Green Carpet Challenge and Net-a-Porter Capsule Collection

Today a very exciting ethical fashion collaboration launches online. The fabulous ethical fashion front-runner, Livia Firth, has teamed up with Net-a-Porter to launch an exclusive capsule collection of ethical fashion garments designed by five of the most talented British designers to date. Designing two pieces each for the collection are Victoria Beckham, Christopher Kane, Roland Mouret, Erdem and Christopher Bailey.

Each piece in the collection is created to the standards set by the GCC ethical criteria and 20% of the proceeds will be donated to (RED) which supports the elimination of mother-to-child transmission of HIV.

Once again Livia Firth is breaking down barriers in the fashion industry. Livia has managed to succeed in the near impossible task of bringing together five top British designers and creating a collection of beautiful fashion pieces that are ethical and sustainable. The pieces in the collection are all stunning but my favourites are worn in the pictures below. The pieces are all ultra-glamorous and designed to be worn on the red carpet which results in hefty price tags; but it's Livia's mission to prove to the world that ethical fashion can most definitely be high fashion- and boy has she succeeded...

Top: Christopher Kane, Middle: Victoria Beckham, Bottom: Livia Firth wearing and with Erdem Moralioglu

In the ethical fashion debate it is often discussed about where change should come from. Should it come from the consumers, the fashion houses, the people with the money or politicians? In this venture, Livia Firth demonstrates that it can (must? should?) start from the high fashion designers and from the A-listers on the red carpet. This way, as with the rest of fashion, it can trickle down to the mainstream as consumers and designers are inspired by higher end fashion. The influence that celebrities and high fashion houses have on the world of fashion is immense and what Livia is trying to achieve, if she can pull it off, could have immeasurable impact on the future of ethical fashion. So far, so good! We can't wait to see what Livia has in store for us next : )

Pictures acquired from Vogue, Net-a-Porter and Eco Age

Reading into Ethical Fashion

Want to find out more about ethical fashion? Enjoy a good book? Then look no further! I have written a blog post for the Oxfam Fashion Blog about my favourite ethical fashion reads. Click here to check them out : )

H&M Conscious Collection: Is it really ethical?

I remember when I first heard about H&M's Conscious Collection a couple of years back when it was just a fledgling line testing the waters. I specifically remember trying to decide whether or not I approved. It just reminded me of seeing the Fair Trade label starting to appear on Cadbury and Nestle chocolate bars- it just didn't feel right. Then I saw the Fair Trade label appearing on white tank tops in Tesco and that felt even less right. I suppose it's a trust issue- I just couldn't seem to equate a multinational corporation with the local values that ethical and Fair Trade fashion represent.

Before Christmas we saw whole hosts of activists 'fainting' outside H&M stores in a campaign to draw attention to the poor working conditions of labourers used in H&M's supply chain.

 "Last year, over 2400 workers passed out in Cambodian factories due to malnutrition as a direct consequence of low salaries. But H&M, one of Cambodia's main buyers, continues to refuse to pay a living wage to its workers,” 

says Jeroen Merk of the International Clean Clothes Campaign. H&M claim that as they do not own the workshops that create their clothes (they only place orders with them) they have no responsibility for them. If we look at H&M's website and sustainability report, they claim to be not only environmentally but socially ethical.

According to 'Labour Behind the Label', H&M "Accepts the principle of a living wage, but applies legal minimum/industry benchmark". They grade H&M level 1 on a scale of 0-5 measuring how well a company is doing in the task of aliviating poverty wages in its supply chain. To see Labour Behind the Labels's company profile for H&M and more detail on why they were awarded their grade, click here. The grading was given after a survey completed in the summer of 2011; so have H&M improved since then? A documentary was released in Sweden  explaining how H&M is not tackling social ethics in their supply chain in October 2012. To view the documentary, click here.

The documentary includes interview clips with H&M's CEO as well as their Head of Sustainability. These clips make for very interesting viewing as they highlight how uncomfortable these questions on the living wage make the high profile employees. According to the documentary, labour costs account for only 1-3% of a garments price so I struggle to understand why the living wage is not at the forefront of H&M's vision of sustainable fashion. 

Maybe it's that H&M is just focusing on environmental issues? The Ethical Consumer has awarded H&M's Organic collection 7.5/20 and H&M's regular line 6.5/20 using categories of research including Animals, Environment, People, Politics and Sustainability. So when focusing on ethics as a wider issue than just living wages, H&M scores much higher, though clearly still not anywhere near 'ethical' fashion levels. 

This tally's up with my thoughts on H&M's Conscious Collection- the line boasts of its organic cotton, tencel and recycled polyester which really focus's on H&M's commitment to environmentally ethical fashion. The launch of the collection will coincide with H&M's Conscious garment collection initiative which allows customers to bring in bags of unwanted clothing to be swapped for H&M vouchers. These unwanted garments will then be recycled. This initiative brings recycling to the forefront of the consumers mind- it encourages us all to think about recycling and our environmental impact a bit more when we shop.

It's this exposure to ethical awareness which really makes me want to find the good in H&M. Their Conscious Collection may not be 100% socially or environmentally ethical just yet, maybe not even 50%, but at least they are putting something out there. The bulk of fashionistas that walk in and out of H&M probably won't even be aware that there is such a thing as ethical fashion, because lets face it, it is still a niche, growing market. The fact that when they walk in mid-March to see this 'ethical' line has launched, it might make them question the ethical values of the rest of H&M's collection. It might encourage them to start to think about where their clothes come from.

And for those of us who are more aware of the impact of the garment industry, even though we can see that H&M isn't a forerunner in ethical fashion, if we buy their Conscious Collection, high sales and a larger demand might encourage the company to think about expanding the Conscious Collection values to the rest of their lines. Also, previews of this years collection are pretty darn fabulous so right now I think I'm leaning towards the pro-Conscious Collection team...but it's so tricky I'm just not sure. It's not expected to launch until March 25th so we have time to make up our minds. Clearly the H&M debate does not have a definitive answer, and there's so much more information on the subject out there, so I would really love to know what you all think and where you all stand. Comment below to let me know!  : )

Links and articles related to the Conscious Collection:

Lucy Siegle 'Is H&M the new home of ethical fashion?' April 2012

Sarah Karmali 'Vanessa Paradis Named Face Of H&M Conscious Collection' January 2013

Labour Behind the Label- Articles with 'H&M' tag

H&M- About- Sustainabilty

Cold Facts Documentary about H&M

H&M under fire as Swedish television unearths Cambodian production scandal

H&M: Workers left homeless and unpaid after factory closes

H&M Sustainability Report 2011

Veleco Ethical Cyclewear

Happy New Year everyone!

To bring in the new year we have a brand which will no doubt help to inspire those health and fitness New Year resolutions. It's about this point in January that we are still raring to go but give it week or two and you start to hit a wall... That rain doesn't look like it's going to be that refreshing to run in...no...it just looks cold.

But just wait to you see Veleco's fancy new collection of cycle wear! Now you will have to be restrained from leaping onto the nearest bicycle and fulfilling all those promises you made to yourself on December 31st! Veleco has just released the worlds first ethical cycle wear collection. The company uses Fair Trade, recycled and organic materials as well as a whole host of other ethical inputs which you can check out here!

 I was invited to Veleco's launch party in December where I got to see all of their collection first hand along with some delicious wine and nibbles. It was one of those events where you just wanted to talk to everyone there because they all looked so effortlessly cool... The entertainment for the evening was an incredible musician- a percussionist who played a drum kit that was constructed out of a bike! It was called the Puncture Kit and was a delight to watch someone so talented and passionate about music (and cycling!). 

 I was very impressed with the line, especially the soft shell water resistant jacket. I definitely struggle to find ethical clothes that are practicle for outdoors but Veleco have cracked it with that piece. I was assured that the jacket is VERY water resistant and hopefully it will soon be coming in more colours- I'm rooting for green... I would love to see some more water resistant items in their line as I feel that the ethical market is definitely lacking in that area whereas organic and fair trade cotton is readily available for the production of tee-shirts. 

Also, very happy that Veleco are catering for both men and women. I brought the boyfriend along with me and he was very interested in the collection too- more ethical brands for men is always good! All in all, very impressed with the line and also very impressed with the incredibly friendly and passionate team of people behind the brand- thank you for a wonderful evening! More waterproof goodies please Veleco! It's always bucketing it down in Blighty!

What do you think of Veleco's collection? Do you want to see more ethical sportwear? Always want to know you thoughts!

Neals Yard Evening with FAIR

Last night a couple of friends and I went along to The FAIR Shop's late night Thursday event down in Brighton town. Now I know I'm biased because I work there, but it really was a lovely evening. We had fair trade vanilla scented candles burning, white wine and nibbles, and of course, we had the lovely Fi Feehan with all of her delicious smelling Neal's Yard remedies. The scent of Rose and Frankincense were drawing me over to her products!

I talked to Fi about my problem skin and scarring and she walked me through the products that she thought would help relaying her personal experience with the organic products to me. She recommended I use the 'Wild Rose Beauty Balm' -an all in one miracle product that I can use as both a cleanser and a moisturiser and as an added bonus on my eczema. She gave me a tester pot that should last a couple of weeks so I can see how the product suits  my skin before I purchase. I used it this morning as a cleanser and it felt so super soft on my skin! My skin didn't feel tight afterwards at all and it smelt divine! I'm not sure if it might be a little too heavy as a moisturiser for me, but I'm going to stick it out and see how I get on with it as a moisturiser as well. 

It's funny, as soon as I walked into The FAIR Shop as a customer instead of an employee, I couldn't stop myself from buying a few items that I have had my eye on for weeks! I tried on mountains of clothes before I finally settled on two People Tree items- a gorgeous blue, loose knit jumper and tight fitting black jersey pencil skirt. I think it's really important to support small local businesses, especially when the staff are so helpful, so I'm very happy to have bought my People Tree items from FAIR and I will be purchasing any  future Neal's Yard products from Fi Feehan. I'm so happy with my purchases! Thank you to both The FAIR Shop and Neal's Yard for such a wonderful evening! I'll let you know how I get on with the 'Wild Rose Beauty Balm' in a few weeks...

P.S. After we left The FAIR Shop, we wandered a couple of doors down to Taylor St. Baristas for a late night snack... We had some delicious bread, oil and dukkah which we shared, along with a savory goats cheese and spinach muffin- so TASTY! And the staff we really friendly; a lovely coffee shop and a fantastic end to our evening.

@TheFAIRShop  @nyrorganicuk  @taylorstbtown  @PeopleTree  #ethicalfashion  #latenightthursdays