Sustainable fashion: the interview with the designer Mihaela Stoica

Sustainable fashion, a concept more and more discussed here on Stylezza. I invite you to take a few steps into this world by pointing out the major ideas about this concept offered by sustainable fashion designer, Mihaela Stoica.

S: what is sustainable fashion?

MS: Oh, this question itself says so much! Already we have the syntagma 'sustainable fashion' , that implies another existence and splits the world into 2 categories: sustainable and un-sustainable=> why is there un-sustainable fashion out there?! And then we have the question 'what is it?', which unfortunately shows that not only un-sustainable fashion exists, but it's the dominant, and sustainable fashion appears as an exotic fling.
Anyway, grosso modo put,  it implies social responsibility and environmental awareness and this applies to the creation process, sourcing, concept etc. You know, things that make the world go well.Sustainable fashion is a natural part of a specific life style, but be careful not to treat it as an ephemeral trend.

S: Why did you chose to create sustainable fashion designs?

MS: The shift happened at one point all of the sudden, actually it was a consciousness shift and after that things evolved naturally. As I said, it is a part of a lifestyle, you cannot do or wear sustainable fashion and eat plastic. Personal cultivation leads one way or another to this area. 

S: What is the place right now for sustainable fashion on the market?

MS: The wave is getting bigger and bigger so watch out! Definitely it's a great time for sustainability, there are more and more brands, specific fashion trades shows (Greenshowroom in Berlin), fashion competitions (Sponsor Me Awards in London), concept stores that chose to sell only responsible brands, things are getting there. This year I took part of Icone Suite, a sustainable dressing put together for the starts from the Television Festival of Monte Carlo, and the impact was amazing! Time solves everything. 

4. What sustainable fashion porposes in terms of designs? 

MS:  I can only speak from my point of view and what I try to propose through my brand, SHTOICA. I think the message behind the clothes is very important, to start with. If the message is connected to degraded values, then it doesn't matter if the product is hand made or fair trade or that the fabric is organic. There must be a solid base. For me, the trends that I follow in my artistic work are spiritual. This has a big impact on the esthetic of the brand, because the pieces are for the long ride, there is a classic approach in relationship with the universal neutral values, but then I try to integrate the spark. Subtle, coherent, humble. 
Of course the feel is different than fast fashion, that relies on impuls and ego, where slow sustainable fashion is about intuition and essence- the true luxury.

There is a lot of terminology here, slow fashion, responsible, sustainable, fair trade, organic, hand made etc, fear not, they all blend at one point. 

Read also: Sustainable Fashion at Television Festival in Monte-Carlo 

Editor: Andra Oprea

Fashion Designer: Mihaela Stoica