Latest news with #EcoAge
Fashion Value Chain
18-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Fashion Value Chain
Manchester Fashion Week Returns After a Decade
After a ten-year hiatus, Manchester Fashion Week (MFW) returns from 9–11 September 2025, reimagined as a progressive, industry-led event that fuses heritage with innovation. Backed by fashion pioneers Carry Somers (Fashion Revolution) and Safia Minney, MBE (People Tree), and media partner Eco Age, the three-day showcase aims to future-proof fashion by spotlighting sustainability, technological innovation, and cultural relevance. Held in the vibrant St. John's district, with Campfield as the central venue, MFW is designed to honour Manchester's rich textile legacy while confronting modern challenges—particularly those surrounding fast fashion, circularity, and meaningful consumption. Gemma Gratton, Executive Producer, MFW: 'Manchester has always led – in music, in manufacturing, in movements. Now it's time to lead in future-facing fashion.' John Higginson, CEO, Eco Age: 'There's a battle between flimsy fast fashion and timeless design. Manchester Fashion Week is about forever fashion.' Each day of the event will be curated around key themes: Heritage & Future-Proof Health & Wellness Tech & Innovation Beyond the runway, the festival will offer public experiences, creative activations, and cross-sector dialogues across Manchester, making it a cultural reset for the city's £12 billion fashion industry. This edition is positioned as a pilot platform, intended to build toward a more expansive and collaborative future for UK fashion. Learn more:
Fashion United
17-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Fashion United
Manchester Fashion Week to return after a decade away
Manchester Fashion Week is returning in September, after a decade away, with a mission to spotlight emerging design talent, innovation and sustainability, while offering brands an opportunity to connect and shape the future of fashion. The event will run from September 9 to 11, ahead of London Fashion Week, and will be centred around the vibrant St. John's area of Manchester, with its official hub set in the newly refurbished Campfield, a new creative hub that has transformed one of Manchester's oldest market halls. With support from sustainability fashion media platform and consultancy Eco Age, which relaunched under new ownership in June as a communications agency for 'future fashion,' Manchester Fashion Week will be spearheaded by some of the industry's renowned thought-leaders, including Carry Somers, founder of global movement Fashion Revolution and Safia Minney, award-winning social entrepreneur and founder of People Tree, a pioneer of sustainable and fairtrade fashion. Gemma Gratton, executive producer of Manchester Fashion Week, said in a statement: "Manchester has always led in music, in manufacturing, in movements. And now, it's time to lead again by future-proofing fashion from the ground up. "Manchester Fashion Week is not just a celebration of style, but a cultural catalyst for people, purpose, and progress." Manchester Fashion Week to champion sustainable practices and technological advancement Manchester Fashion Week pledges to unite emerging designers and established brands on a platform that bridges Manchester's industrial heritage with cutting-edge innovation by spotlighting conversations around the city's textile heritage and mills, sustainable practices and technological innovations to future-proof the fashion industry. The inaugural pilot will be industry-led, with public experiences and cultural events, and will be focused around three themed days, 'to merge fashion with conscious innovation,' explains organisers. The first day will focus on 'Heritage and Future-Proof,' celebrating Manchester's industrial heritage with next gen style and future innovation, while day two will showcase 'Health and Wellness' diving into a world where fashion fuels the 'mind, body and soul,' spotlighting high-tech active-wear, colour therapy couture, and conversations about mental health in the industry. The final day will highlight 'Tech and Innovation' and how the new era of fashion is 'creative, conscious and circular,' showing how AI-powered design, 3D-prototype innovation, smart textiles and digital-only garments are transforming how we create, consume and circulate. John Higginson, chief executive of Eco Age, added: 'Manchester is Britain's fashion mecca. Where else do you go where everyone walks around as if they are always on a catwalk? But there is a fight between crappy, flimsy fast fashion and the beautiful things you want to keep forever. 'Manchester Fashion Week is all about future fashion – forever fashion.' Manchester Fashion Week to return September 9 - 11 Manchester has been dubbed the 'rising fashion capital' of the UK, for launching and nurturing some of the UK's most well-known fashion brands, as well as housing the UK's first fashion manufacturing lab, pioneered by the Manchester Fashion Institute, which offers businesses and researchers access to collaborative robotic technology, 'cobots', that can create sustainable high value, low volume garments. The city has also recently been spotlighted as the new UK home of Puma. The German sportswear brand is relocating its UK headquarters from London to Manchester's technology, digital and creative hub, Circle Square, and has launched a new initiative, 'R-City,' geared at investing in the city's youth with free gym memberships, music masterclasses, youth-led events, and product drops. "This isn't just Manchester's moment. It's Manchester fashion's reset. And it starts here – right from the root," the organisers added. The relaunch of Manchester Fashion Week follows the British Fashion Council's chief executive officer Laura Weir pledging to promote and support the fashion industry across the whole of the UK, not just London, starting with its new creative education BFC Fashion Assembly pilot, which will take designers back to their old schools, so that young people outside of London can see themselves in this industry in the future.
Fashion Network
08-06-2025
- Business
- Fashion Network
Eco Age relaunches "as agency for future fashion"
Sustainability consultancy Eco Age is relaunching this month as 'the voice of future fashion'. The 16-year-old agency behind the Green Carpet Fashion Awards and included former clients such as Gucci, Stella McCartney, Chopard and Diesel, has now undergone an extensive rebrand, 'creating an elevated identity that merges conscious fashion with nature-inspired aesthetics'. Having closed last year following 'a financial attack' on the business, it has reopened under the ownership of former journalists John and Clodagh Higginson, who also own communications agency Higginson Strategy. Marwa Zamaray, who has two decades of experience in the fashion industry, has also joined as partner and executive director. Its new tagline 'Fashion. For A Future', emphasises the agency's commitment to working with the fashion industry as it targets 'a positive, innovative and far more sustainable future'. Claiming more than 220,000 followers across live social media channels, including Instagram, LinkedIn, TikTok and Facebook, it is 'reigniting its base of followers'. Its presence on the platforms has been boosted by partnerships with influencers, including sustainability campaigner and model Dr Brett Staniland. Meanwhile, the agency has hired an advisory board that includes Africa Fashion Guide founder Jacqueline Shaw, climate activist Tori Tsui, Circuthon founder Paul Foulkes-Arellano, fashion journalist turned activist Bel Jacobs, and By Rotation founder Eshita Kabra-Davies. Clients include colour platform technology company Sparxell and Textile Genesis, 'a traceability platform custom-built for the fashion and textile ecosystem'. The agency also plans to reinstate the Green Carpet Fashion Awards next year. John Higginson, CEO, said: 'Every day we get the opportunity to make the world better simply by what we choose to wear. When we buy less, better quality and make it last, we send a powerful message to the world without even opening our mouths. When we buy fast fashion, which is cheap because the planet and workers have been ripped off and abused, we feel cheap and nasty. 'The number of people accepting this reality is growing by the day. Eco Age is a home for these people. We are supplying them with the information they need to make better choices and working with the brands and fashion companies providing the solutions.' Zamaray added: 'Eco Age changed the way the world talks about fashion, bringing sustainability into the spotlight and making ethical fashion a priority from boardrooms to consumers. It built a legacy of influence, trust, and action across the industry. 'Today, with rising pressure from regulations, investors, and conscious consumers, Eco Age is more vital than ever, a lighthouse guiding fashion through transformation. I'm proud to carry the torch forward, with a clear focus on driving lasting impact for both people and planet.'
Fashion Network
08-06-2025
- Business
- Fashion Network
Eco Age relaunches "as agency for future fashion"
Sustainability consultancy Eco Age is relaunching this month as 'the voice of future fashion'. The 16-year-old agency behind the Green Carpet Fashion Awards and included former clients such as Gucci, Stella McCartney, Chopard and Diesel, has now undergone an extensive rebrand, 'creating an elevated identity that merges conscious fashion with nature-inspired aesthetics'. Having closed last year following 'a financial attack' on the business, it has reopened under the ownership of former journalists John and Clodagh Higginson, who also own communications agency Higginson Strategy. Marwa Zamaray, who has two decades of experience in the fashion industry, has also joined as partner and executive director. Its new tagline 'Fashion. For A Future', emphasises the agency's commitment to working with the fashion industry as it targets 'a positive, innovative and far more sustainable future'. Claiming more than 220,000 followers across live social media channels, including Instagram, LinkedIn, TikTok and Facebook, it is 'reigniting its base of followers'. Its presence on the platforms has been boosted by partnerships with influencers, including sustainability campaigner and model Dr Brett Staniland. Meanwhile, the agency has hired an advisory board that includes Africa Fashion Guide founder Jacqueline Shaw, climate activist Tori Tsui, Circuthon founder Paul Foulkes-Arellano, fashion journalist turned activist Bel Jacobs, and By Rotation founder Eshita Kabra-Davies. Clients include colour platform technology company Sparxell and Textile Genesis, 'a traceability platform custom-built for the fashion and textile ecosystem'. The agency also plans to reinstate the Green Carpet Fashion Awards next year. John Higginson, CEO, said: 'Every day we get the opportunity to make the world better simply by what we choose to wear. When we buy less, better quality and make it last, we send a powerful message to the world without even opening our mouths. When we buy fast fashion, which is cheap because the planet and workers have been ripped off and abused, we feel cheap and nasty. 'The number of people accepting this reality is growing by the day. Eco Age is a home for these people. We are supplying them with the information they need to make better choices and working with the brands and fashion companies providing the solutions.' Zamaray added: 'Eco Age changed the way the world talks about fashion, bringing sustainability into the spotlight and making ethical fashion a priority from boardrooms to consumers. It built a legacy of influence, trust, and action across the industry. 'Today, with rising pressure from regulations, investors, and conscious consumers, Eco Age is more vital than ever, a lighthouse guiding fashion through transformation. I'm proud to carry the torch forward, with a clear focus on driving lasting impact for both people and planet.'
Fashion Value Chain
05-06-2025
- Business
- Fashion Value Chain
Eco Age Relaunches as Future-Focused Fashion Agency
Eco Age, the sustainability pioneer behind the Green Carpet Fashion Awards, has officially relaunched as a communications agency for future fashion. Now under the leadership of purpose-driven media owners John and Clodagh Higginson, Eco Age emerges with a rebranded identity, renewed mission, and an influential advisory board to guide its next chapter. The 16-year-old agency—previously associated with major clients like Gucci, Stella McCartney, Chopard, and Diesel—had closed following a financial cyberattack. Its rebirth signifies a bold recommitment to sustainable fashion, with a new tagline: 'Fashion. For A Future.' With over 220,000 followers across Instagram, LinkedIn, TikTok, and Facebook, Eco Age has reignited its digital influence over the past three months, boosted by partnerships with sustainability advocates such as Dr. Brett Staniland and Tori Tsui. A new leadership team, including Partner and Executive Director Marwa Zamaray, brings decades of experience and vision. The agency also welcomes a diverse advisory board featuring Jacqueline Shaw (Africa Fashion Guide), Paul Foulkes-Arellano (Circuthon), Bel Jacobs (fashion journalist and activist), Eshita Kabra-Davies (By Rotation), and Tsui herself. Eco Age is now commissioning original investigative journalism on ethical fashion and sustainability for its digital platform. Early clients include Sparxell, a biotech firm offering the world's first 100% plant-based pigment tech, and Textile Genesis, a traceability solution for fashion supply chains. Additionally, the agency has been named a media partner for Manchester Fashion Week, set to return this September after a 10-year break, and plans to bring back the Green Carpet Fashion Awards in 2026. CEO John Higginson emphasized Eco Age's mission to empower consumers with credible knowledge: 'When we choose better, we help reshape fashion without saying a word.' Zamaray echoed this, calling Eco Age a 'lighthouse' for fashion's transformation amid rising global pressures. Though founder Livia Firth is no longer associated with the relaunch, the new team acknowledges her foundational work and legacy.
