A Perth fashion designer whose artisan designs have been worn by the likes of Pamela Anderson is bursting at the seams after creating a luxurious collection of garments by repurposing old hospital scrubs. Zuhal Kuvan-Mills’ sustainable clothing label Green Embassy was born in 2013 after she worked as a lecturer in environmental science. The garments — which use 100 per cent certified organic Australian alpaca, Merino, silk and recycled natural fibres — are handcrafted on Kuvan-Mills’ Swan Valley alpaca farm and have an emphasis on zero waste.
The label has since featured in Vogue China and Vancouver Fashion Week and has been worn by American actors Adina Porter and Pamela Anderson. And while Green Embassy has reached the pinnacle of the international fashion industry, Kuvan-Mills says she is staying true to the label’s ethos of sustainability. “I was in Vogue and all of those big guys loved it, but I wasn’t interested in selling clothes,” Kuvan-Mills told PerthNow.
“I was mainly taking advantage of the runway and seeing it as my art gallery ...
I was thinking ‘I have a 30-minute window to exhibit my clothes to the media, photographers and magazines and tell my story so I can reach more audiences’. “My collections (focused on) telling stories about empty oceans or silent rainforests and our connection to land.” While she was in St John of God Mt Lawley Hospital last year, Kuvan-Mills began chatting to a nurse about her old hospital uniform.
“I said .