George Wu
eco bridal gowns
We sat down with Brisbane bridal wear designer George Wu to find out how he got started and to get his take on being eco friendly in the fashion industry. Tell us about yourself – where you started, what you do, how you got to where you are now? I was the student who had never sewn anything before commencing a fashion design course – I thought that was why I was there! I studied fashion design at MSIT and QUT in Brisbane, where I learned about clothing creation and the reasons for my work as a creative person. My graduation collection was the start of my career, and stockists gave me the confidence to design more collections. But it’s the passion of craftsmanship and the fine appreciation of luxury textiles that lead me into the bridal industry. Having a point of difference in design and quality in the making of clothes is what landed me a firm presence in the fashion industry – that’s something that will never be replaced with marketing hype. How do you make your business eco friendly? I encourage everyone around me in the workplace to really think about recycling to start with. If everyone makes a little difference, think about how much change we can all make as a collective. I also talk about how to minimize wastage such as fabric cutting, paper re-use, power, water consumption and believe a little change from everyone makes a better world for our next generation. One example of how our design house is eco-friendly is we plan all sewn pieces to be done at the ironing stage, and then turn on the iron to do them all in one go before switching off. Rather than turning the iron on and off each time you need to iron because more warm-up means more power consumed. I cannot stress these little changes enough; it really makes a difference and it also reduces operational costs for businesses. Why is it important to adopt eco-friendly policies? It’s a way of life, and a philosophy that makes me a better person because I feel I am contributing to the world, even if it’s just a small contribution. There are billions of us on this planet and a little contribution from billions makes a whole lot of difference. Eco-friendly doesn’t just mean saving green-house emission, it’s a belief in taking the least possible from nature and maximizing what is given to us. There are
rewards emotionally and financially, too. At the end of the day, we all have a part of us that needs to feel like we are an important being. Helping the world be a better place is a very rewarding journey. Do you think that the fashion industry will head in a more eco friendly way? Why? Why not? It’s a question I ask myself regularly… my answer is yes and no. I think businesses and corporations are influenced by the consumers that it’s their responsibility to be eco-friendly. This is not an ethical belief from within; rather it’s driven from consumer expectations. Reading about fashion philosophy you will often find “beauty” comes with a price… and I don’t mean money. It is in our nature, the excess is considered beautiful unfortunately. The best examples are textile embellishments: they are beautiful to look at but don’t serve a purpose in keeping us safe or warm. Why do we do it? Because it’s an excessive/ wasteful thing, and our eye considers it “beautiful”. Unfortunately, a true eco-friendly dress should be an ugly sack, but that’s not presentable. Therefore, we all desire the amazing dress with details, which costs our environment. It’s a really meaningful thing for me to think about how “eco friendly” and “fashion/beauty” mix. This will be a neverending debate, whether the fashion industry should be moving towards “eco friendly” or not. Of course, the eco-friendly movement is spreading wide amongst consumers. But I often ask myself: is this phenomenon a consumer belief or just an expectation on businesses? Finally...any advice for any brides out there looking for a more eco friendly wedding gown designer? I guess the best way is to have a governing body in the industry for standards. Too many businesses can have an “eco-friendly” or “sustainable” tag on their products but I don’t even know what they mean by that. I would love to see authoritative organisations taking this seriously and controlling how the words are used. Unfortunately, I think there is no way to search for a more eco-friendly wedding gown designer because not many will open their studio for consumers to see how it really is in the workplace. Hopefully that’ll change in the future. I do believe the best in people and I am sure most swing tags do mean what they say.
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You can see one of George’s stunning eco gowns on Cas, one of our Real Eco Brides, and on the cover. PHOTOGRAPHY Moss Green Images eco fashion // 133