Who We Are
ECO FASHION WEEK AUSTRALIA (EFWA ) IS A PIONEERING INITIATIVE THAT SHOWCASES SUSTAINABLE FASHION WHILE PROMOTING ARTISTIC EXPRESSION. FOUNDED BY DR ZUHAL KUVAN-MILLS , A VISUAL ARTIST AND SUSTAINABLE FASHION ADVOCATE , EFWA HAS BEEN AT THE FOREFRONT OF ECO-FRIENDLY FASHION SINCE 2017.
Our Story
EFWA ( Eco Fashion Week Australia ) artist run initiative and founded by Perth/WA based Visual artist Zuhal Kuvan-Mills. EFWA is for everyone, features fashion art runway shows, exhibitions, workshops, artist talks, seminars as well as Anita Moon Award of Excellence, Upcycle Challenge and present student designer shows by collaborating with educational establishments.
In a world where fashion excess and hyper consumption dominate the scene, Eco Fashion Week Australia (EFWA) launched in 2017 and quickly became the largest eco fashion week in the world in terms of length, number of eco designers and events which were powered by local community and volunteers.
EFWA offered traditional runway shows in two Australian states, Western Australia and Queensland to support and provide a platform for established, emerging and student eco fashion designers. EFWA hosted seminars in major Australian universities in partnership with several conservation organizations, international and national industry experts specialized in sustainability with the aim of educating the public about the importance of sustainability and slow fashion.
In 2024 after a month long Sustainable fashion festival events in Perth and Regional WA in Busselton , 2025 EFWA extended to Europe and in Florance showcased ‘Closet of The Anthropocene “ Exhibition and Runway shows to Italian Audience and we are excited to engage international project for 2026 onwards . Watch this space!
Meet the Team
Dr. Zuhal Kuvan-Mills - Creative Director & Founder
Founder and Curator of Eco Fashion Week Australia, Visual artist and Sustainable Environmentally conscious haute-couture fashion artist . The Western Australia-based artist has two unique labels to her name – Atelier Zuhal, an artisan studio specialising in handmade textiles alpaca and merino fibres, and Green Embassy, a cutting-edge avant-garde ‘slow fashion’ clothing label employing earth-friendly, handcrafted techniques.
Zuhal began her professional career as a Veterinary Surgeon graduating from Istanbul University in 1986. She then worked as an Animal Science , Environmental Science and Conservation lecturer in England until 2004.In 2004 she return to her biggest passion of Contemporary Art, she studied at the University of Creative Arts in Farnham, England and in 2010, graduated with a Visual Arts degree from Curtin University in WA with several awards.
Zuhal is probably Australia’s most well known Eco fashion artist
Dr. Anne Farren - Academic Advisor
Dr Anne Farren is a maker, educator, curator and researcher in the fields of fashion design, and textiles. She originally trained as an arts educator with textiles as a major area of study with experience gained in spinning, weaving, print and dye providing the foundations of her practice and career in the arts.
In her practice as maker, educator, curator and researcher she is driven by a passion for design innovation and the craft of making, with both traditional and new technologies applied to the enhancement of the hand-made. Since the 1990s she has been engaged in collaborations with colleagues in Australia, Japan, Thailand, Singapore, and China, working on projects designed to support the development of local connection with a global community of practice focussed on the significance of cultural preservation to sustainability.
In her role as an academic at Curtin University, Dr Farren led the introduction of fashion studies at Curtin University and coordinated the course for over 20 years. She introduced studies in sustainable fashion, led a Western Australian team in the writing and launch of 'The State of Fashion & Textile Circularity in WA' Report and initiated the research project 'Closing the Loop on Textile Waste Locally'.
Anne draws on a lifetime of knowledge gained from living in regional, urban and city environments, working with community and engagement in making over the past 50 years, that have provided her with experience of fibre harvesting, in yarn making, weaving, knitting, dyeing, sewing and object construction. She brings to projects her journey as a maker, teacher, academic, researcher, facilitator, collaborator and mentor.
Sylvia Calvo - EU Respresentative
Sylvia Calvo, born in Barcelona, studied English Philology and a MBA in Chicago, USA, where she lived for about 15 years. After attending a conference about Eco-Fashion in 2012, she started to investigate sustainable fashion and the alternatives available to have a positive social, economic and environmental impact in the fashion industry.
In 2015, she created “Sylvia Calvo BCN”, working mainly with original used coffee bags to transform them into garments and complements. Furthermore, Sylvia co-founded the Nonprofit Association “Moda Sostenible Barcelona” (MSBCN), the first association of this kind in Spain, in order to promote the benefits of sustainable fashion, its creation, production and sale, and to bring it closer to consumers.
Sylvia stands out as a speaker and promoter of circular fashion and circular economy. Sylvia is now a board member of ModaFad, Gremi Artesà Tèxtil de Catalunya, and PIMEC, as well as a member of PIMEC’s Circular Economy Commission.