Who's who in ethical fashion?

A look at who's who in the ethical fashion business – and why you should support them

Once the preserve of a small group of Glastonbury hippies; Peruvian knitwear, multicoloured patchwork leather boots, itchy hemp clothing - ethical fashion has gone mainstream. From politicians to upmarket fashion designers, these days everyone is keen to show their green credentials.

 

Whether it's through organically grown cotton, manufacturing methods that care for the environment (as well as the workforce), or Fairtrade merchandise that supports workers and farmers, the fashion-conscious have finally found a conscience.

 

Here we take a behind-the-scenes look at three ethical fashion brands with some key ideas.

 

High profile: Edun

 

When Ali Hewson and her rock-star husband Bono became interested in creating a socially responsible clothing range, they turned to New York designer, Rogan Gregory. The creative force behind the hip label Rogan, and denim brand Loomstate worked with the couple to set up the label, Edun.  Asked about the advantages of the Bono connection, Hewson diplomatically remarks, 'He is a mentor and an inspiration. We don't count on him for fashion advice.' Now with a bigger design team and CEO Christian Kemp Griffin on board - and with Bono sticking to his day job - the company has just launched a sister fashion line, Edun Live. This new initiative supplies plain organic cotton t-shirts to wholesale companies for printing, as well as to individual consumers.

Edun caters for people 'who appreciate design but also want to know how and where their clothes are made'. The company ethos is to 'give the people we work with the opportunity to market their products and their craftsmanship, and to be seen on a higher fashion level. We also try to elevate their capabilities, to make them competitive with the rest of the world. Edun is a for-profit business, so we give them the opportunity - and hopefully a leg-up in the market.'

 

This support is much needed, as Hewson points out. 'In 1980 Africa had 6% of world trade; by 2002 this had dropped to just 2%, despite the fact that Africa has 12% of the world's population. If they could regain an additional 1% share of global trade, it would earn billion more exports each year, more than three times what they're receiving in international assistance.'

 

Now three years old, Edun has well and truly established itself as a fashion player with a conscience. 'We are small but we're loud - and a lot of people are listening to us,' says Hewson. 'Considering the alternative fibres we use, where and who is making the garments... it's not easy, but we are seeing benefits.'

 
For more information visit edunonline.com and the new online store edun-live.com.

 

The website: Adili

 

Translated from Swahili as 'ethical and just', Adili is 'not after throwaway fashion, we're looking for something that's going to be sustainable in your wardrobe,' says CEO Adam Smith. Passionate about the environment, Smith, a qualified accountant and e-commerce expert, founded the website last year with friends Quentin Griffiths, co-founder of ASOS plc, and African-born Christopher Powles, an Oxford Zoology graduate who's deeply involved in conservation. 'This is less about making money, more about doing the right thing, in the right area,' he adds.

 

Talking enthusiastically, and at top speed, Smith clearly knows his stuff. He discusses child labour in India, the manufacture of silk in Cambodia and the limited supply of organic cotton (at present only 3% of global cotton production is organic). On carbon emissions, Smith states: 'We have to be pragmatic, we're not going for zero carbon but when we do fly goods in, we offset carbon emissions with World Land Trust. Donations so far have been to support reforestation projects in Ecuador.'

 

He explains how the company has developed a framework of ethical issues against which they evaluate brands before selling them on the website - which now has 80 different brands and is packed with information on ethical fashion, working conditions and advice on how to recycle your Adili mailing bags, among other items.

 

So does Smith wear ethical clothing himself? 'Yes, I wear stuff from our suppliers - and it's paid for!' he jokes, admitting that this in itself is yet another ethical consideration. 'But what do you do with your existing wardrobe? If you throw it away it goes in a landfill, and some of my clothes are too shabby to give to charity so I'm going to have to wear them for a little while longer.'

 

For more information visit www.adili.com

 

One to watch: I love Lowie

 

Born and brought up in Tasmania, designer Bronwyn Lowenthal has been involved in environmental issues from an early age. 'The Green party had the balance of power,' she recalls. 'I can remember a huge debate over the damming of rivers on a World Heritage site. I was only 10 years old. The whole school was split, everyone had an opinion.'

 

Now based in London, Lowenthal is the brains behind Lowie, an 'ethically minded' fashion company producing clothing and accessories, hand-knitted by skilled craftswomen in small villages in eastern China. 'The quality is beautiful,' says Lowenthal. 'We pay our workers a decent price; that way they get to stay with their families and don't have to go to cities to work in a factory. Children don't get left with their grandparents.'

 

When quizzed on how transporting goods from China affects the size of Lowie's carbon footprint, the eco-friendly Aussie readily admits: 'Only a few countries in the world grow organic cotton - ours comes from Pakistan - so even though it's organic, it creates carbon emissions. And the Chinese are great at knitwear, great craftspeople. I'd love to find the same quality elsewhere and use fewer carbon emissions but you have to forfeit one for the other.'

 

But this is something the company is working on, with a recently launched a range of low-carbon knitwear made in the UK from water wheel spun yarn which Bronwyn posts to a group of ‘granny home-knitters', 'It's more expensive - a wool beret will cost about £90 - but our customers are prepared to pay more to know that they're buying something that isn't ruining the environment.'

 

And in keeping with the spirit of the low-carbon range, the well-travelled designer is going to deliver each London order by bike. 'Fortunately the pieces are quite small so I can fit them in my basket!' she laughs. The air in south London may not be as pure as Tasmania but Lowenthal's sticking to her lifelong green principles.

 

For more information visit www.ilovelowie.com

 

Read on for other great ethical fashion brands ...