Italy launches 'Green Carpet' fashion awards

Italy's top luxury designers will go head-to-head to snap up the title of "greenest" brand as the sector gets on board with the latest trend: eco-friendly fashion. The national fashion chamber has joined forces with sustainability brand consultancy Eco-Age to launch the "Green Carpet Fashion Awards", which will be held in Milan's iconic Scala opera house.

Brands from Fendi to Giorgio Armani, Gucci, Prada and Valentino will be competing with emerging designers, with the first edition to be held September 24, the fashion chamber said in a statement late Wednesday. Livia Firth, the founder of the Eco-Age initiative -- which has seen celebrities increasingly swap traditional red carpet attire for recycled or vintage gowns -- said Italy's design heritage put it in a unique position to lead the push for greener fashion.

"This must now be developed, and built on the values of environmental protection and social justice in our supply chains, which will uniquely allow Italy to be the added value designer and manufacturer on the global fashion stage," said Firth, who is married to actor Colin Firth. Italy's Economic Development Minister Carlo Calenda said it was also a way of keeping Italian tailoring relevant in a world of brand rip-offs and cheap mass-market clothing production.

Celebrities who have supported the "Green Carpet" trend so far include Game of Thrones actress Sophie Turner, supermodel Lily Cole, British actress and activist Emma Watson, and Irish actor Michael Fassbender. Cole and Turner turned the Oscars red carpet green last year with outfits by Vivienne Westwood and London's Galvan, while Watson teemed up with Calvin Klein on a custom gown made of sustainable cotton and recycled plastic yarn. (AFP)