When life, or Malcolm Turnbull, hands you lemons - head to London Fashion Week. Which is exactly what Foreign Minister Julie Bishop did over the weekend to fete Australian designer Kit Willow at a cocktail function at Australia House.
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Despite being deputy leader of the Liberal Party and putting her hand up, Ms Bishop wasn’t called home to run the country as acting prime minister while Turnbull heads to the United States this week. So instead she made like Elizabeth Taylor (minus the drinking), put on some lipstick, pulled herself together and continued with her international itinerary by slipping into her unofficial role as Fashion Minister.
Together with Australian High Commissioner Alexander Downer, Bishop hosted the best of British fashion including stylist for actress and activist Emma Watson, Rebecca Corbin-Murray and Sydney designer Willow and her label KITX. Willow is in London this week to represent Australia at Buckingham Palace after being selected to take part in the inaugural Commonwealth Exchange Program.
Willow will be granted an audience with Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge after being selected by Eco-Age creative director and founder of the Green Carpet Challenge, Livia Firth.
Firth, who is married to actor Colin Firth, is also hired by stars like Watson to conduct due diligence on red carpet ensembles to ensure they are ethically and environmentally responsible.
According to Firth, Willow with her luxury take on eco-friendly clothing, is a trailblazer in the fashion industry for her laser-like focus and unapologetic approach to “slow fashion”.
“I liked her style and her commitment to sustainability from the word go,” Firth told Fairfax Media. “The death of fast fashion is incumbent. And in a few years time the handprint of fashion will be all that we talk about.”
Willow and Bishop share many similarities. Both appreciate fashion and both have dealt with inept administrations during their careers.
Willow rose like a phoenix in 2015 with the launch of KITX after her employment was unceremoniously terminated at her previous label - the now defunct Willow - following an acquisition by the Apparel Group in 2011 under executive chairman Andrew Michael.
Instead of waiting for karma, Willow got 'woke' about the impact fashion had on the environment and now creates what she calls “sustainable and positive impact fashion”. With KITX she uses environmentally sound supply chains and aims to preserve artisanal traditions.
“My focus isn’t activism though. I just want to create beautiful solutions and a model for sustainable and creative businesses,” Willow said.
For the Commonwealth Exchange Program, Willow partnered with The Woolmark Company by using 90 per cent Australian-grown wool and artisans from the Solomon Islands to create a black evening gown which will be inspected by the Duchess on Tuesday. It will then be moved to public exhibitions at Google Arts & Culture and Australia House in the lead up to the Commonwealth Heads of Government summit in April.
“Our government has got a long way to go in terms of sustainability, especially with plastics which is a big passion of mine, but it’s great to be able to shed some light on solutions, which just happen to be stylish,” Willow said.
