Upcycling at the Oscars

Nearly a year ago we blogged about Livia Firth , also wife of actor Colin (aka Mr Darcy) Firth, who wore an ‘upcycled’ dress at the Oscars. This year, she’s done it again! Her beautiful dress was made using material from eleven damaged dresses from the 1930's era. And keeping in line with her passion for ethical fashion, her jewellery had to be Fairtrade, fair-mined and ecologically certified. It’s all part of The Green Carpet Challenge in which Livia was challenged by her friend to attend red carpet awards events dressed only in sustainable style. Click here to read the full story on why Livia wore an ‘upcycled’ dress to such a prestigious event.

So it looks like ethical fashion is more than just a passing phase for Livia. Some vintage lovers, however, have been critical about the cutting up of eleven dresses and how sustainable this process was. The dresses were found in charity and vintage shops around south east London. Don’t forget that they were damaged. Perhaps the dresses were destined never to be worn again in their original form. Isn’t it then better that these dresses went into making a new and different fashion statement rather than collecting dust on a hanger or, even worse, rotting in a landfill?

Here we have a celebrity who is using her status to raise awareness about the issues tied to fast fashion and to lead by example. What do you think?

Image Credit- Roger Wo on Flickr at Creative Commons

Emma Watson carries on saving the world!

Is there anything Emma Watson can’t do? Successful film career, check. Burberry model, check. Smart enough to get into an Ivy League university check. Well now she can add designer to that list too.

Emma and People Tree are going to be launching a brand new spring/summer 2011 range. This is going to be showcased at Prince Charles’s private gardens. It is going to be a garden party that is open to the public with the theme being environment and sustainable living.

Ethical fashion has in its time built up a bit of a reputation for being too pricey and appealing to mostly older people. Brands like People Tree are really bringing ethical fashion to the front of the limelight and putting it on par with brands such as Topshop and Asos who stock People Tree products.

It’s great that Emma Watson is fronting the campaign as ethical fashion only tends to get spoken about by older celebrities. Emma Watson is a role model to young people by showing them positive alternative's to the high street labels.

Emma said in a statement: ‘I’m so thrilled that People Tree will be showing the spring summer collection at a garden party to make a difference. I think the Prince of Wales initiative is such a brilliant idea and I’m thrilled.’

We’re thrilled to Emma!

Image Credit- David Shankbone on Flickr at Creative Commons 

Upcycle to downsize waste!

Could we expect to see Ethical fashion a lot more? Ethical fashion is more visible on the high street than it was three years ago. Even though you still have to look hard for ethical products, they are becoming easier and easier to find.

This is through a method of ‘Upcycling’

Upcycling gathers readily available materials to make fashionable clothes. This slows down the factory’s supply demands (workers don’t have to make as much fabric) and it reduces the need for new raw materials. This gives more time to workers to make the clothes and could minimise issues such as unpaid overtime of garment workers.

One famous ethical loving couple are Colin Firth and his wife Livia Giuggioli. Who own an ethical shop in Chiswick called Eco Age. Livia even wore an upcylced dress to the Oscars earlier on in the year. Her Oscar dress was made from pre consumer waste of high end Italian end of roll fabric.

Tesco also used the method of upcycling when they debuted a new range of clothes made from end of line stock.

A dress made from left over textiles will cut down on waste and ease up the pressures felt by garment workers who have to produce high quantities of materials in a very short amount of time.

What do you think of Upcycling? Can it change the way our clothes are manufactured?

Image Credit- Nicogenin on Flickr at Creative Commons 

Danny Glover shows Hugo Boss who’s the Boss!

You are a huge monster brand and you want to make more money. What do you do? You move you’re factories to a developing country of course! Cliché. I think so.


Now everybody knows salaries of workers in a developing country are almost halved to the salaries in a developed country. Well it seems Hugo Boss are taking a leaf out of almost everybody’s book and moving their factories to Eastern Europe and Turkey.

Unfortunately for them Danny Glover had something to say about this. At the recent Academy Awards he urged the male stars to not wear Hugo Boss suits as the workers in the Cleveland factories would be made unemployed.

The boycott was successful with none of the male stars wearing Hugo Boss. Hollywood felt somebody had to stand up for the 300 workers who were made unemployed in the US.

Which is well and good but what about the workers in Eastern Europe and Turkey? Those countries have weak economies and high unemployment rates. Someone like Hugo boss could create jobs and support the economies of said countries. If everybody stops buying products from Hugo Boss what will happen to the possible job creation in Europe and Turkey?

Labour jobs in such countries are important to reducing unemployment and supporting the economy. This leads to empowerment to make better choices for one’s self.

If Hugo Boss is in fact going to open factories in Eastern Europe and Turkey then the least they can do is make sure everyone working in those factories is paid fairly and the working environment is clean and up to code with health and safety. It would be depressing to hear in a few years time that Hugo Boss has gone down the same road of many other businesses and not considered the people when deciding to make such a drastic decision.

Emma Watson launches new line of clothes.

"I think young people like me are becoming increasingly aware of the humanitarian issues surrounding fast fashion and want to make good choices but there aren't many options out there."
- Emma Watson

Emma Watson aka Hermione from the Harry Potter films has designed a clothing line for People Tree with everything made in India, Bangladesh and Nepal by hand from 100% organic and Fairtrade-certified cotton. About time we were given an alternative to toxin ridden cotton garments.

Organic cotton is grown from non-genetically modified plants and doesn’t use fertilisers or pesticides. Regular cotton can pollute water and poison animals as it is grown with fertilisers and pesticides. Animals fed with food containing cotton seed oil can be poisoned.

The Fairtrade labels all around the coffee counter remind us to choose our coffee carefully but when were in a clothes store we don’t have anything pointing us in the right direction. With recent articles and TV specials we have all become more aware of where our clothes are coming from but we don’t know where to find alternatives. So it’s a positive step to see someone as high profile and fashionable as Emma Watson encouraging us to shop more cautiously.

Emma Watson will be showcasing her new collection for People Tree at the Fairwear 2010 fashion show, at Bristol Cathedral on Thursday, 25th of February.

Image Credit- David Shankbone on Wikimedia Commons at Creative Commons