Shoppers slow to cotton on to ethical fashion lines

Published on Monday 23 April 2007 00:55

ETHICAL consumerism has grown so fast that supermarkets are fighting to have the shiniest halo, increasing eco-friendly lines and labelling the source of products more clearly.

But while the latest must-have accessory is a social conscience, ethical buying is still in its infancy when it comes to fashion. UK consumers spent 5 million on Fairtrade cotton goods last year - a good start, but a tiny faction of the 300m spent on other Fairtrade goods.

High Street clothing is becoming cheaper, placing pressure on suppliers to produce our jeans and T-shirts at a greater cost to the environment and to their often exploited workforce. And for what? Half a million tonnes of unwanted clothing end up in landfill sites across Britain each year.

And, according to the United Nations, growing enough cotton for one pair of jeans requires 10,850 litres of water and a dose of some of the world's most hazardous pesticides - growing cotton accounts for 24 per cent of global insecticide use and is believed to account for one million cases of poisoning and as many as 20,000 deaths a year.

For those that can afford it, there are top-end fashion lines with ethical credentials. British eco-designer Sarah Ratty's Ciel label has been worn by Cate Blanchett, Sienna Miller and Zoe Ball, while Edun, the clothing line developed by Bono's wife, is now stocked by Selfridges and Harvey Nichols.

High Street names are catching up, with Oasis stocking a new range of 100 per cent organic denim and jersey at some of its stores, Topshop selling ethical fashion label People Tree and Marks & Spencer expanding its range of Fairtrade cotton T-shirts and underwear.

In Scotland, designer Joey D has saved the fashion-conscious from the ignominy of the charity shop by turning old and unwanted clothes into stylish new ones. Anyone taking their old jeans into his shop in Edinburgh's Broughton Street can have them reconstructed into a catwalk creation.

"We get a lot of army guys bringing in their old combat stuff and wanting it turned into something their girlfriends can wear," he explains. "It is a good way to be creative and to give unwanted clothes a new life rather than throwing them away."