FBC was treated to an inspiring afternoon off from the madness between London and Paris Fashion Week. FBC Board member and editor of VOGUE.COM, Dolly Jones talked to internationally renowned model, Laura Bailey about modeling, motherhood and the stories behind the fashion.
Laura Bailey never set out to be a model with a conscience, in fact after leaving university she came to London with dreams of working backstage in the theatre. The world had other plans for Laura, who had a fairy tale spotting while walking down the Kings Road. What started off as a summer job turned into an extraordinary career.
In addition to modeling, Laura writes for several magazines and blogs and is an ambassador for Banardos, Oxfam and the Fairtrade Foundation. On how this has all happened Laura says, “I am not about the plan. Opportunities have presented themselves, and then the different projects interweave and spin off together.”
Laura’s most recent adventure into eco-fashion is as a designer for Made. She came to Made as a journalist and a customer, tipped off by friends. Laura wanted to tell their story, which she ended up doing though creating a collection in their factory in Kenya. “If you are ever lucky enough to go and see how sustainable production genuinely changes lives, I urge you to. It was really, really moving.” Aside from that, Laura enjoyed the experience of creating something that is now for sale in London through a label that understands fashion and creates products that are ethical.
Laura has also visited Nepal with People Tree, and this autumn is heading to Ghana and Liberia with Oxfam. The Oxfam trip is not strictly about fashion, but about the education and health of young women. “It is removed from fashion, but actually not, as to me it is all connected.”
Dolly and Laura are working together on the Green Style Blog recently launched on VOGUE.COM, where Laura Bailey along with friends Livia Firth and Sheheradaze Goldsmith, share tales of all things eco-chic. ”I always wanted to write, so find it strange that I found a way to do this through modelling. When it comes to the Green Style Blog, I love the opportunity, it is a conversation, a journey, where we ask questions along the way.”
Laura understands the irony on championing a green lifestyle. “As a model I am with one leg trying to sell products and then with the other saying buy less.” But she believes everyone can do it, whether politically, through thrifty-ness or saving up for special things to pass down through generations, “I grew up in a way that was naturally green but without the labels. I have never been an ‘It Bag Girl’ or bought ‘One Night Stand Dresses.’ I have always been more of a vintage, long-term shopper, happy to pick up £5 vintage bargains. ” On buying new ethical fashion “The success of ethical fashion needs to be in terms of style and not eco credentials.”
Laura loves fashion now more than ever. She is interested in the story, the craft, and is constantly inspired by her friends who work in it. This is where a lot of her motivation comes from to stay a busy working mum. She dreams of having a more conventional life about once a week but it passes quickly. How does she fit in all her project and her family life? ”My system is chaos, I sometimes work all night as I don’t want to miss a football match, a ballet recital or anything. But I never wanted a normal life, and although I could happily play with the kids all day, I think I am probably a better mother through being inspired and working.”
Watching Laura speak, it is clear to all FBC members that she has a passion and appetite for adventure in fashion and beyond. This year she climbed Mount Kilimanjaro. ”I can’t resist a dare, and it was something I always wanted to do. It was so much harder then I ever would have imagined it to be. It feels like the worse hangover of your life for four days as you stumble around like a alcoholic invalid until you reach the top, but in the excitement of it, you quickly forget the pain, like with childbirth. Although I am not doing it again!”
The conversation then moved onto ethical fashion, where the amount of FBC members dying to ask questions, made it a long discussion. The most recent London Fashion Week signaled hope for sustainable fashion and the mainstream fashion industry working closer together. Laura said ”I think consumers are more interested in the story behind the product now. The first Sustainable Fashion Show [part of Prince Charles's START initiative] that took place during London Fashion Week - it wasn’t perfect but it was a huge step forward. It all feels so exciting – the process being so transparent I mean. I do find all the labels, like eco warrior ect., very unhelpful. They detract away from the cause itself. It is about what the designers and the media are doing, but also about the consumers asking the right questions to the big businesses and then the big business responding, like with M & S and fairtrade.”
Through the questions it came out that being tagged an eco-designer closes doors, and that although Estehica provides a great platform for designers, it would work better if the playing field saw sustainable fashion mixed in with all fashion, and simply judged on the beauty of the product with ethics as an additional value. As more of the mainstream fashion world gets into the sustainable side of things, this can only change for the better.
On why all fashion isn’t eco, Dolly said “It’s because it hasn’t been highlighted before, so we need to get as many people as possible to join in the conversation, as more and more people think about it, more will do it.”
The members of FBC seemed convinced and conversations over bubbly turned to ‘How can we all work together to make the industry that we love more sustainable?’
Photographs by Sam Atkinson
