It's World Environment Day, the United Nations designated day for encouraging worldwide awareness and action to protect our environment. We talked to KITX's Kit Willow about how she's protecting the environment through her original house of sustainable fashion - she is Australia's reigning queen of sustainable fashion:

10 Magazine: When was the moment that you realised you wanted (and needed) to make KITX 100% sustainable?

Kit Willow: "KITX is the birth of my idea of creating sustainable fashion."

10: How has prioritising sustainability changed the way you design?

KW: "KITX prioritises planet over profit – I only select materials that have some kind of positive impact, and therefore the selection process is narrow and the material selection therefore influences the design."

10: How are you navigating a world where people are becoming more conscious of waste and hesitating to buy new pieces?

KW: "We have over consumed and the planet simply cannot sustain this absorption of resources to then be left in land fill – I embrace buy less and buy better, therefore it is my responsibility equally to create less but better, with purpose meaning and fashion desirability."

10: What inspired the Regeneration collection?

KW: "The latest collection REGENERATION came about from the idea we no longer can sustain, sustain these unprecedented levels of carbon in the atmosphere? Sustain the drought in parts of Australia? Sustain the threat of devastating bushfires? Sustain the loss of one billion animals in three months? Sustain the ice caps melting and sea levels rising? Sustain the increasing acidity into the ocean due to carbon absorption? Sustain the demise of the great barrier reef? Sustain the breakdown of our eco-systems and loss of biodiversity?  Sustain the obliteration of the bee population  globally? Sustain the loss of forests? SUSTAIN? We need to Regenerate, regenerate the Soil, regenerate the forests protecting species habitat, regenerate nature and flora diversity, regenerate rivers and ocean , protecting clean water and marine life habitat, regenerate the atmosphere to reverse the levels of carbon dioxide, slow down the heating of the earth, slow down the rate of ice caps melting and the reduce the sea levels rising, regenerate the diversity of flora allowing bees and insects to do their job, regenerate marine life and the great barrier reef, regenerate waste into future materials reducing land fill and plastic pollution ‚Äì REGENERATE!
The latest collection celebrates the regeneration of nature with botanical images of flowers and the use of future materials like hemp and the regeneration of plastic waste from the ocean into textiles."

10: What is the soundtrack to this collection?

KW: "Back to Nature by Nightmares on Wax."

10: What is the most exciting and innovative thing you've used to create pieces with?

KW: "So many things - denim regenerated from waste denim in opp shops, sequins made from algae, sequins made from plastic waste, jersey lycra made from marine litter, beautiful fine luxurious hemp woven in Belgium."

10: What are the pros in being a sustainable brand in Australia?

KW: "Having purpose and meaning beyond making women feel empowered."

10: The world is currently in uproar over the murder of George Floyd and many others, including Aboriginal Australians here. How is KITX showing support for the Black Lives Matter movement?

KW: "We are supporting the Black Lives Movement through awareness raising and support of this momentum while also providing a First Nations Resource Directory."

10: What are you hopeful for?

KW: "Hopeful for a future where climate change, pollution and existential threat to species and civilisation are issues of the past and we are a conscious society valuing nature, the air we breathe, clean water and ecosystems as much as we value our bank balance!"

by Roxy Lola

kitx.com.au