Each year at London Fashion Week estethica seems to get bigger, better and more interesting. Estethica is the British Fashion Councils Eco sustainable initiative which is sponsored by Monsoon and is now in it’s seventh season. This season thirteen designers and nine new labels have joined taking the total number of labels to 28. 

All estethica designers adhere to at least one of the three estethica principles of fair-trade and ethical practices, organic and recycled materials and are selected for both their ethical credentials and design excellence. New additions for this season include the exciting new ethical knitwear label, North Circulat, set up by Super models Lily Cole and Katherine Poulton along with Izzy Lane. The label use ethical wool from rare breeds of sheep rescued from slaughter which is then knitted by grannies locally to produce the final product.

Estethica provides support and advice to the labels during London fashion week aswell as in areas such as brand development. I think it is great that there is so  much going on in the ethical fashion arena. Ultimately it means more choice in design led ethical clothes and more guilt free shopping.

If you want to invest in some good ethical basics for your wardrobe that can be combined with some designer ethical pieces, try this Fairtrade cotton top.

There are so many different types of ethical and eco clothing available, it is sometimes difficult t decide what to buy for the best. Much of the unethical treatment of workers and producers in the the textiles industry is associated with the production of cotton. Over two thirds of the worlds cotton is grown in developing countries and the former Soviet Union but instead of improving peoples lives the cotton production often causes misery and suffering. For example in Uzbekistan, the second largest exporter of cotton in the world,  forced child labour, human rights violations, excessive pesticide use and the draining of an ocean are all problems associated with the cotton production. During the Autumn, schools are closed and the governement forces children to work harvesting the cotton by hand with little or no financial reward.

Fairtrade offers an alternative to unethically produced cotton. Fairtrade ensures better prices, decent working conditions, local sustainability, and fair terms of trade for farmers and workers in the developing world. Fairtrade addresses the injustices of conventional trade, which traditionally discriminates against the poorest, weakest producers. It enables them to improve their position and have more control over their lives. 

Fairtrade cotton T shirts are a great ethical basic for your wardrobe.

Fairtrade cotton crew neck top

Fairtrade cotton v neck top

Nothing is as sure to make you feel great than doing something selfless and virtuous. Perhaps you have already helped an old lady across the road or donated some money to charity. If not some feel good fashion could have the same sort of effect. By feel good fashion, I mean ethical or eco fashion, clothing which in some way has a more positive effect on the world than conventional clothing. There are some great organic clothes around. Organic cotton is grown without the use of pesticides, which have a negative impact on the environment and can be dangerous for those living and work in the vicinity. They are also free of chemical residues so could well be the healthiest option giving you a double feel good factor.

If you thought that organic clothes weren’t pretty and stylish, you were wrong, look at this Organic cotton silk mix dress.

If you thought that organic clothing wasn’t affordable, you were wrong. These Organic Denim Cropped Trousers are an amazing price.

If you thought that you couldn’t get all organic clothes including lovely underwear, you were wrong, just look at this Ciel Organic Underwear.

Ethical fashion is gathering momentum as people begin to realise the impact of their clothing and fashion on the lives of others and the environment. The latest event to promote and educate about ethical fashion is Ireland’s Ethical Fashion Week which will take place in Dublin from 26th April to 2nd May.

The event will be the second annual ethical fashion week for Ireland and will include informative and fun packed activities including a clothes swap and exhibition of Irish fashion. The event which has been called ‘Fashion Evolution’ calls for consumers to change more than their clothes by raising awareness of the ethical and environmental issues surrounding fashion as well as providing information and inspiration on ethical fashion.

I like the sound of the crafternoon tea on 2nd May which involves ‘cups of tea and plates of cakes while you learn  to make your own pants’ ! There is also a talk by Patricia Roberts, Britains most iconic knitwear designer and a screening of the award winning documentary ‘China Blue’ which tells the story of a 17 year old factory worker Jasmine and reveals the true cost of the globalised clothing industry. 

This week Primark is in hot water again over the allegations, that it is using a knitwear supplier that pays staff just over half the minimum wage breaching both UK employment and immigration laws. I was pretty appalled to hear about this although I regonise the difficulties for clothing companies in monitoring suppliers and ensuring that they are buying from ethical companies.

The discovery was made by the BBC and Observer newspaper following an investigation by an under cover journalist. Although I have never really been a fan of Primark anyway and have been put off by previous reports relating to the ethics of the company, but this really goes to show how difficult it can be to be sure that the clothes you are wearing have been manufactured in an ethical way.

picture from www.style.com

Organic and ethical fashion is finally reaching the high fashion arena with ethical and organic fashion labels showing at some of the main international fashion weeks. London Fashion Week has led the way with Ethestica, London’ sustainable fashion initiative. In September 2008, at New York Fashion week , John Patrick showed his fist Eco collection . Most of the label is produced in the US and he even grows some of the flax for it in his own garden. But eco and ethical credentials are certainly not all that this label has going for it.

The spring summer 09 collection by Organica by John Patrick was inspired by life on the American Praries in 1930. It had a really dreamy and romantic feel to it and the washed out colours and loose relaxed shapes made it very now and very wearable. The collection mixed gorgeously desirable tailored items with luxurious fabrics and details such as broderie Anglais. My absolute favourite item in the collection was this cream biker jacket for a refreshing and new Spring take on winters bad girl biker chic.

You can also do ethical and stylish with this scoop neck organic cotton top.

One of the biggest influences on fashion for 2008 and is the ethical and green trend. Social conscious has really become the in thing and ethical clothing has become uber stylish. It is now not just the ethical and green concepts that make the new guilt free clothing stylish, they are trendy and very desirable clothes in their own right.

More and more designers are using recycled, organic and ethically produced materials. This year estethica at London fashion week is in its 4th season. It is Londons sustainable fashion iniative and estethica labels must adhere to an evolving set of criteria including ethical trade, organic fabric and consideration of the environmental footprint of fabrics. Designers like Katherine Hamnett have long been dedicated to green and ethical fashion but there are many newer designers like Mark Lui signing up with their green and ethical credentials.

 I love this organic cotton Karen dress by Wildlife Works. Who would have thought having a social conscious could look this good?

We all love having a bit of a spend up now and then. Sometimes nothing can be beat that feeling of coming home with a bag of brand new goodies. But now there is a new trend which I think will give you that same euphoric feeling of a spending spree probably even more or one as you know you won’t have a credit card bill to apy off. Swishing is the term that  has been given to the hottest new trend of clothes swapping rather than shopping. The swishing phenomenon has worked its way over from the US where it has been popular for a while.

The beauty of swishing is that you get some new goodies or accessories but without the associated feelings of guilt. Swishing is not just about new stuff, it is also :

• Ethical- no more throwing away perfectly good clothes. Someone else can benefit from them cutting down on waste and co2 emmissions released as a result of clothes manufacturing and transport.
• Frugal- In these hard economic times, we are all having to make a few savings. This is the perfect way to save money withoout compromising your style.
• Sociable- Swishing is also a socialable event. Great for socialising with like minded people who love fashion.

We all make the occasional error of judgement when buying new clothes. I have previously bought myself something I absolutely loved only to discover on the first wear that I don’t like it at all or it doesn’t fit properly. Swishing is a great was to swap these purchases saving your money to treat yourself to some really quality and luxurious wardrobe basics. I will definitely be having  a go at swishing leaving me to spend my hard earned money on this classic suede trench coat.