist Romain Brau; and stylist Philippe Uter.
The famous Parisian school Ecole Duperré opened the show with the presentation of collections by two young designers from the school. “Our participation is linked to our curiosity and also to our focus on sustainable fashion, which is in our DNA,” explained Mathieu Buard, director of Fashion and Image Studies at Ecole Duperré.
“The school has been working with recycled fabrics for a long time, even before we started talking about ecology and sustainability. This theme is at the heart of our educational program, and particularly of our creative and design processes,” added Buard.
Watched by 400 guests, the mutant silhouettes of designer Victor Clavelly, bewitched a Los Angeles audience always in love for stories of aliens. Noted a few months ago for his collaboration with Rick Owens around extraordinary feather boots, Clavelly presented short, lamé dresses with pointed shoulder pads, pixelated tops and plant-print jumpsuits punctuated by long hands reminiscent of alien anatomy.
This was followed by another talent, Guy Chassaing, also a graduate of the Ecole Duperré, and now part of the Alaïa fashion house. “Eight voluminous silhouettes inspired by my desire to recycle and my grandmother, who used rags, shreds and scarves to put together looks and outfits,” said Chassaing.
“This is the starting point for my collection, which is created from scraps of wool needled one by one onto silk organza. A time-consuming technique, requiring over 250 hours of work for each dress, but a way for me to compose new creations from new textures and textiles”.
The second part of the show featured Moroccan fashion collective Label Oued in an ultra-colorful collection full of nods to Morocco and California. A manifesto collection co-created by four designers – Mina Binebine, Nadia Chellaoui, Youssef Drissi and Angeline Dangelser – and produced in collaboration with Balmain, supplier of the fabrics.
“Since 2023, Label Oued has brought together Moroccan designers and helping them to shine internationally,” explained Dangelser, a former designer for Parisian luxury houses, now based in Casablanca.
“In addition to traditional know-how, we encourage them to take an interest in textile innovations and offer an alternative to fast fashion. Collaboration with Balmain and textile manufacturers such as Subliwear has given rise to this original collection, which both hijacks Moroccan symbols and plays on Californian codes.”
Alongside the show, the Ethical Luxury Summit also organized six round tables and conferences exploring the relationship between luxury and ethical fashion. Among the topics discussed were “Is ethical fashion the new luxury?”; “AI, fashion tech and transparency in luxury goods”; and “The role of artisanship and cultural heritage in modern luxury”.
The event also invited some 20 international brands and ethical designers to present their collections and stories in its designer gallery. Among them were local and made-in-Los Angeles brands such as Tanaka, the upcycling brand founded by British designer Ana Tanaka; and bags made from cactus or apple fibers by Carter Wade.
Represented by Los Angeles-based press office Maison Privee, De Florencio unveiled the “rockstar, streetwear and futuristic” label founded by Nino Cutraro and made entirely from dead stocks in Los Angeles. A label adored by the Tik-Tokers and influencers who flocked to the Melrose Trading Post, where the brand regularly presents its collections.
In a completely opposite genre, Parisian couture atelier Atelier 7474 and its founder Audrey Geschwind presented its supra VIP creations. Used to collaborating with the great luxury houses, from Balmain to Loewe, creating costumes and outfits for the Paris Opera, and for top international stars such as Rihanna, Ariana Grande and Lady Gaga, the designer presented in Los Angeles her creations revisiting traditional tutus.
“We’ve just come back from Las Vegas, where we presented unique outfits at the Magic trade show. A sort of reversed tutu for men, each piece requiring over 100 hours of handwork,” said Geschwind. “As the American market is crucial for our company, we’re also taking advantage of the Ethical Luxury Summit to present my collection of modular jewelry dresses, made from dead stocks.”
A few steps from Atelier 7474, Italian shoe brand Zingales revealed its vegan richelieus and derby models. “The American market is crucial to our development and particularly open to vegan footwear,” explained brand founder and vegetarian, Vincenzo Zingales. “Our shoes are made from an alternative suede of the future, manufactured from PVC-free ultra-microfibers. Even the Vibram sole is made from 90% non-petrochemical ingredients, right down to the color made from natural pigments.”
The first edition of the Ethical Luxury Summit, organized with the support of MMGNET Group, concluded with a fundraising gala on the rooftop of the California Market Center, where cocktails and vegan snacks by French pastry chef François Daubinet delighted the audience.
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