KreaKids: youngsters going zero-waste to reduce the carbon footprint of the fashion industry
As Earth Day has just passed by, we should all take a moment and let ourselves be engulfed implacably by the reason we celebrate it. With more or less efficiency though, we try to take baby steps in the direction of a more sustainable world, raising awareness and responsibility for our all-pervading environment since the year of 1970. Earth Day always stirs us, it comes with a myriad of feelings: some cheerfully celebrate it, others are left with a bittersweet tenderness in their souls and turn the lights off for an hour, while some feel the urge to take action, being startled by the fact that an extensive array of waste has been piling up in the last decades. As determined by Plastic Soup Foundation’s survey, plastic production has increased by 8% each year, not to mention the fact that the polymeric material that had been produced in the last 10 years, equals alone more than the whole world’s plastic production in the entire 20th century. In spite of the fact that we are up against a perpetual loop of irksome staggers when it comes to coping with the causes and effects of pollution and plastic waste, the issue is enhanced even more as most plastics aren’t biodegradable and only a tiny percentage of them is recycled from landfills, according to Plastic Soup. Indeed, we don’t have the option to switch to an alternative Planet B, but we do have the chance to come up with some plan Bs.
When catching a glimpse of the fashion industry from a bird’s eye view, it is a fact of life that, as trends just come and go, so do plastics and other types of waste stuff circulate.However, the gloomy side of the thing is that we sacrifice our environment just for the sake of being stylish and easy on the eye. In order to unpack the maze-like plastic puzzle we have built up, following the concept of sustainable fashion is just the right way of reducing our carbon footprint, being eco-conscious in our fashion choices, along with being devoted to Mother Nature. To put it bluntly, the so-called slow fashion movement is a state-of-the-art mission, not only blooming in terms of social and environmental matters, but also, it makes a world of difference to outweigh the environmental hazards fast fashion fosters, in a world where consumerism is a ubiquitous phenomenon. The crux of the matter is that only a small number of brands,mainly upscale ones, such as Nanushka, Stella McCartney, Laura Lombardi(luckily, the line doesn’t end here) consider being on the fashion eye equally important to being sustainable. Under such circumstances, would it ever cross your mind that kiddos, the new game-changers, are the ones to be up against waste production playing havoc with today’s society and at the same time the ones that tackle the fashion industry’s plastic problem?
KreaKids Studio is a Transylvania based group providing activities for kids aged between 4-18 years who have a penchant for fashion, design and animation. The fashion department of the atelier work is now focused on a project that is really one of a kind and beyond a green-thinker’s dream. These youngsters not only dream, but also turn their fascinating visions to life, they are designers, textile specialists,manufacturers and eco-warriors alike. Opting for eco-conscious choices, they combine a creative vision with their marvelous aim to titillate the crowds so that they also become more conscious and treat the environment they are belted about with crucial respect.

Photo made by Demeter Hunor
Strange as it may seem,their latest project revolves around “Zero Waste Fashion”, a concept ensuring that part and parcel of their brand-new collection is made in such a way that they leave no or minimal amount of waste in the process of dress-making. The aforementioned collection was to unravel before the eyes of the beholders on the 26th of May, 2019 in Saint George (Sfântu Gheorghe, Covasna County), a show that made everyone without exception fall head over heels in love with sustainable fashion.
Bakó Bora is a master of her craft: she is an 18 year old, incredibly talented young lady who turns her visions into dazzling pieces of art, which are, I hasten to add, of another level, while doing it in a completely sustainable way. Bora has been working her fingers to the bone as a designer at KreaKids Studio for 5 years, and she really keeps on top of things. Hence, during the course of a chit-chat over a nice-coffee right in the outdoor terrace of the pub where the fashion show was about to take place, I asked her to provide me with an insight into the furtive world of sustainable fashion, more specifically, into KreaKids’ compelling project on Zero Waste Fashion.

“Not only has the idea of zero waste fashion caught on recently, but also, as it turns out, the fashion industry is the one producing a major fragment of waste on the Planet.”, Bora explains on the idea of going zero-waste. “What is more, such an abundance of mind-blowing designers turned to sustainable methods lately. That was also a pretty inspiring motivation for us to try and do our best in order to create something of eco-conscious value.”, she adds. No wonder then the latest collection of Krea pays tribute to a blend of eco-friendly and creative conception, as the teen designers focused on both the visual aspects of the Ready-to-Wear artifacts, but also, with this collection they sought to lessen the amount of environmental harm by repurposing old materials or garments, reusing textiles that were already obsolete or even counted as waste in order to nurture and foster respect for nature. According to Bora, what also gave her a huge impulse to dream her no-waste collection emerged from a simple pair of sheer stockings: “During the dead of winter, I used to wear them on a daily basis, which made me think a bit about their lifespan: where do all these torn pieces go, as once worn, but worthless from the moment they get ripped, which happens quite easily.” That’s why her collection displays small details made up of woven linen (canvas) and pieces of sheer stockings, that pair incredibly, by the way.

Dress by Bakó Bora

Dress by Bakó Bora
Talking about her mission and the role of Zero Waste project in her life, Bora says that: “For two years, when I ceased to take part in Krea’s activities, I slightly got swallowed up somehow by my entire activity invested in fashion.”, she confessed with a slight spark in the eyes. After a couple of seconds, I found out that she had always set her heart on the whole fashion-thing, but at a point she felt that she was losing heart, so to say,believing that she hasn’t done anything in particular that would be beneficial for the world, beyond the looks themselves. Then, as her roads luckily crossed with the whole zero Waste Program, Bora recalls: “I felt that I should take a heart again, feeling the urge to externalize my thoughts in such a way to create something of bigger and stronger extents than only fashion itself, so going zero-waste was just the right thing for that.” Bora’s current collection is charging into modern, up-to-date directions, while still being devoted to traditions and nature.

Dress by Bakó Bora
Weaving, sewing and chopping in order to re-use the seemingly unnecessary materials, the kiddos of KreaKids put an effort to partly solve an enormous concern in today’s era of pollution and immense waste production, as well as socially questionable matters, hoping for a better future, investing in a relation of mutual interest. In a nutshell, their work, along with their faith and commitment invested in the Zero Waste project, is one to be followed by not only prestigious fashion houses, but their renewing activity should inspire all dwellers of Planet Earth to be more mindful, responsible and aware of the environment around us. Their collection talks for itself: the trends that emerge season upon season should go hand in hand with sustainability. To put it bluntly, what their work also conveys is that waste combat in fashion industry shouldn’t be a war anymore: but rather, Earth Day should be celebrated each day tranquilly, with a sense of sustainability. As Romina Cenisio, an outstanding designer confessed in a Vogue article on her sustainable fashion line featuring prints derived from National Geographic photographs: “Nature is infinite, and humans are infinite in their ability to adapt, evolve, and share knowledge.”

Dress by Bakó Bora