Sierra Leone Designer Prepares To Champion Ethical Fashion @ London Fashion Week

Former Sierra Leone child refugee, Euphemia-Ann Sydney-Davies who fled two decades ago to escape a brutal civil war is preparing to meet British royalty at London Fashion Week.
The fashion designer will present one of her creations – a three-piece suit made of Ghanaian cloth – next week at an event hosted by Kate, Duchess of Cambridge, at Buckingham Palace.
The Commonwealth Fashion Exchange, spearheaded by Livia Firth who co-founded sustainability brand consultancy Eco-Age, connects designers and artisans from Britain and many of its former colonies to showcase and champion sustainable fashion.
The scheme pairs up-and-coming designers like Sydney-Davies with fashion giants – from Britain’s Stella McCartney to New Zealand’s Karen Walker, and big global brands such as Burberry.
Major fashion brands and leading designers should take note, and strive to be ethical and sustainable, Sydney-Davies said.
“We should control where they come from and how they’re made,” she told the Thomson Reuters Foundation as she pulled a purple organza dress from a rack of brightly coloured clothes.
“Rather than launching yet another report on the fashion system, we wanted to create a powerful example of how fashion can be at its best,”