HWOM: Cora Hilts

For our June HWOM we sat down with the eternally fabulous Cora Hilts, Co-Founder of Rêve En Vert. A sustainable luxury retailer built on the belief that quality style should come from a place of consciousness. This means products that are organic, re-made, local and fair. 

You’re known for your admirable ethos of ‘honest luxury’, what does this mean to you?

In the simplest terms, it means running a retail site where we can stand up and answer any question about any of the items we sell or promote with the certainty that they have been made with the utmost respect for people and planet. There is a lot of intimacy to honesty, and that’s how I feel we at Rêve En Vert connect to the designers we work with. We have met them, talked to them, been inspired by them, and worked with them to be better. We aim to pass along all this information to the consumer.

Rêve En Vert are leading the way for fashion that is fair, honest and sustainable, how do you think the face of sustainable fashion will change in the next 10 years?

I think and truly hope that sustainability will become the norm. It simply has to - the earth just does not have the resource to support us in the manner we have become accustomed to. We are all going to need to change the way we consume in order to keep living on this planet.

It’s not just the fashion choices we make that have an impact on the planet, all the decisions we make as a consumer affect the environment and the communities who contribute to the production of goods. How can we as individuals lead more sustainable lives?

It’s actually really simple and liberating to lead a more sustainable lifestyle - it means that you avoid marketing and consumption as the way you place value on things and replace that with meaning and long-term value. Buy only what you need and envision having for a very long time, avoid single use plastic at all costs, switch to natural and sustainable beauty, shop for your food locally and organically, eat less meat and dairy, and don’t shop for fast fashion. Nothing too drastic, I promise!

You’re very successfully spearheading a fashion revolution, when you look back was there a defining moment which made you want to instigate change?

 I was getting my Master’s degree in Environmental Politics and Sustainability here at King’s College London and my professor said behind oil and gas, fashion was the second most polluting industry on earth. The idea for Rêve En Vert was born pretty much right after that!

What advice would you give your 20 year old self?

 Be engaged with the world more and less focused on yourself - you have it pretty good and can be doing more to have a positive impact!

What makes you feel empowered?

Education.