Samata & Elena Take Sustainable Fashion to the Oscars

Award season is in full effect, and tonight we will see who will win the coveted Oscar. Award seasons are full of seeing actors, fashion statements, and life-changing moments. 

We are so excited to give you some inside information from our female bosses Samata and Elena, and get their inside look at fashion and changing the industry.


Elena Andreicheva Takes Home Oscar For  “Best Documentary Short Subject” Learning to Skateboard in a Warzone (if you're a girl).

Samata is the CEO of  Red Carpet Green Dress ( a female-led organization). Together these women are fighting for change, pushing the envelope to challenge others to improve the future of the environment, women and individuals, and of course...fashion. 

To make her Oscar debut, Elena wore custom-made Laura Basci sustainable gown. Let’s get to know more about these amazing women and their plans for sustainable fashion.

 SAMATA, CEO OF RED CARPET GREEN DRESS

How is sustainable fashion infiltrating the red carpet? 

Steadily and in an exciting range of forms! We have seen it in the form of vintages and upcycled gowns, talent wearing items again and again and I think all of these things are important. For us, it is really exciting to see talent coming to us and asking to be part of our campaign and being more aware of what we are doing. When we started over 10 years ago we really had to struggle to communicate what it was. We had to basically explain the dress wouldn't be made from granola and promise it wouldn't be on worst-dressed lists! Plus brands didn't want to be accused of green-washing when they had like 1% of eco-initiative going on. Some didn't even have a CSR officer.  Now everyone is clamouring on board which makes me happy, but also keen to clarify - sustainability is cool, but it's not a trend. It's not ever 'going out'. It's also challenging in another way. Brands have very much realised the importance of sustainability and are keen to carve out their own initiatives, to be leaders. This can mean more walls being built and more secrecy created. Still, it's an easier conversation with more and more innovative solutions coming to the market. Plus, we just launched our own textile - so yes, looking forward to taking over the red carpet with that!

How can sustainable fashion be incorporated into everyday life and not just on the red carpet? 

I think there are a few ways? Reduce consumption - think before you buy, do I need this? Also, I really believe in talking to the fashion brands you love online (email or call), ask them about their sustainable initiatives. It's about having the conversations needed.

Reduce waste and extend the life cycle of the clothes in your wardrobe, think twice before you throw it away - could someone else have it? Charity shop? Friend? Family? Or...could you customise it and give it a new life?  I also think it is super important to support and champion the creation of a safe, fair and more sustainable clothing industry buy shopping sustainable brands - we love AMUR ourselves and Reformation. I guess above all, clothing should be durable not disposable.

What does the future of sustainable fashion look like?

Cooperation and information sharing. We have to work together and not isolate ourselves or champion one solution over another. It's all hands on deck. Vintage matters, textiles matter, changing how clothing is made matters. It is a sum of parts...

Can you tell us more about the new textile Elena's dress will be made out of?

Elena's dress was made from a textile from our inaugural RCGD textile range. Specifically, the textile is TENCEL™ Luxe filament yarn blended with a lush cashmere material. A USDA certified bio based product produced from wood pulp from sustainably managed sources, at the heart of TENCEL™ Luxe is a highly efficient closed loop technology that delivers the eco-botanic filaments made from natural source. Fully biodegradable in water, soil and compost under industrial, home, soil and marine conditions, our textiles made with TENCEL™ Luxe yarns can fully revert back to nature. It's really amazing. 

You mentioned that this material will be available worldwide. Where can we find it?

It will be available online and in selected stockists too in a few months. We ask you to sign up to Red Carpet Green Dress to find out when it goes on sale. We also have some exciting design initiatives coming up in 2020 and beyond, and we would like all of the designers who support us to be part of it! www.rcgdglobal.com

ELENA ANDREICHEVA, OSCAR NOMINEE

Elena what type of statement do you hope to make with wearing sustainable fashion? 

Women's rights are inextricably linked to economic realities, and fair and sustainable textile industries would bring them greater prosperity, freedom and quality of life. What better way to shed light on this that at the world's most glamorous event!   

How important is ethical fashion to you Elena?

I've always gravitated towards the re-use or re-purposing of clothing - be it wearing something my mother used to wear or shopping in charity shops; I hated the idea of having too much disposable 'stuff', it felt wrong to me. Now, I think it's more important than ever to look at what we wear and how it's made - so in a way, I used to just enjoy ethical fashion for its own sake - but now I feel it's also important for our planet and our world. 

Can you tell us what type of dress you’ll be wearing? 

I can't say too much apart from that it is a really cool blend of classic and modern... 

Elena what is the best part about attending the Oscars?

Hard to say right now - I guess I'll find out on the day! - but the anticipation is pretty extraordinary. Also, obviously Oscars night will be amazing, but it's the legacy of this recognition that will make a huge difference to me, and allow me to keep telling the stories I want to tell. 

Can you tell us what your short film is about? And how it helps young girls and women?

Our film is called "Learning to Skateboard in a Warzone (if you're a girl)", directed by the brilliant Carol Dysinger. It follows a class of girls at Skateistan - a nonprofit that began as a skate school in Kabul in 2007 and grew into a multinational educational initiative - where they learn to read, write, count... and skateboard. The film shows how important the skills the girls learn are, especially the courage that they gain in skating down that ramp - or just putting up their hand to go to the blackboard. That courage is what will help them to take on the challenges that lie ahead.

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