Ecotourism - Just another fashionable trend?

So we have discussed ideas relating to architecture, fashion design, furniture design and the alike, but what about having a holiday and staying somewhere which has considered all aspects of nature, the environment and sustainability? It is known as ecotourism here in Australia and although I have not heard much about this idea, it does seem like a fashionable trend at the present time with a lot of different businesses catching on.

There is an abundant amount of places listed on this website:
http://www.ecotourism.org.au

The accommodation is designed around living in harmony with the environment. The various amounts of accommodation employs the latest technologies available to sustainable design including the use of rain water tanks, solar power, self composting waste treatment, and are recognised for their low environmental impact approach.

While I do think this is a great idea, I do have to ask the question of, are we going through another fashionable trend or will it succeed in the future for years to come?

Another famous designer name is releasing an exclusive, limited edition range of clothes. Yves Saint Laurent is a very high profile fashion brand that is helping to spread the word about the importance of eco design and sustainability. Hopefully young up and coming designers will hear this message and be inspired to create beautiful sustainable clothing.

Yves Saint Laurent’s new range is called ‘New Vintage’. All clothes are made from remnant fabrics and scraps from their previous collections. The collection includes one of kind pieces, dresses, trench coats, sandals and bags. Everything is limited edition with a number.

The collection was designed by Creative director, Stefano Pilati and is sold exclusively at Barneys in New York

Everything old is new again…

The seasonal waste of fashion created by the fast moving fashion cycle is staggering. One fashion designer, Gary Harvey is creating a name for himself by recycling and reusing things that are no longer seen as fashionable. Once a designer for Levi’s Europe, and working with the likes of Vivienne Westwood and Comme des Garçons he is now a famous fashion designer in his own right for creating unique, vintage, couture dresses.

His first collection was shown at the Estethica exhibition at London Fashion Week in 2007 and was designed to try and change people’s perception of second hand clothing. He sources all his materials from second hand shops, where people may “…wear it one or two times then discard it because it's suddenly deemed aesthetically unimportant and out of date when there's years of life left in the garment.” For one of his most famous designs he took roughly 50 pairs of discarded Levi 501’s to create a unique, eco dress. His designs are interesting, quirky and show that something that has been discarded and thought of as unfashionable can be reborn and made into something beautiful. He also uses some less practical materials to create statements, like paper and cans.

For more information see;

http://inventorspot.com/articles/recycled_fashion_and_designers_g_8871

http://gliving.com/gary-harvey-fashionably-political/

Harvey believes that all fashion in the future will become sustainable; he believes that this is because fashion can’t sustain itself if the industry continues at this current rate. This is not a bad thing to hope for, because if clothes are more sustainable the impact from the changing of seasons and fashion trends will be less

I think more designers can learn from him.