My shuttle driver eases down the window and pleasantly asks a passerby to make room for her to drive past. “They just don’t hear the vehicle – a small disadvantage of hybrid cars with E-Motor starters.” You sort of need a second horn. A quiet one, maybe with galloping horse sounds or something like that.

I’ve just arrived from an event out of “Radial Station V” at Create Berlin. A Berlin design consortium invited me to speak at a “Create Green” forum. I decided to address the holistic approach to sustainability. Have I already introduced you to the concept? If not, I should really get around to it – just give me some feedback here if you’d like to hear more about it.

In the relaxed but concentrated atmosphere of a marvelous rooftop café, we’re discussing the subject of green fashion further. A gripping dialog about production in Germany develops. Aspects like flexibility, improved quality control, and image advantages were hot topics. Diversity and importance of labeling were also controversial topics of discussion among the group of designers, consultants, and press representatives.

Green Fashion in Berlin: Over the past few years, interest in ethical, green fashion has increased exponentially among designers. The Green Showroom in Berlin’s Hotel Adlon is convincing evidence of the trend. My impression is that visitor traffic and general interest is doing quite well. Fashion and ecology go well together, after all.

Evening finds us at a fashion show at the Weissensee art college, where the work of the design graduates is being shown. Great, creative outfits! The graduates also show off their competence and ingenuity in the realm of materials. Over the past few months, I’ve managed to attend a workshop on natural fiber dyes and have seen more than a few of the results which progress in that field has enabled.

On the way back to Butzbach in the I.C.E., I read an article in the paper about hybrid and electric cars: in their electric Ampera model, Opel is including a second, quieter horn…

hessnatur’s Humanity in Fashion Award (we like to use “HIFA” for short) will be presented once again this coming year – and applications are being accepted now, as we speak! The award is the design prize for green fashion, and was called into being by hessnatur just last year. The competition is directed towards young fashion designers from all across Europe whose ideas can merge the fast paced nature of fashion trends with the longevity of sustainability and social fairness – ethical fashion, so to speak.

HIFA is endowed with a 25,000 Euro grant, as well as an individual capsule collection for hessnatur’s own women’s collection. The winner will be chosen once again at the Berlin Fashion Week in January 2012. HIFA’s first laureate, Janosch Mallwitz from Berlin, will symbolically pass the baton on to the next winner.

As a pioneer in socially and ecologically sustainable fashion, hessnatur has taken upon itself to perpetuate this award, presenting it yearly to provide solid support and encouragement to young, up-and-coming “green designers”. As of today, applications can be found on the awards website, which can be submitted until September 15th. Participants are welcome from across Europe; we’ve already written to about 500 European fashion and design schools with information about the Humanity in Fashion Award.

After the mid-September deadline, the jury will meet with designer Miguel Adrover to choose three finalists, who will, in turn, present their ideas and visions about “Humanity in Fashion” at the Berlin Fashion Week. The jury will then choose the second HIFA winner. The finalists’ presentations will be shown not just for one day next year, but likely for three days in Berlin, so that the general public also has a good chance to see them alongside the press and professionals – a great chance for everyone interested to share ideas with the young designers about sustainable fashions.

The winner of this year’s HIFA, Berliner Janosch Mallwitz, is currently working on his capsule collection, which will debut in hessnatur’s Spring/Summer Collection 2012.

“Green fashion goes mainstream” … that’s the title of a Deutsche Welle news piece which aired recently. The film portrays hessnatur’s development in just the last three years – from Miguel Adrover’s show “Hidden in Natur” at the New York Fashion Week in September of 2008, to the recently presented Humanity in Fashion Award in Berlin.

The radiant winner is certain – Janosch Mallwitz wins the first ever Humanity in Fashion Award by hessnatur. Now that it’s decided, I’d like to elaborate on the event and pass on some of what was said during the ceremony. On Flickr you’ll find some images of the event.

Over one hundred journalists and bloggers gathered for a press brunch at the Palazzo Italia last Thursday in Berlin, assuring they were on time for the award ceremony. hessnatur CEO Wolf Lüdge greeted all guests before the prize was passed to the winer. “This is about fashion. This is about the future. And this is about responsibility,” Lüdge said. He continued to say that the participants of the Humanity in Fashion Awards, especially the three finalists, addressed these themes well, “…bringing them together.”

Lüdge informed the guests that the three finalists were intentionally thrown a “wild card” at the Palazzo: no preset conditions dictating how they were to present their designs. He recalled his astonishment at the efforts of the three up-and-coming designers during their set up the night before: “It was clear that this was not going to be an easy decision for the jury.”

Dr. Stefanie Schütte, fashion correspondent for the DPA (Deutsche Presseagentur) and jury member, stressed that three prizes really should have been awarded. Each finalist presented a coherent and harmonious collection with its own unique identity: “Julia Knüpfer deserves the award for prettiest collection, Janosch Mallwitz for the most diverse, and Anja Umann for the most sophisticated,” said Schütte.

After a “downright struggle”, the verdict fell upon Janosch Mallwitz, who placed textile production at the center of his collection, thus emphasizing its significance for the individual. The jury felt confident that Janosch Mallwitz could develop a “young, modern collection with a sportive touch” together with hessnatur. And as the winner of the first Fashion Awards from hessnatur, Janosch has secured an exclusive contract for a Capsule Collection, including a grant in the sum of 25,000 Euro.

The winner’s certificate and the award itself, a baton, was handed from Wolf Lüdge to Janosch Mallwitz. “Pass the idea on with this, so that, in the future, even more people can share an enthusiasm for sustainable fashion,” encouraged hessnatur’s CEO. The two runners-up, Julia Knüpfer and Anja Umann, were further congratulated for their design ideas. “We’ll be hearing a lot from you in the future, as well!” the jury asserted.

Finally, designer Miguel Adrover took the floor, congratulating the winner and thanking the finalists as well as hessnatur as host for their participation and dedication. “You all bring the fashion industry forward! Thank you all, thank you hessnatur.

We are proud to announce our latest initiative in sustainable fashion with internationally renowned designer Clodagh!

Clodagh has been a constant force in the design world since her beginnings in couture fashion at the age of 17. She began her interior and product design business in New York more than twenty-five years ago. Clodagh Design works across a broad range of design disciplines to produce a wide array of eco-conscious projects and products. Her groundbreaking work has merited a steady stream of accolades and awards from her peers and the press.

Clodagh has been “green” long before it became a trend. She is recognized as a leader in the sustainable movement for her use of non-toxic materials and has aligned herself with hessnatur, who also embrace the same ethics, and fosters relationships which contribute philanthropically to their communities.

The hessnatur by Clodagh collection combines the world’s finest natural textiles from hessnatur with the unique and versatile apparel of green design icon, Clodagh.  It’s created for the modern nomad, the woman whose life knows no boundaries.  Every piece in the collection is mutable and interchangeable, adapting to every situation and experience. The collection can be worn from yoga to dinner, from season to season. Clothing both timeless and effortless are Clodagh hallmarks.

Clodagh takes a holistic approach to design. Inspired by nature, the pieces are tactile and sensual. Inherent in the Clodagh collection is respect for woman’s bodies and the ability to change a look by changing a layer. She does this with an attention to fit, detail, and fabrics that are both lightweight and luxurious. The colors are “not quite” colors, accented by vibrant pops of color derived from nature. She believes in the core principle of hessnatur, that “clothes are more than what you wear, they’re how you choose to live.”

Shop Clodagh Collection here.