Swish, swoon & swap at the V&A

If you fancy trying out a clothes swap party, or you’re looking for eco style inspiration, you simply must head down to the V&A on Sunday, November 9 for Ethical Fashion Day.

By the look of the packed schedule, you’re guaranteed to come away with new ideas, skills, friends and even some gorgeous new items for your wardrobe.

Swap your unwanted chic items at a Swishing party, learn how to redesign your own clothes and hobnob with eco pioneers and top model Erin O’Connor.

Join in the debate on the future of sustainable fashion with Caryn Franklin, Katharine E Hamnett and Lucy Siegle. Or, sit back and enjoy a little eco style on the catwalk, directed by fashion designer and London Fashion Week Esthetica curator, Orsola de Castro. Swoon over the new collection from From Somewhere, pictured here.

Greenmystyle.com will be there, camera and notebook to hand, reporting back on the best bits of the day. And it sounds like there will be several.

Here’s the itinery:

Ethical Fashion Day at the V&A
Sunday 9 November 2008
10.30-17.00
Sackler Centre

Swishing with Futerra
10.30-12.00 – Drop Off
Lunchroom 1, Sackler Centre
From 10.30am-12 you hand over your chic clothing and get a ticket to take part. From 12-12.30 you can check out the pieces of clothing up for the swish, but not touch (oh, the meanies!). 12.30-14.00 – go get ‘em girls!

Ethical Fashion on the Net
10.30-16.30
Digital Studio, Sackler Centre
Access up-to-date info from fashion ranges to fashion issues
Free, drop-in

Build a Sustainable Fabric Dress
10.30-16.30
Design Studio, Sackler Centre
Draw designs and messages on swatches of hemp and attach them to a life-size dress frame to create a dress. Watch the dress grow over the day.
In collaboration with Environmental Justice Foundation and Loop Fabric
Free, drop-in, in collaboration with Central Saint Martins

Reinvention: Cut and Sew Workshop
10.30-12.30 & 13.30-16.30
Art Studio, Sackler Centre
Bring your tired, out-of-style clothes and regenerate them with the help of experienced dressmakers and a pair of scissors.
Free, drop-in, in collaboration with Central Saint Martins

Style Surgeries
Seminar  Room 1, Sackler Centre

How We Shop: Slow Fashion Fast Fashion
11.00-11.30
With Mo Tomaney, Consultant and Research Fellow in Ethics and the Clothing Industry for Central St Martins.
Free, ticketed. Tickets available from 10.30 from the Sackler Centre ticket desk.

Restyle Your Wardrobe
13.00-13.30
In collaboration with Ethical Fashion Forum
Free, ticketed. Tickets available from 12.00 from the Sackler Centre ticket desk.

Hot Eco Fashion Labels on the High Street
15.15-15.45
With Rosie Budhani, Ethical Fashion Consultant.
Free, ticketed. Tickets available from 12.00 from the Sackler Centre ticket desk.

Style Booths
12.30-14.00
Lunchroom 1, Sackler Centre
Personal advice on how to wear your Swish
In collaboration with Ethical Fashion Forum, Central Saint Martins and UCA Epsom
Free, open to Swishing ticket holders only.

The Ethical High Street Debate
14.00-15.00
Hochhauser Auditorium, Sackler Centre
Designer Katharine E Hamnett, broadcaster and journalist Professor Lucy Siegle, Research Fellow at Central St Martins Mo Tomaney,  and founder of People Tree Safia Minney  discuss the challenges for the shopper and the shop on the ethical high street with chair, fashion writer and broadcaster, Caryn Franklin.
Free, ticketed. Tickets available from 13.00 from the Sackler Centre ticket desk.

Fashion Show
16.00-16.40
Hochhauser Auditorium, Sackler Centre
Presented by Orsola de Castro, fashion designer and curator of Estethica at London Fashion Week.
Showing designs from Stella McCartney, Junky Styling, Noir and t-shirts made for the EJF by designers including Allegra Hicks and Giles Deacon.
In collaboration with Equa, Quintessentially Models, Jocelyn Whipple, Sustainable Fashion and Textiles Consultant and Matilda Lee, co-organiser of Estethica at London Fashion Week and author of Eco Chic: the savvy shopper’s guide to ethical fashion.
Free, ticketed. Tickets available from 13.00 from the Sackler Centre ticket desk.

Find out more on the V&A website