Accessibility links You are here: Lord Hunt, who is both the Minister for Sustainable Development & Energy, and the Minister for DEFRA, used London
Fashion Week as a platform to announce details of a new Sustainable Clothing Action plan, this morning. The action plan is backed by 300 different organisations, including major high street brands, such as Marks & Spencer &ndash which has just opened its second “eco” factory, in China, after its initial one in Sri Lanka &ndash Tesco, Sainsbury and Oxfam, as well as eco-chic labels such as Adili, Continental and Fairtrade. The action plan is committed to expanding the development and awareness of sustainable clothing from textiles &ndash such as organic and Fairtrade cottons, and bamboo and nettle fibres &ndash right through to the charity shop, where unwanted clothing can be resold or recycled. Lord Hunt pointed out that London Fashion Week was the only fashion trade event in the world with a dedicated exhibition devoted to eco and Fairtrade clothing. Peter Simon, the founder of Monsoon, says he chose the name because he was born in a monsoon in Sri Lanka and has always adhered to using vegetable dyes and local crafts.
This season’s Estethica crop are an eclectic bunch. One of the more unusual is Prophetik, a Tennessee/India-based company, Prophetik, which utilises fabric painting by elephants, under the Asian Elephant Art Scheme, for its abstract prints. (The paint brush is held in the elephant’s trunk).