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Inspired by Elisa’s blog yesterday about Loyale Clothing’s new organic Costilla Coat, I have been on a web based hunt for other ethical coats and jackets. I haven’t found stylish ones so easy to uncover in the past, but the tide has turned and there is now much more on offer. The three coats I have featured are from Adili.com, People Tree and BTC elements. The rather elegant belted mac from Adili is the creation of Brazilian designer, Maria Garcia and is brought to us courtesy of Mumo (an acronym for Muda Moda). Mumo works with established fashion designers from Brazil to develop fair and ethical trading principles along with a sense of responsibility down the supply chain, choosing to focus on this aim rather than promoting fair-trade clothing as high fashion. They believe the key to fair-trade fashion is ameliorating ethical practices within the current industry to reduce poverty in southern countries.
The empire ‘Iris’ waist coat available at BTC Elements, in the centre of the image below, is crafted from a 100% recycled cotton and acrylic blend with vintage fabric trim, by Rebe, a mother daughter team, who incorporate more sustainable fabrics into their collections each season. The coat is made in southern California.
The ‘garbo’ jacket on the far right, from People Tree, is a fair trade item hand-woven in Bangladesh. People Tree, who is constantly setting the ethical fashion scene, has been registered with the International Fair Trade Association (IFAT) since 1996 and is an active member of many fair trade, social justice and environmental networks.
1. Mumo Belted Mac – light khaki, £218, Adili.
2. Rebe Iris Coat - $196, BTC Elements.
3. Garbo Jacket – black or grey herringbone, People Tree.
Yesterday, ethical brand People Tree launched a summer sale, offering up to 75% off of a whole range of items. People Tree is a pioneer in the ethical and Fair Trade fashion arena. They have a Fair Trade policy, to pay producers a fair price and aid some of the world's poorest communites and an eco-policy, to promote natural and organic cotton farming, avoid damaging chemicals, protect water and forest supplies and use natural and biodegradable substances where possible. People Tree is a registered member of the International Fair Trade Association (IFAT), which stipulates ten standards that Fair Trade organisations are required to follow and the brand works with 50 Fair Trade groups in 15 developing countries, helping the world's most marginalised communities use Fair Trade to avoid the poverty trap. Their designs are stocked in over 30 Fair Trade and independent shops around the United Kingdom, in Topshop's flagship store in Oxford Street, London, as well as being distributed to a range of other countries.
Here are a few of my favourite bargains!
1) Delia Summer Dress, cut from £38 to £19 - 100% organic Fair Trade cotton.
2) Greek Tunic Top, cut from £28 to £21 - 100% organic Fair Trade cotton.
3) Emma Embroidered Blouse, cut from £36 to £9 - 100% Fair Trade cotton.
4) Amazon Leaf-Print Skirt, cut from £45 to £36 - 100% organic Fair Trade cotton.
5) Three-Quarter-Length-Trousers, cut from £45 to £22.50 - Fair Trade cotton. 6) Jute Safari Bag, cut from £18 to £13.50 - Fair Trade.
Oxfam is intending to convert some of its charity clothing stores into a fashion conscious chain, under the watchful eye of Jane Shepherdson, former director of Topshop and current advisor to ethical retailer People Tree. It has been suggested that Oxfam will be offering clothing crafted from organic cotton and other sustainable raw materials, in a bid to revamp its image. Jane Shepherdson is believed to be working voluntarily with Oxfam to produce the collection.
Jane Shepherdson resigned from her role as brand director at Topshop, in October 2006, after condemning the sustainability of high street fashion and she is now an advisor to Japanese based ethical brand, People Tree, having introduced the label into Topshop in 2006.
Ethical fashion is making big waves with brands like Kuyichi and People Tree having concessions in Topshop. M&S offering a fairtrade range, Dorothy Perkins selling organic tees and The Clothes Show Live having a section dedicated to ethical fashion this year. Anya Hindmarch created a stir with her 'I'm Not A Plastic Bag Bag.' People seemed to be more concerned about its fashion rather than eco-credentials, but some would say that any publicity for ethical living is good publicity. Ethical and stylish were once far from synonymous, but those days are but a distant memory and as an ethical stylist, it's my job to find fantastic ethical fashion buys.
I am off to the Daily Mail for a ethical fashion photo shoot this Wednesday. I'll let you know what day to buy the paper (when I know that is!) if you would like to see this feature and marvel at the beautiful ethical clothes.
For now, to save you scouring the web for hours, tearing out your hair, wondering why you can only find T-shirts with 'Let's Go Green' (or such like) on, here are my top three ethical (I heart) brands. I will be adding more favourites over the coming weeks, months and years.
1) Ciel - The wonderful Ciel, firm celebrity favourite, was brought to us by Sarah Ratty. Sarah's mother was a fashion lecturer at the Brighton College of Art and following in her footsteps, Sarah developed a taste for fashion. After considering and pursuing various paths Sarah finally embraced her creativity and entered the realm of fashion design (luckily for us). Prior to Ciel Sarah developed "Conscious Earthwear," which was first sold in Brown's, South Molton Street.
Sarah designs for ladies who love fashion and care about protecting the environment, recognising that the two don't have to be mutually exclusive. Ciel clothes are created from beautiful eco-fabrics and the production process conforms to labour laws stipulated at Labour Behind the Label.
If you are wondering what to wear this summer take a look at the V-Neck Smock Dress (as seen on the left). In line with the Foho trend, why not team it with some black tights, or faded denim skinny jeans and a pristine handbag. Hurrah for Ciel!
2) Kuyichi - For the young and uber stylish boys and girls out there, Kuyichi is superb. Kuyichi (established in 2000) craft jeanswear for young, urban consumers. Cutting edge style with a conscience is what they are all about and in my opinion they have succeeded in their endeavour. They develop organic materials and were the first denim label to make good use of organic cotton. What does Kuyichi mean? It comes from the Peruvian god of the rainbow, who, as myth suggests, pinched the colours of life from the Taquille Indians. They weaved glorious blankets and in return Kuyichi returned their colours. This brand certainly bring colour to our lives. Whoever said ethical should be dull?One of the trends for this summer is going for short dresses and skirts. If you can bear to bare your legs then Kuyichi do some fantastic ones. Check out the Hevess Dress 70-752, Helium Dress 70-753 and Heman Dress 70-754. For stockists of these fab items check out the Kuyichi website. 
3) Beyond Skin - Shoes glorious shoes, filling up your wardrobe. Don't buy too many shoes, changing fashion trends lead to an incredible amount of wastage. According to WRAP over one million tonnes of textiles are ditched in the UK every year. Instead of going crazy, buy a capsule collection of shoes, that are less likely to go out of fashion by next week. Beyond Skin is another celebrity favourite. Natalie Portman wore Beyond Skin shoes to the Oscars. This brand was set up by Natalie Dean, a make-up artist in the music and fashion industry and a dedicated follower of veganism. Beyond Skin create exclusive, hand-made (in the UK) vegan shoes in a variety of lush, plush fabrics. There are no Jesus sandals to be seen on the Beyond Skin website, just luxurious, exquisitely crafted shoes. This month I like the Angelica T-Bar wedge (as seen on the left) which is just so sparkly and spangly and will turn an average outfit into a crowd stopper. Hurrah for Beyond Skin!
