This weekend I attended the Bare Fashion show in London, now on it’s second year since launching. I’d had my ticket booked since January this year so I’d been looking forward to this for so long! Bare Fashion is (still) the UK’s only vegan fashion show, organised by Vegan Food and Living magazine.

This year the venue had changed (still on Brick Lane) and was much bigger! It felt like a cool New York warehouse style event, I really liked the aesthetics. Everything did seem much more spaced out, with lots of space to walk around and even benches for sitting/eating. I actually liked this more relaxed feel as last year was more compact, but it did make the place feel a bit empty.

I was really happy to see that there were definitely more brands at the event this year! I hope this means that the event has gained momentum and attracted more attention since their first event. Here’s a list of all the brands that were showcased at this year’s event:

 

Fashion

Story 81

Blowfish Malibu

Fabrikk

Koi Footwear

Ethcs

Culthread

Washala

Piilgrim

Votch

Mahla Clothing

Collection & Co

Ebyak

Honest Department

Artisara

Blanlac

Jakelle Studios

Lalla Wandavi

Lifestyle International

 

Beauty/hair

Kat Von D

Paul Mitchell

Made by Cooper

Crazy Rumors

Emani Vegan Cosmetics

Tropika

Runes Skincare 

 

Food/drink

Tideford Organics

Sacred Spirits

One Planet Pizza

Miiro Ice Cream

Humble Dough

Pure Wines

Cranes Cider

Jubel Beer

Guruji Snacks

Happy Cat Coffee

Gemini Chocolate

Mooshies London

 

Other

The Humane Society

Ohros (vegan candles)

Barefoot Glitter

By the time I arrived, I had already missed the talk, which was a Vegan Beauty Panel – so annoyed! The panel was hosted by Vegan Beauty Girl, Nicole, who was joined by Em-J, a vegan and cruelty-free make up artist, and they did a live make up demo on a model and talked about the different products and what brands to look out for.

 

The second talk of the day was the Vegan Fashion Panel, hosted by the fabulous Marta Canga! Joining her was Sascha Camilli, Editor in Chief of Vilda Magazine, and Kay Lovelle who is a vegan fashion activist (so cool!) They spoke about the challenges facing the fashion industry and how vegan fashion can be the antidote to a lot of the problems. I loved hearing these ladies talk with such passion about vegan and sustainable fashion, and it was funny to hear that they get asked the same questions I do (“Vegan fashion, does that mean you can eat your own clothes?”). 

After the panel it was time for the catwalk show (there had been two performances of show during the day – a great idea for people who could only come at certain times). I loved that the stage was centred in the middle of the venue and was a raised square so the models could be seen from all angles. The choreography this year was really interested, with the models walking around each point of the stage before walking diagonally across, not something you often see at fashion shows. It felt energetic and powerful, with the models walking with purpose and attitude – my favourite kind of walk ;) I live streamed the catwalk so hopefully some of you got to see it! There’s also a IG story highlight on my page under BareFashion’19, so go check that out :)

 

My only negative of the catwalk show was that it felt really non-seasonal, in that there was a mix of summer dresses, beachwear, big heavy coats and knitwear. I found it a bit confusing as we should have been seeing Spring/Summer (assuming this was an early version of a September fashion week show). This confusion makes me worried that the UK fashion scene won’t take this show seriously, as they’re not following ‘fashion protocol’. However, I understand that it is done this way due to the brands they are working with probably not having huge retail turnovers (which is good!) and not sticking to seasonal restrictions (also good for sustainability!). 

 

I’d love to see the day where Bare Fashion could have a slot during September Fashion Week and draw in a wider crowd of fashionistas, showing the world just how great vegan fashion really is!