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Priyanka Bose Supports Eco-Friendly Red Carpet Green Dress Initiative
[dropcap]T[/dropcap]he Oscars are a synonym for the ultimate in glamour and style but increasingly the glittering ceremonies are becoming a bully pulpit for social statements about our troubled world. This year you saw on the red carpet the gorgeous actress and model Priyanka Bose, who co-stars in ‘Lion’ which was nominated for six Oscars. She wore a beautiful gown designed by Vivienne Westwood and exclusive ‘ethical’ diamonds from Atelier Swarovski’s first fine jewelry collection which launched at the 89th Academy Awards on February 26.
Priyanka is part of the eco-friendly initiative Red Carpet Green Dress and is excited to participate. “I always question the environment around me and if I’m walking the path. We trash everything we buy: we don’t know where it’s coming from and where it’s going. I’m happy I’m representing something which is very relevant in today’s time and – what a beautiful way of doing it! It’s my Oscar debut with this gorgeous gown that I’m looking forward to! Swarovski is providing ethical diamonds – it will be quite a princess moment because I don’t wear diamonds otherwise!”
Suzy Amis Cameron’s Zen Diagram for Living
This initiative, now in its 8th year, is the creation of Suzy Amis Cameron, actress, environmental advocate and wife of filmmaker James Cameron who’s given us such films as ‘Titanic’ and ‘Avatar’. Suzy Amis Cameron is passionate about sustainability issues and funds raised go to benefit the Muse School, an environmental nonprofit school founded by her and her sister.
[dropcap]A[/dropcap] model and an actress, Amis Cameron knew the power of designer dresses and the red carpet and she wanted to create awareness for the values that mattered to her. “I wanted to have a story behind the dress, and the story to point to the environmental work that we were doing.” These dresses use sustainable and innovative material, constantly pushing boundaries.
She talks about the challenges of finding varied sustainable fabric such as peace silk, only to discover some farmers were using children to harvest the silk because of their nimble fingers and also using slingshots to kill the birds which were trying to eating the worms. “So very quickly it became not just an environmental responsibility but also a social responsibility,” she recalls. “It’s not just about the dress but the idea is to bring awareness to the fact we wear clothes everyday and the kind of impact those clothes are having on our world.”
In the past student designers have created some of the dresses, using recycled materials as well as hemp, seeds, candy wrappers and even recycled bottles. In 2016, Red Carpet Green Dress changed the campaign format, introducing an internship with leading global fashion designer, Vivienne Westwood.
What’s On Your Plate?
[dropcap]O[/dropcap]ver the years, Suzy and her husband James Cameron have taken on many environmental issues, writing books, lecturing and directing films about sustainability and plant-based eating. She points to the fact that dairy and meat were once coveted but are now known to be bad for us and for the planet. She says: “So it’s a big quest but it’s something everyone can do. They can look at what’s on their plate – not everyone can afford a Hybrid car or an electric car. Not everyone can afford putting solar on their houses. But everyone can recycle and everyone can change their light bulbs. The impact that one person can have by making a choice of what’s on their plates is enormous and it really empowers people.”
James Cameron is busy with Avatar 2, 3, 4 and 5 so as Amis Cameron jokes, it’s going to be a busy 8 years ahead. But the couple is never too busy for promoting an eco-friendly lifestyle. They have a farm in New Zealand where they practice sustainable farming and gardening, with a big food forest of 52 acres where the plants could feed up to 5000 people. They are also creating the Cameron Family Farm with plant-based products. All their five children follow this sustainable lifestyle, in school, college and on the farm.
“It’s almost like a Zen diagram,” says Suzy Amis Cameron, “making the world a better place for our children to grow up in. Everywhere I go I see sweet, little children and I just think about their future and the world they will grow up in, and I want to make the world a better world.”
(This article was first published in The Hindu )
