#VIVIENNEWESTWOOD X CANOPY #EARTHDAY2020 #MIRRORTHEWORLD

 

Today Canopy and Vivienne Westwood celebrate #EarthDay with the release of the video Vivus created by @AidanZamiri featuring a poem by spoken word artist, model, and visibility activist @Kai_Isaiah_jamal.

The video was created to announce the partnership between the iconic design house and Canopy, a not-for-profit environmental organization dedicated to protecting forests, species and climate, with the aim of drawing attention to the direct link between the clothes we wear and the destruction of the world’s Ancient and Endangered Forests.

Kai’s poem is a celebration of life and a paean to the world’s forests. It aims to tell the story of the often destructive link between ancient forests and the fashion we consume. It juxtaposes logging and pulping trees to make viscose with the dream of a world that values forests too much to tear them down. The video, created by video artist Aiden Zamiri features dystopian collages and a moody soundscape that, in concert with Jamal’s moving poem, captures the urgent need to preserve Ancient and Endangered Forests globally and reverse the growing climate and wildlife crises.

“We are long-time campaigners about the impacts of Climate Change and use our voice to mobilise people around its effects on them and the planet. Fashion has a disproportionate impact on the environment and to remedy that we have for some time been changing the way we make clothes to reflect the need for the industry to change the way it operates. We were so pleased to be able to work with Kai and Aidan on this film. We hope it will help draw attention to our campaign in support of the work Canopy has been doing to transform unsustainable supply chains to protect forests around the world – and with it our climate and wildlife.” – Christopher DiPietro, Global Brand Director, Vivienne Westwood.

Over the last few years, the teams at Vivienne Westwood have been adapting the way they make clothes to reflect the growing urgency to change how the fashion industry operates.

To this end, Vivienne Westwood has made a commitment to protect the world’s most vital forest ecosystems in our supply chain by ensuring that no virgin wood pulp used to make or package its products comes from areas connected to de-forestation and forest degradation, and only comes from responsibly managed forests. The supply chain today is opaque but, with the help of Canopy, Vivienne Westwood is putting pressure on the industry and working with its suppliers to make this a reality. It has committed to 100% of its wood pulp derived fabrics being FSC certified by 2021, and will prioritize Next Generation viscose as it becomes available.

Read Vivienne Westwood’s CanopyStyle commitment here: https://www.viviennewestwood.com/en/our-approach/ “Climate disruption, loss of species and the pandemic are global crises that all illustrate how consequential our every action is. Vivienne and her team know that brilliance coupled with imagination and pragmatic action will transform how our economy interacts with vital ecosystems. Jamal’s poem and video provide us with the dream of a future we all want to be part of.” – Nicole Rycroft, Canopy’s Founder and Executive Director.

The CanopyStyle campaign has been described as the fastest-moving environmental initiative in the fashion sector, and now features 214 brands, worth 266 BN USD. CanopyStyle is uniting brands to end sourcing from Ancient and Endangered Forests, to develop and adopt Next Generation textiles for a truly sustainable supply chain, and to advocate for large-scale forest conservation in Canopy’s Landscapes of Hope.

Watch Vivus:  

For more information or image content please contact: About Canopy Canopy is a not-for-profit environmental organization dedicated to protecting forests, species and climate. Canopy has collaborated with more than 750 companies to develop innovative solutions, make their supply chains more sustainable and help protect our world’s remaining ancient and endangered forests. Canopy’s partners include H&M, Target, Sprint, Penguin Random House, Zara, TC Transcontinental, The Guardian and Scholastic. Canopy’s work relies on the support of individual donors who share our passion for the planet. www.canopyplanet.org About Vivienne Westwood Vivienne Westwood began designing in 1971 along with her then partner Malcolm McLaren in London. At the time they used their shop at 430 Kings Road, London, to showcase their ideas and designs. With their changing ideas of fashion came the change of not only the name of the shop but also the décor. It was in 1976 when Westwood and McLaren defined the street culture of Punk with Seditionaries.

By the end of the seventies Vivienne Westwood was already considered a symbol of the British avant-garde and for Autumn/Winter 1981 she showed her first catwalk presentation at Olympia in London. Westwood then turned to traditional Savile Row tailoring techniques, using British fabrics and 17th and 18th century art for inspiration.

1989 was the year that Vivienne met Andreas Kronthaler, who would later become her husband and long-time design partner, as well as Creative Director of the brand. In 2004 the Victoria & Albert museum, London, hosted a Vivienne Westwood retrospective exhibition to celebrate her then 34 years in fashion – the largest exhibition ever devoted to a living British fashion designer. In 2006, her contribution to British Fashion was officially recognised when she was appointed Dame of the British Empire by Her Majesty, Queen Elizabeth II, and in 2007 was awarded the ‘Outstanding Achievement in Fashion’ at the British Fashion Awards in London.

Vivienne Westwood is one of the last independent global fashion companies in the world. At times thought provoking, this brand is about more than producing clothes and accessories. Westwood continues to capture the imagination, and raise awareness of environmental and human rights issues. With a design record spanning over forty years, Vivienne Westwood is now recognized as a global brand and Westwood herself as one of the most influential fashion designers, and activists, in the world today.