Recently we’ve been reporting about many events that make the London’s sustainable fashion scene so dynamic – highlighting the spirit of collaboration between designers, retailers, consultants…

One such event took place last week, as a celebration for the 1st anniversary of Fashion ComPassion, an ethical fashion enterprise that we’ve been meaning to talk about for a while, for their sleek selection of brands, and their commitment to the empowerment of women in countries where they tend to be marginalised.

 

 

Fashion ComPassion is an ethical fashion house that works with socially responsible luxury brands. The company was founded in November 2010 and is a unique online/ fashion business that provides a platform to skilled and creative women artisans, with a mandate to promote social change through high fashion.

Fashion ComPassion partners with social enterprises from the developing world (Asia, Africa and Middle East) which contribute towards developing communities, empowering women and alleviating poverty. Brands that create a positive change by enriching the lives of the women: by providing employment, enhancing their creative skills, giving a percentage of the profits back to the employees, hence instilling a sense of worth and purpose in the women.

Fashion ComPassion’s cherry-picked pieces are exquisite, so finely embellished or embroidered, to almost be works of art. These are all limited editions, of unique and highly desirable hand crafts.

These were the pieces on display for a special night in Notting Hill (a seriously stylish London area), during which Ayesha Mustafa, the founder of Fashion ComPassion, invited us to celebrate the first anniversary of her venture.

 

 

The accessories were the absolute stars of the evening – the vibrant colour of Palestyle clutches, the exquisite embroidery of Nawa’ bags, the dazzling metals of Lost City. And apparel included the raw silk of Bhalo garments, and, naturally, the wonderful burqa dresses, made by Beshtar in Afghanistan upcycling traditional burqas, and made famous by Livia Firth, who wore a fabulous emerald one as part of her Green Carpet Challenge.

 

 

The event was planned as a whole experience for the guests – with Rewardrobe on hand to talk about the brands and provide personalised style advice and a wellness corner curated by organic brand Fushi – and also well timed for some seasonal shopping, which proved to be totally guilt-free as, on top of the direct support to such worthy brands, a part of the proceeds from the evening went to support Oxfam‘s own project aimed at empowering women.