The Green Carpet Challenge at the Met Ball – A History

20/08/2016 | by Eco-Age

At Eco-Age, we know the power of the red carpet, and The Met Gala is the biggest red carpet moment in the fashion calendar. The first Monday in May is one of our favourite times of year and has seen some of our most powerful Green Carpet Challenge moments, from Emma Watson in 2016 wearing a multi-functional look by Calvin Klein made from recycled plastic bottles, to Emily Blunt, who wore a daring black Carolina Herrera gown, made with vintage 1960’s Italian black wool with a vintage 1940’s French black silk chiffon lining in 2013.

2018 is now the seventh consecutive year that the Green Carpet Challenge has brought cutting edge sustainable design to the world famous Met Ball.

‘It really proves that there are no limits when applying sustainable criteria to fashion at this level,’ says Livia Firth, Founder and Creative Director of Eco-Age, the home of the GCC, ‘This is the seventh year we’ve aligned our mission to bring sustainable design principles to fashion with the theme of the Met Ball. Each year, we work with world class design talent and production, bringing the best from the artisanal supply chain and merging this with cutting edge techniques. Each year it becomes more exciting!’

Delve in to the archives below and follow the history of the GCC at the Met Ball.

2019 – Livia Firth in Richard Quinn

Livia Firth wears a custom Richard Quinn dress, made from Boselli, Italy GRS certified recycled polyester georgette printed in the Richard Quinn studio using Epson digital printing, reducing waste by only printing the required amount of fabric. The base layer is made from a GOTS organic certified silk base from the CNMI Green Carpet Fashion Award winner Taroni Silk. The dress is embellished with upcycled Swarovski crystal stones, all hand-sewn in London. The look is completed with a custom Stephen Jones Millinery headpiece, made from offcuts of felt from previous creations, and wild pheasant feathers collected in the Suffolk countryside. Jewellery by Chopard, as part of The Journey To Sustainable Luxury. The shoes are old Roger Vivier, and the clutch is Buddhi Batiks from the Commonwealth Fashion Exchange.

2018 – Gisele Bündchen in Giambattista Valli

Gisele’s dress was made using entirely sustainable materials. The fabric, lining and threads are all 100% GOTS organic silk. The zipper and all the inner materials used for the construction of the dress are made out of organic cotton, recycled plastic and all metal components are lead, nickel colorants and chemical free. Giambattista Valli explained. ‘An Haute Couture dress is one-of-a-kind, hence the creative process does not involve over-production and over-stocking of materials, which helps keeping waste and pollution at a very limited level. Haute Couture means excellence and a reflected-upon process of creation.’

2018 – Livia Firth in Giambattista Valli

Giambattista Valli sourced the organic silk in Livia’s dress from Taroni, founded in 1880 in Como, Italy. Chosen for its commitment to sustainability and responsible production, Taroni was recognised at The Green Carpet Fashion Awards Italia 2017, winning the coveted Sustainable Producer award. Livia also wears jewellery by Chopard as part of The Journey To Sustainable Luxury. This year Chopard announced that by July 2018, it will use 100% Ethical Gold in its jewellery and watch creations.

2017 – Gisele Bündchen in Stella McCartney

Gisele Bündchen in a bespoke pewter embroidered cutout gown by Stella McCartney for the Green Carpet Challenge. Crafted from certified organic silk featuring all over glass bead embroidery.

2017 – Livia Firth in Laura Strambi

The bespoke gown was designed and created by Italian brand Laura Strambi, made from Piñatex™, a natural leather alternative made from unwanted pineapple leaves. Piñatex fibres are the by-product of the pineapple harvest in the Philippines, no extra land, water, fertilizers or pesticides are required to produce them. Piñatex provides a new, additional income for farmers while creating a vibrant new industry for pineapple growing countries. No pineapples were harmed in the making of this dress!

2016 – Emma Watson in Calvin Klein

Emma’s look is made from Newlife fabric, a unique yarn engineered from used plastic bottles sourced, processed and spun into yarns exclusively in Italy. Every element of the look has been considered from an ethical and aesthetic perspective- including the lining crafted from organic silk and cotton, and even down to the zippers which are made from recycled plastic. Calvin Klein were delighted to accept the challenge and worked closely with Eco-Age to make all looks for The Met Gala as sustainable as possible, reflecting the ethos of the GCC and celebrating the theme ManusxMachina.

2016 – Lupita Nyong’o in Calvin Klein

Lupita’s jade sequin dress with velvet straps was assembled entirely in Calvin Klein’s New York atelier. The Calvin Klein Collection design team created the intricate details and spent hours in-house on the embroidery and understructure of the dress. The dress is a celebration of craftsmanship and truly reflects the theme ManusxMachina.

2016 – Margot Robbie in Calvin Klein

Margot’s optical white strapless dress with cutouts is made from a silk fabric woven in Italy. Margot’s dress is lined in organic silk and has zippers made from recycled materials.

2015 – Livia Firth in Antonio Berardi

Livia’s dress is made from Newlife, which is made from recycled polyester filament yarns made in Italy from 100 percent post-consumer plastic bottles. The dress is based on one Berardi first designed for Firth for a Green Carpet Challenge project in 2012, inspired by the 1934 film “Evergreen.” In honor of the Met Ball’s theme, which celebrates the exhibition “China: Through the Looking Glass,” he has embroidered its dramatic double train and trimmed it with tassels.

2014 – Livia Firth in Carolina Herrara

Livia Firth wearing a Carolina Herrara gown made using GCC fabrics, and Chopard jewellery.

2013 – Emily Blunt in Carolina Herrara and John Krasinski in Tom Ford

Emily wore a stunning black Carolina Herrera for the GCC gown. Made with certified vintage 1960 Italian black wool fabric with a certified vintage 1940 French black silk chiffon lining, the gown is a beautifully elegant addition to the GCC. John Krasinski wears Tom Ford for the GCC. A black grain de poudra Windsor peak lapel tuxedo with grosgrain details, the tuxedo is made with OEKOTEX ® certified, low environmental impact, European spun and woven wool suiting.

2013 – Livia Firth in Moschino

Livia wore a dress from an ecological collection from the archives of Moschino, made almost 20 years ago by Franco Moschino.

2012 – Cameron Diaz in Stella McCartney

This glittering dress was made from organic silk in collaboration with the GCC. On to this, Stella added thousands of beautiful glass beads and crystal chain, which gave us a new challenge for the future as we work on traceability and sourcing embellished materials.

2012 – Livia Firth in Prada

Livia wore a Prada black panelled gown mixes certified silks, tulle and chiffon with sustainably harvested ostrich feathers and end-of-line British made lace.

2011 – Livia Firth in Stella McCartney

Livia wore a taupe organic silk jumpsuit with recycled embroidery and detachable abaca skirt from Stella McCartney, paired with sandals and a custom-made purse from Roger Vivier.

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