Thanks to international media partner Sherry Kallergis from AT FORTY FIVE
Zuhâl Kuvan-Mills is living proof age may define who you are, but it doesn’t define who you can be.
At 26 she was a veterinarian, 36 a science teacher, 46 an art student, 56 an eco-fashion designer, and 60 the driving force behind Eco Fashion Week Australia 2022 3rd International Fashion Art Shows and Exhibitions.
I met with her in Vancouver at the end of a whirlwind showing at Vancouver Fashion Week. Born in Turkey, she spent years in England and currently resides in Australia. One may wonder how being a veterinarian could possibly be connected to designing couture fashion, but as Zuhâl shares her story, it all falls into line.
One of three children, born in Turkey, she learned to knit and sew at a young age. She always loved colors and creating. In Turkey, higher education was provided at no cost, and she chose to be a veterinarian because it was a career out of the ordinary. In her class, she was only one of a few females, so she is very familiar with working in a men’s world.
Zuhal at home in Australia Image Credit: Dhrumit Patel
Zuhâl launched the first Eco Fashion Week Australia in 2017 and is busy planning to host the world’s longest and largest Sustainable Fashion Art Shows & Exhibitions in Western Australia. Titled The Closet of The Anthropocene, it will run from November 4, 2022, to Feb 5, 2023. Artists and designers will share their perspectives on ecological issues and focus on themes related to climate change.
She is also an eco-fashion couture designer with two Global Organic Textile Standards (GOTS) certified lines; Green Embassy and Atelier Zuhal. You may wonder what defines eco-fashion? Zuhâl relates it to slow fashion. She does not compete with fast or throwaway fashion that is so prevalent today. Zero-waste is a priority along with ethical production, which is why she makes her own fabrics using alpaca wool from her farm. She is cognizant and respectful of Aboriginal cultures and ways of living. When she moved to England, thrift shops were all the rage and she loved creating amazing fashion using her finds. Soon her friends were asking her to re-create looks for them. It wasn’t until much later in her life, though, after marriage, children, and long, tiring years in education, she decided to go back to university to get a Visual Arts Degree. Then on the move to Australia, designing and eco-fashion fell together.
Click HERE to read the full article.