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By Poppy Smith

No longer is ethical fashion an oxymoron. Thanks to a new breed of style savvy labels, fashion's big trend is set to be clothes with a conscience.

Something has been bubbling away in the fashion world for a while now and it's about to come to our attention in a big way: the fashion industry has realised that people want more than just great design and good prices, they want clothes with a conscience. Following on from the organic food and beauty revolution of the last decade, ethical and environmentally right-on fashion is evolving into a potentially big trend that is here to stay. Granted, there have always been designers and organisations that have produced fair trade fashion, but have failed to deliver garments that style conscious people actually want to wear. With the new wave of ethical fashion companies, design is at the forefront of what they create and the environmental angle is almost incidental.

Heading up the revolution is Bono and his wife Ali Hewson's label, Edun. Edun is Nude backwards and Nude is the chain of hip organic cafes they have set up in Dublin. Designed by Rogan Gregory of NY jeans label Rogan and its diffusion line organic jean company Loomstate, Edun is manufactured in third world countries such as Peru and South Africa. The company's goal is to create jobs in developing nations by establishing stable factories, paying fair wages and rejecting child labour. "We're answering a demand that's just stirring" Bono told The Associated Press recently. The collection consists of slim-cut denim jeans, mini skirts, shrunken blazers and t-shirts, which all bear the phrase "Our clothes tell the story of the people who made them" on the label.

Bono has just the kudos to launch something like this, and it is celebrity endorsement that is helping to bring ethical fashion into a sexy new light. All of a sudden it's hip to care and, just as Christy Turlington and chums made 'hippy' yoga cool, Sienna Miller, Liv Tyler and Kylie Minogue are championing the fashion cause without forfeiting style in the process, thanks to the new breed of eco-conscious design talent. People Tree, the Fair Trade catalogue that works with 70 producer groups in 20 countries across Asia, Africa and Latin America, helping some of the world's most marginalized communities to improve their lives through fair trade, counts Sienna Miller as a fan. As does Ciel, the Brighton based label whose garments are made from super soft organic fabrics, cottons, alpaca and lama knits developed with a high tech eco-philosophy. Kylie Minogue and Katy England wear artist JJ Hudson's label Noki, which is created from old t-shirts, hoodies and even towels. While Noki didn't set out to be social activist, by recycling clothes, Noki has become an unlikely champion of sustainability.

Although the popularity of vintage clothes was not a conscious move towards sustainability, it definitely has a positive impact on the environment. Re-using clothes cuts down on the amount of resources and waste that garment manufacture produces. Traid has become the trendiest charity shop on the high street, with in-house designers reworking vintage pieces into desirable one-offs.
Gone are the days when ethical fashion was just for hippies with a penchant for tree hugging and tofu, the new trend is for the conscious consumer with money to spend. Labels like Howies, American Apparel and People Tree aim to compete with major players in the fashion industry like Diesel and For All Mankind. 'There's a growing breed who are not happy to let life continue the way it's been going: controlled by a rich minority only intent on getting richer, at the expense of people and the environment. Many of us want to live stylish and culturally active lives, without squashing the environment in the process.' says Liz Hancock, editor of Project magazine, a new publication for 'those who've never recycled, those who occasionally recycle, and those for whom recycling is a passion.' Project covers environmentally and socially responsible style and culture in a package that is aimed at the iD audience (for whom Hancock is beauty editor) rather than Ecologist readers. A magazine like this going into production indicates that attitudes are changing and people want their clothes to match.

Anti Apathy, the organization dedicated to social and environmental progress with imagination, and organizers of the RE: Fashion show, recently conducted The Fashion Addict Experiment. Over 21 days, twelve die-hard fashion addicts undertook a set of tasks with the ultimate challenge of assembling a fashion outfit that was both sustainable and stylish, keeping a web diary of their experiences. The tasks included reviewing and reducing the clothing in their wardrobes, receiving customising tips and exploring labour standards behind fashion. 'What I've realised through this experiment is that there's a choice out there,' says journalist and guinea pig Kate Finnigan 'I don't have to buy clothes that were made my somebody's kid or someone who earned a tiny percentage of the retail price. I don't have to buy something that's environmentally toxic. I can make positive choices instead.'

There are some frightening statistics to take on board when buying clothes. According to the Pesticides Action Network (PAN) cotton provides nearly 50% of global fibre requirements, using 10% of pesticides and 22.5% of all insecticides applied in agriculture. This can lead to pollution and health risks - especially to cotton workers. PAN estimates that as many as three million poisonings and 20,000 deaths occur each year from pesticide incidents in developing countries. Organic agriculture prohibits the use of toxic and persistent chemical pesticides and fertilizers, as well as genetically modified organisms and helps small farmers around the world take back their identity as stewards of the land.

Fortunately it's not just the small companies who have a fashion conscience - high street giants are keen to show they care too. Nike, ever keen to clean up its image after the sweatshop scandals have launched 'Nike Considered', a range of shoes that are made out of natural products and support sustainability - bringing Nike one step closer to their goal of eliminating waste and toxic substances from their shoes. The list of high street stockists of ethical labels is growing: Kurt Geiger is stocking Terra Plana's footwear and Selfridges stocks People Tree and Edun.

Although there is still a long way to go, with companies like these blossoming, celebrity's wearing it and big brands backing it, ethical clothing cannot fail to succeed in the fashion marketplace, and about time too.

www.loomstate.org
www.ptree.co.uk
www.howies.co.uk
www.antiapathy.org
www.project-magazine.com
www.katharinehamnett.com
www.traid.org.uk

Poppy can be contacted at: poppys@hotmail.com