For her final look, it only seems appropriate to end off with the green outfit she wore to her Platinum Jubilee celebrations.

Standing alongside her eldest son Prince Charles and his eldest son and grandchildren, Queen Elizabeth made a statement in a vibrant green double crepe wool dress and coat, designed by her dressmaker and designer Stewart Parvin, paired with an equally bright hat embellished with a black pom-pom made by British milliner Rachel Trevor-Morgan.

The green outfit was a tribute to the late Duke of Edinburgh, Queen Elizabeth’s husband who passed away at the age of 99 in 2021. Green was the favourite colour of Prince Philip. It should also be noted that Prince Philip used the Edinburgh Green for his official livery.

The queen made further tribute to her late husband by accessorizing her matching green Rachel Trevor Morgan hat with a prominent black pin, which is believed by many to be a symbol of mourning.

The 2020s have not been smooth sailing, to say the least. Since March 2020, the world at large has been impacted by the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, which has claimed the lives of millions of people around the world. More recently, the world has been showing support for Ukraine after Russia invaded the country earlier this year. Crises aside, the 2020s has also seen innovations in digitization, most notably in the metaverse and NFTs (non-fungible tokens).

Through it all, Queen Elizabeth II has shown grace, dignity and humility as Queen. Long live the Queen!

One of the challenges that Belizean designers face, according to Simplis Barrow is that designers need retailers, to find a way to attract great talents in branding and marketing, as well as making contact with manufacturers on a larger scale to satisfy the demand.

“Local fashion event organizers also need to lift their standards to an international level.
The fashion world is a chain of stakeholders that must work in-sync,” Simplis Barrow says.

Adds Simplis Barrow: “It’s definitely not a one man –– or woman –– show.”

Ronelli Requena is the founder and fashion designer of Zayvha Saraia, a fashion brand that focuses on custom bridal and event dresses. While having been in business for six years, Requena shares that she recently discovered a new passion for fashion consulting.

Requena is also the product designer for Xe’il Belize, a clothing brand that fuses traditional Maya embroidery and weaving with modern fashion.

In addition to leading her own brand, Requena had also been collaborating with Kichpan Kananten Women’s group to develop an incubator that will be able to redefine the Belizean fashion industry by providing services for production outsourcing and product enhancement for designers and artisans.

“I believe that the designers and artisans in Belize have a lot to offer to the world, with the right resources and opportunities we will be able to fine-tune our products and expose ourselves to new markets,” Requena explains.

“One of my end goals is to gain as much knowledge in the business aspect of my work where I can make people that aspire to be in the industry that will get there,” Requena says of her future aspirations to bring awareness and recognition to Belizean designers.

Simplis Barrow recognizes that Belize has not yet reached international recognition for their fashion designers. However, Simplis Barrow has a message of hope, which is evident when she says, “I believe Belize has potential for growth.”

The Socio-economic Diversity and Inclusion: toolkit for the creative industries offers support and guidance to creative employers on how to identify and remove invisible barriers that arise at every stage of the employee journey.

“If creativity is to shape a better future for all, then it has to reflect the diversity and breadth of experience found across the country,” Caroline Norbury, CEO, Creative Industries Federation, said in a prepared statement. “Ensuring opportunities exist for creative individuals to thrive, no matter their background, is an important step towards achieving this. The Social Mobility Commission’s toolkit is a critical resource for addressing the unacceptable imbalance of socio-economic backgrounds found in the UK’s creative industries.”

The toolkit –– which was released back in September 2021 –– offers insights on how creative industries, like those in the fashion sector, can encourage inclusion, increase staff socioeconomic diversity, and ensure talented and skilled job seekers from less privileged backgrounds are not disregarded.

The organizations who have contributed or endorsed the toolkit include: The BBC, BFI, UK Screen Alliance, Youth Music British Fashion Council, Museums Association, British Institute of Interior Design and the Publishers Association.

Fashion brands –– especially in the luxury sector –– were quick to embrace and adopt NFTs and digital fashion as part of their overall brand identity. Proponents have asserted that NFTs’ rarity and ability to accumulate value has the capability to bring digital fashion closer to the physical world.

According to solicitor Mansour Mansour of Ronald Fletcher Baker LLP, a full-service law firm with offices in London, Manchester and Exeter, warns that the fashion industry needs to be aware of some of the legal ramifications of NFTs.

“NFTs are usually transferred by what is known as a “smart” contract,” Mansour said in an interview with the Commonwealth Fashion Council. “These contracts will not protect a creator or artist’s right to receive royalties if the royalty system on the blockchain is circumvented, which sadly can be done now.

Adds Mansour: “creators need to be very careful when creating NFTs to safeguard their rights.”

Mansour goes on to explain that there is a misconception that the NFT holds the IP of an artwork or piece of design like a handbag or piece of clothing; it doesn’t.

“Some creators, such as RTFKT, are supposedly creating smart contracts with actual linked legal contracts in the coding allowing the recipient to use the item of the clothing in the metaverse,” Mansour says. “However, the recipient doesn’t own the IP inherent in the piece of clothing –– so they wouldn’t be able to, for example; make a copy of the clothing in the real world to sell. There is a lot of confusion about this.

Concludes Mansour: “NFTs are a digital marvel but regulation has not caught up yet –– so there is a serious lack of legal protection for buyers, sellers, and creators.”

With designers becoming much more cognizant of cruelty-free fashion and its impact on sustainability, they are shifting towards using more unconventional materials in their designs.

“With materials like hemp, apple and wine-grape leather, organic cotton, seaweed, and pineapple-leaf fibre rising on the market, there is no need and no excuse to turn to cruelty for fashion,” Taylor reiterates. “There are so many sustainable, cruelty-free materials available and upcoming that it’s safe to say that the future of fashion is vegan.”

East London and Milan-based designer Leticia Credidio’s cruelty-free sleepwear and loungewear brand was created when she faced burnout and sleep deprivation, a result of being overworked in her previous career. For Credidio, this forced her to re-evaluate not only the way she was living her life, but what she wanted to do with her career.

“I loved my job, but I think it’s wise for me to quit and create something that could help people to relax, to sleep better, to have a slow life,” Credidio recounts. “I decided to leave my job and then I set it up a business, which promotes slow living.”

Credidio’s brand, which won PETA’s “Designer to Watch” back in 2019, is fully vegan. Most notably, her Ocean collection harnesses certified seaweed fabrics. The collection pays homage to the ocean, and to help bring awareness to the destruction of the coral reefs. For Credidio, this was her way to create something beautiful out of something tragic.

“I needed to create something that is like an homage to our beautiful oceans. We have to protect them. So how can I do that? How can I start this conversation?” Credidio says. “I used this amazing fabric and created the ocean collection. And I love it very much because even if when you watch the garment, the nutrients are still there.”

The Ocean collection’s utilization of seaweed makes the clothes feel soft to the touch and is completely seamless. After getting allergic reactions to certain fabrics, Credidio’s wanted the collection to replicate clothing that represent the ocean. “Seaweed has so many benefits like nutrients, vitamins, and it is really beautiful,” Credidio explains.

Guadalajara, Mexico-based Desserto is a Cactus-based biomaterials as an alternative to leather developed by Adriano Di Marti company. Rather than using animal leather, the company makes apparel, handbags and interiors from cactus leather. Co-founder Adrián López Velarde, says that the company’s decision to manufacture products from cactus was the make a statement on sustainability.

“Our idea at the beginning was to make a fashion brand to get like sustainable materials together and build like a sustainable statement to try to get this message out there,” López Velarde explains. “But then we thought that in Mexico, we don’t have a biomaterial. Why don’t we just make our own instead of importing or looking outside?”

The brand, who was awarded the Compassionate Business Award from PETA in early 2021 and has been collaborating with brands like H&M, seeks to educate consumers about leather and why it is important to buy alternative leather products for the sake of the environment.

“Leather like is not a premium, nice material to wear –– it’s all chemicals, death and also low ethics in the tanning process. Now we have options that can perfectly replace that,” López Velarde elucidates. “Some people would argue that leather is a by-product of the of the animal or the food industry and if they didn’t transform it into like garments, it would be waste and, from a non-vegan point of view, that will be valid, it was not for the large amount of noxious chemicals that the tanning industry use. After its process there, it’s not a skin. It is already a chemical product.

Adds López Velarde: “I think that people need to know more about this.”

The vision for a sustainable and inclusive space within the fashion industry has not been lost on industry pioneers and professionals.

What has been lacking –– and is a major failure –– is the role of an intergovernmental organization for the global fashion sector. Not having an intergovernmental organization for global fashion development has been a hurdle that Hatton has been trying to overcome, as the industry would reap the benefits of greater coordination.

“The biggest gift that The Commonwealth can give the global fashion sector is to establish an intergovernmental organization, whereby Commonwealth governments come together to tackle head-on major issues to preserve our planet for future generations. This move will also create the CFC as a go-to organisation for the media and wider commentary on major fashion issues as they happen as the response will be from 54 nations, not just one.”

Samantha Cohen, CEO, Commonwealth Enterprise & Investment Council (CWEIC), also holds the belief that an intergovernmental organization across the Commonwealth would be beneficial to the fashion industry.

Cohen, who served in the Royal Household for 18 years as Assistant and Deputy Private Secretary to Her Majesty The Queen and Head of Royal Communications for The Queen’s Household explains that an intergovernmental organization would enable fashion to become fully integrated into economies as a major industry providing jobs, education and export income. “It would also provide greater integration of the fashion supply chain across nations from designers and artisan fabric produce to manufacturers and retailers,” Cohen relates.

An intergovernmental organization for fashion, according to Cohen, would also enshrine best practices for pay and work conditions and would elevate fashion as an industry.

 For example, Bangladesh is one of the world’s largest garment exporters with the RMG sector, accounting for 84 per cent of the country’s exports. “Emerging economies would benefit from the technological innovation in the sector coming from more developed nations to make manufacturing more efficient and safer,” Cohen says. “While developed countries would benefit from a more efficient supply chain, saving time and costs, as well as improving working conditions.”

Describing the relationships between governments of the Commonwealth in relation to fashion as “symbiotic” and “interdependent”, Cohen notes that the current global health crisis has emphasized this co-dependency, as there was a detrimental impact on the fashion supply chain.

“When orders stopped in the UK, whole economies such as Sri Lanka and Bangladesh suffered,” Cohen says. “An intergovernmental organization would have mitigated those problems and worked to reduce the impact on vulnerable communities.

Adds Cohen: “As the world connectivity improves, alongside global incomes, the time is right to launch this proposal.”