Monday, March 5, 2007

London and Paris Fashion Week goes Ethical

http://news.sawf.org/Fashion/33517.aspx#Priya

Paris Fashion Week has had an area devoted to ethical fashion since 2006 and features around 70 labels this year - www.ethicalfashionshow.com, including La Redoute

From lingerie and jewellery to handbags and shoes, ethical fashion is increasingly a la mode, as outfits on display at London Fashion Week showed Thursday.

Estethica is an area devoted to eco-friendly clothing which has been set up in the temporary tented village outside west London's Natural History Museum which is hosting fashion week, running until Friday.

Some 21 mainly young designers are showing off their work for the 2007 autumn/winter collection there, compared to 12 at September's spring/summer show.

To be included, they must meet at least one of three ecological golden rules: use fair trade products; use products which have been produced organically or use only recycled materials.

The aim is to show that it is possible to make cutting-edge clothes while being kind to the environment. Designers in the ethical range included Jewellery designer Vivien Johnston who sources her gold from mines in South America with strict rules on employment conditions and the environment. Another label, Makepiece, uses wool from its own herd of 60 sheep and 20 goats which graze metres from their base in the picturesque Yorkshire Dales town of Todmorden, northern England for a range in each of their collections.

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