Thank goodness we are finally seeing some sun and the evenings are getting longer...I declare it officially spring now, as the cat's have taken to their sunny lounging positions on my plant pots!

So it is the time of year when we are looking forward to buying some new summer clothes, and having the inevitable spring clean and throwing out the old.

But before you throw your old clothes away, I want you to think about where they are going to go. It is shocking to think that 3% of all household waste that is thrown out is textiles, and although that doesn't sound like much....this equates to 1,165,000 tonnes of shoes and textiles that are sent to landfill each year (one tonne being aprox 200 bin bags of waste). 300,000 is currently being collected by charities for the reduce, reuse, recycle campaign but clearly we can see that a lot more can be done.  read more »

Well I’m sure you have heard the debate about plastic bags in the media, we cannot seem to avoid it at the moment...but it seems that the government will finally be following the Irish Republic and banning the bags in shops.

As with all environmental debates, it is not as easy as it seems. Yes this means that I can promote the Ethical shoppers that are available (Emmeline 4 Re, Katherine Hamnett, Turtle Bags, and your local Supermarket to name a few), but what are the consequences of this?

Using a recycled bag is great, and will have a positive impact on the environment. However it has been reported that in Ireland sales of plastic waste bin bags have actually gone up! This is because many people use their supermarket carriers as bin bags, and people are now having to go out and buy plastic bin bags, which use a heavier weight of plastic in the manufacture! This means that MORE plastic is actually ending up in landfill.  read more »

I wanted to go to the Katherine Hamnett talk to find out what the 'Real' person was like and I wasn't disappointed. I came away from the event feeling enthused, excited and happy!

Katherine Hamnett was presented by an audience of about 300 people and gave us a glance into the world of top end Ethical Fashion. Along with Miranda Sawyer, writer and journalist for the Guardian, an interesting debate was raised. Clean up or die?

Katherine Herself came across as passionate, informed and in touch with the issues of today, and although it was an 'informed' audience; offered a further insight into the world of fashion and ethics.  read more »

Posted by David on 19/02/2008

With Fairtrade Fortnight just days away I thought a little Fairtrade fairytale might be appropriate. So, are you sitting comfortably? Good, then I’ll begin.

Once upon a time there was a beautiful princess called Rachel Watkyn who was living the princess life with a 6 figure London salary, a gorgeous home and a handsome prince to share her perfect princess life with. And so they lived happily ever after.

Yeh, right! As happens in fairytales near the beginning, tragedy struck, and Rachel was cursed by a terrible life threatening illness.  read more »

It's that time of year again, when the world's eyes are on London for LFW. As always (in my opinion) London has some of the most creative, diverse fashion on offer for the descerning design follower with this year set to be just as great.

I know a lot of the American buyers are unable to attend this year, due to the strength of the pound and the resulting cost of the clothing, but with Vivienne Westwood back on the UK shores, I'm sure it is still set to get an amazing amount of press.

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For those of you who are interested in learning a little more about ethical fashion I suggest you get along to the V&A on the 15th February. Katherine Hamnett will be talking about the challenges that face designers in the ethical industry. Katherine Hamnett is famous for producing the slogan t-shirts in the 80's of which we have seen a resurgence of recently. As a long standing face of ethical fashion I would expect the event to be inspiring and interesting. Tickets are only £7.50 too!

I for one will be there, and I will of course let you know all about it if you are unable to make it!

Let me know if you have any questions you would like me to ask her, and I will do my best to come back with the answers!! email

By David on 25/01/08

Amazingly, I have some time on my hands - surely I must have forgotten something that I should be doing!

Well, until I remember I thought I'd post around the blog space a bit. The Soil Association are doing some courses this year on all sorts so here's one that may interest the fashionati:-

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