Portland Fashion Week to Bring Eco-Friendly High Fashion to the Energy Trust Better Living Home, Garden & Lifestyle Show

Business Wire, March 3, 2008

Event to Feature Eco-Fashion Discussion Panel and Installation Fashion Show

Saturday, March 29 from 5 - 8 p.m.

PORTLAND, Ore. -- Producers of The Energy Trust Better Living Home, Garden & Lifestyle Show (Better Living Show) are working with Portland Fashion Week Productions to host an eco-fashion panel discussion and installation fashion show at the largest sustainable lifestyle show in the Northwest.

On Saturday, March 29, members of the global eco-fashion community will gather at the Portland Expo Center to discuss environmentally responsible design and manufacturing processes. Attendees of the Better Living Show, which is free to the public, are encouraged to attend the event to learn how Portland is leading the international fashion community in its quest to go green.

"Portland Fashion Week has been internationally recognized as the first eco-sustainable production of a fashion week in the world," said Prasenjit Tito Chowdhry, principal of PFW Productions LLC and executive producer of Portland Fashion Week. "We are bringing this event to the Better Living Show to educate the broader community on eco-fashion."

National and Local Experts Discuss What "Eco-Fashion" Really Means

The Portland Fashion Week event at the Better Living Show will kick off at 5 p.m. at the SustainableLife Stage with a panel discussion featuring two eco-style experts from New York City and Seattle: Leslie Hoffman and Rebecca Luke. Both will discuss their roles in influencing the global fashion community to adopt sustainable design and manufacturing processes.

* Leslie Hoffman, the executive director of Earth Pledge, recently shook up the fashion world with her buzz-worthy FutureFashion runway show, which debuted during New York Fashion Week in February 2008.

* Rebecca Luke founded the Sustainable Style Foundation (SSF) in 2003 along with Sean Schmidt to prove that consumers shouldn't have to give up style or living well in order to be socially and environmentally responsible.

* Ian Yolles is the vice president of brand communications at Nau, a Portland-based a technical outdoor and lifestyle apparel company dedicated to turning traditional business notions upside down through the integration of environmental, social and economic factors.

* Portland designer Anna Cohen and Seattle designer Lizzie Parker will bring a more intimate point-of-view to the discussion, as they discuss their experiences as hands-on designers living in the sustainability hot bed of the Pacific Northwest.

* Anna Cohen founded her label in 2005 and is recognized for helping to bring sustainability to the global fashion community.

* Lizzie Parker has leveraged her experience in the technology industry to create a unique line of eco-friendly pieces made from bamboo and organic cotton that appeal to a broad spectrum of women.

Sustainable designs from Nau, Cohen and Parker will be showcased during a live, installation-format fashion show immediately following the panel discussion.

For more information about the Portland Fashion Week event at the Better Living Show, visit www.betterlivingshow.org. Portland Fashion Week Productions will host its third annual Portland Fall Fashion Week in October 2008 in Portland, Ore.

About Portland Fashion Week Productions

PFW Productions LLC is a full-service events production and promotions company specializing in fashion. Its flagship event is Portland Fashion Week, which is the biggest fashion week in the U.S. Pacific Northwest. For more information visit www.portlandfashionweek.net.

About The Energy Trust Better Living Home, Garden & Lifestyle Show

The Energy Trust Better Living Show, the Northwest's largest sustainable lifestyle show, takes place Friday, March 28 from noon - 9 p.m.; Saturday, March 29 from 11 a.m. - 9 p.m.; and Sunday, March 30 from 11 a.m. - 5 p.m. at the Portland Expo Center.

From home & garden, lifestyle and transportation to food & beverage, clean technology and conservation, the Better Living Show will bring thousands of sustainable, healthy and practical lifestyle products and services to the masses. Free to the public, show-goers can explore, sample and shop earth-friendly products and services from more than 200 exhibitors as well as learn more about sustainable choices from the show's 30 presentations - including actor and HGTV host Ed Begley, Jr. For more information visit www.betterlivingshow.org.