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I am determined to get some last minute sales shopping in as we enter the Autumn/Winter 2007 season. With that in mind I ventured onto Equa boutique’s website and not only have they got some fab new fashions in for the chilly seasons but some great sale offers. Here is a small selection of my favourite items (sale and non-sale). Black is back and hides a multitude of sins, so if you are not a fan of this colour, I apologise for the selection!
Equa sell a range of organic (Soil Association or SKAL certified), fairly traded, fairtrade (Fairtrade Foundation certified), environmentally friendly (using azo-free dyes), UK made (supporting the UK fashion industry and the reduction of greenhouse gases from all those travel miles), recycled (reducing landfill pressure), vegan and hemp (preventing the reliance on heavily irrigated cotton) clothing and accessories. The ethical credentials of products are identified with easy symbols so you know what you are getting.
1) Ciel Striped Tee, cut from £45 to £20, organic and fairly traded.
2) Matt & Nat Vicious, £90, fairly traded and vegan.
3) Edun Sage Dole Skin Trousers in Black, £130, fairly traded.
4) Edun Chandelier Tee, £42.
5) Wildlife Works New Grandpa, cut from £56 to £40, organic and fairly traded.
6) Stewart + Brown Cinch Skirt, cut from £52 to £45, organic and fairly traded.
The summer sales will be ending soon, so for those who are desperate for affordable ethical fashion, get in quick and purchase some goodies from fairtrade and organic fashion company, Tam & Rob. The 100% fairtrade and organic cotton wrap dress on the left has been slashed from £85 to £63, the organic bow neck shirt is half price, cut from £50 to £25, the organic twin pleats skirt has been cut from £55 to £32 and the jersey v-neck top has been slashed from £40 to £18. There are more great buys on the Tam & Rob website.
Tam & Rob’s (Lucy Tammam and Lucy Robinson) fashions are crafted from organic and fairtrade cotton certified by SKAL and the Fairtrade Foundation. Their factories have been accredited by independent third parties through the International Fair Trade Association (IFAT). If you are concerned about potentially toxic azo-dyes, rest assured that Tam & Rob’s garments are azo-free. They also use recycled products and packaging, make the most of vintage buttons and work with Carbon Clear to offset carbon emissions.
Distressed denim may be all the rage in the fashion world at the moment, but the style comes at an environmental and human cost. In Tehuacán in Mexico it is the local people that pay price for our fashion. Once famous for its mineral springs and spas, Tehuacán, the ‘City of Health’, is now home to around 700 clothes manufacturers, many with little or no environmental controls or standards. Workers are routinely exploited, their employee rights ignored. The worst environmental culprits are the dozens of factories that make the faded or distressed denim that is so fashionable right now. The chemicals used in the process are discharged into the rivers and streams around the factories, turning the water blue and damaging the crops that depend on the water systems.
The main chemical used is potassium permanganate, a strong bleaching agent that was once used to induce abortions. Mariano Baragán, a local farmer said: "As well as being blue, it burns the seedlings and sterilises the earth." The government agencies that should be monitoring the factories are allowing this to happen, probably because the local economy depends on the factories, and their foreign corporate customers. It is these corporations that should be enforcing stricter controls on their client factories to protect both the workers and the environment. We as customers ultimately have the power to change this with our buying power. We chould only buy products from ethical and fair trade companies.
