Eco fashions are actually starting to become cool! Last year, Vogue devoted 10 pages to ethical clothing and at London fashion week an exhibition space was made dedicated to 13 ethica
l labels.So what is eco fashions? It is where organic clothes are made with as few chemicals as possible and with a minimum of damage to the environment. Cotton uses more pesticides per cotton plant than almost any other crop in the world. This has serious impacts, causing illness and death amongst the cotton farmers who are exposed to the dangerous pesticides everyday. The pesticides also affect local eco systems, killing plants and animals around them.
Many high street stores are launching eco friendly clothing ranges, so you can look amazing and help the environment too!
Topshop’s flagship Oxford Circus store now houses Fairtrade-certified and organic concessions- e.g. People Tree and Made.
M&S has pledged that 5% of it’s cotton will be organic by 2012.
Dorothy Perkins launched an organic-cotton range, The O line, which includes vests and t-shirts, in sizes 8-22.
Levi’s added 100% organic cotton jeans to their 2006 product line and they’re known as “Levi’s eco”. Not only are they made from 100% organic cotton but they have recycled buttons, rivets and zippers, and natural indigo is used to dye some styles of jeans.
Small, independent fashion labels have also furrowed the green path. Brighton based Enamore sells everything from pretty hand made kimono tops to delicate hemp knickers, which are far more appealing than they sound.
Large companies are catching on too. Timberland, which sells eco-friendly footwear made with vegetable tanned leather and recycled rubber soles, is launching a reforestation project- it will plant one new tree for each pair of shoes they sell.
Many of celebrities that are jumping on the eco-clothing bandwagon. Bono and his wife Ali Hewson have collaborated with New York fashion designer Rogan Gregory to create http://www.edun.ie/, a socially conscious fashion label, with a crucially stylish twist.
Other than Bono, Sienna Miller backs People Tree, the eco-friendly label stocked in Topshop. And Hollywood stars Lindsay Lohan and Jessica Simpson love funky designs from American Apparel- a sweatshop-free clothing range.
So how can we help the environment when it comes to fashion? For a start choose Organic cotton. It’s grown without the use of chemical pesticides and insecticides. Apart from damaging health and the environment, these chemicals are extremely expensive for farmers, so if they can be cut out of the process everybody gains! A typical conventional cotton t-shirt uses 150grams of acutely toxic pesticides and insecticides, that’s the size of a cup of sugar!
Nylon and Polyester are made from petrochemicals, which are very harmful to the environment, contributing to global warming. They are also non-biodegradable, which means they don’t break down easily and are difficult to dispose of. In order to manufacture nylon, nitrous oxide is released as part of the process. Nitrous oxide is a greenhouse gas that is 310 times stronger than carbon dioxide and contributes to global warming.
Viscose is an artificial fibre made from wood pulp. To make viscose, wood pulp is treated with toxic chemicals such as caustic soda and sulphuric plantations acid. Old growth forests are often cleared and subsistence farmers are displaced to make way for pulpwood
Virtually all polycotton (especially bed linen) and all easy care, crease resistant and permanent press cottons are treated with the toxic chemical formaldehyde which also contribute to global warning and cause serious illnesses.
Look out for linen as it is made from flax which is a traditional fibre crop which needs few chemical fertilisers and less pesticides than cotton. Also try hemp as it is extremely breathable, softer and more absorbent than cotton; it will also keep you warmer in the winter! It looks a lot like linen, feels like flannel and lasts 2-3 times longer than most other fabrics. Hemp is better for the environment in many ways, it’s cultivations as it’s pest resistant so it doesn’t need any pesticides.
Katherine Hamnet, 59, is the original eco fashion pioneer. She said; “I find it really reassuring that more and more consumers are taking an interest in ethical fashion now. They are the ones that can make the difference, because ultimately they are the people the industry will listen to. There are lots of ways to make a difference. We must all try to do our bit.”
Phoning or writing to your favourite shops asking them to stock organic cotton ranges, or visit www.katherinehamnett.com for more ideas and discover more about her E range.
Topshop’s flagship Oxford Circus store now houses Fairtrade-certified and organic concessions- e.g. People Tree and Made.
M&S has pledged that 5% of it’s cotton will be organic by 2012.
Dorothy Perkins launched an organic-cotton range, The O line, which includes vests and t-shirts, in sizes 8-22.
Levi’s added 100% organic cotton jeans to their 2006 product line and they’re known as “Levi’s eco”. Not only are they made from 100% organic cotton but they have recycled buttons, rivets and zippers, and natural indigo is used to dye some styles of jeans.
Small, independent fashion labels have also furrowed the green path. Brighton based Enamore sells everything from pretty hand made kimono tops to delicate hemp knickers, which are far more appealing than they sound.Large companies are catching on too. Timberland, which sells eco-friendly footwear made with vegetable tanned leather and recycled rubber soles, is launching a reforestation project- it will plant one new tree for each pair of shoes they sell.
Many of celebrities that are jumping on the eco-clothing bandwagon. Bono and his wife Ali Hewson have collaborated with New York fashion designer Rogan Gregory to create http://www.edun.ie/, a socially conscious fashion label, with a crucially stylish twist.
Other than Bono, Sienna Miller backs People Tree, the eco-friendly label stocked in Topshop. And Hollywood stars Lindsay Lohan and Jessica Simpson love funky designs from American Apparel- a sweatshop-free clothing range.
So how can we help the environment when it comes to fashion? For a start choose Organic cotton. It’s grown without the use of chemical pesticides and insecticides. Apart from damaging health and the environment, these chemicals are extremely expensive for farmers, so if they can be cut out of the process everybody gains! A typical conventional cotton t-shirt uses 150grams of acutely toxic pesticides and insecticides, that’s the size of a cup of sugar!
Nylon and Polyester are made from petrochemicals, which are very harmful to the environment, contributing to global warming. They are also non-biodegradable, which means they don’t break down easily and are difficult to dispose of. In order to manufacture nylon, nitrous oxide is released as part of the process. Nitrous oxide is a greenhouse gas that is 310 times stronger than carbon dioxide and contributes to global warming.
Viscose is an artificial fibre made from wood pulp. To make viscose, wood pulp is treated with toxic chemicals such as caustic soda and sulphuric plantations acid. Old growth forests are often cleared and subsistence farmers are displaced to make way for pulpwood
Virtually all polycotton (especially bed linen) and all easy care, crease resistant and permanent press cottons are treated with the toxic chemical formaldehyde which also contribute to global warning and cause serious illnesses.
Look out for linen as it is made from flax which is a traditional fibre crop which needs few chemical fertilisers and less pesticides than cotton. Also try hemp as it is extremely breathable, softer and more absorbent than cotton; it will also keep you warmer in the winter! It looks a lot like linen, feels like flannel and lasts 2-3 times longer than most other fabrics. Hemp is better for the environment in many ways, it’s cultivations as it’s pest resistant so it doesn’t need any pesticides.
Katherine Hamnet, 59, is the original eco fashion pioneer. She said; “I find it really reassuring that more and more consumers are taking an interest in ethical fashion now. They are the ones that can make the difference, because ultimately they are the people the industry will listen to. There are lots of ways to make a difference. We must all try to do our bit.”
Phoning or writing to your favourite shops asking them to stock organic cotton ranges, or visit www.katherinehamnett.com for more ideas and discover more about her E range.
No comments:
Post a Comment