I only buy thirteen garments a year...

We may have had a stand, but that didn't stop our Offsetter, Rhiannon, heading down to the "Ethical Fashion In The Age of Austerity" event last Thursday, armed with camera and notepad, to get all the goss!

Last Thursday I was invited to attend, ‘Ethical Fashion in the Age of Austerity’.  I headed to the talk, "Is Fashion Wearing Out The World?", one of the many talks on that evening.

A panel discussion with eco columnist Lucy Siegle, Think Act Vote founder Amisha Ghadiali, Labour Behind The Label’s Hannah Higginson and the managing director of Ethical Fashion Forum Tamsin Lejeune, the talk began with Lucy Siegle plugging her up and coming book ‘To Die For’ (coming out May 12th).

Lucy has recently been involved in a green carpet challenge with Colin Firths wife, Livia.  The challenge, as the name would suggest, to be dressed "green" for every event (of which, thanks to Colin's roaring success in the King's Speech, there were many).  Her most recent adornment, was created from eleven different gowns from the "King's Speech” era.  It turns out, both Livia and Colin are very eco-conscious, and this is not, in fact, the first time she has hit the carpet a dress made from upcycled garments; last year she wore an original design by Orsola de Castro's label 'From Somewhere’, which upcycles textiles into fabulous new dresses.

Due to the changes in the industry, Lucy has had to re-write her book three times!  It poses some poignant questions: How can we afford not to have ethical fashion, and how can we incorporate it into the fashion industry?

The book also discusses revolutionising the wardrobeand investing in clothing; instead of buying five ten pound items, that will not last long, we should buy one fifty pound item.

In my opinion, fashion has such a large eco-footprint, it is about time that someone started suggesting ideas on how we as consumers can help keep that footprint to a minimum.

Lucy then opened up the discussion to us audience.  The questions people asked created interesting discussion: one member even fearlessly admitted she was a little confused with what all the buzz words, like "ethical" and "sustainable", actually mean and what they mean in relation to the products that we buy.

© (2011) Maciej Groman

Amisha Ghadiali revealed that she has cut down her shopping to buying just thirteen items of clothing a year!

As someone who loves their shopping, this shocked me.  I couldn’t imagine buying only thirteen items per year.  Then I began to think about my wardrobe and I began to see her point - I realised, half of the items I have bought I don’t even or wear!!

© (2011) Offset Warehouse

Although *add disclosure here*, when I do have a wardrobe clearout, I never throw garments away, I always donate my clothing to charity.  Giving to charity is far friendlier in every which way!

Overall I left the discussion feeling much more aware of ethical fashion and what it is all about.

I then pottered on to have a look at the stalls and see what it had to offer.  There were several different workshops taking place around the museum, such as, how to repair your clothing and make them last longer, making accessories out of different items such as tie headbands, how to transform old jumpers into hats and you could also add your own square to their ethical quilt with Polly Hope.

© (2011) Offset Warehouse

There were several stalls about as well, selling different and unique items such as tie headbands, silk scarves, ethical materials and components, and broaches made from tape measures.  Of course, I couldn't help but stop by the pink, Offset Warehouse stand, laden with eco-goodies and ethical fabrics!

I made sure I picked up lots of cards and information, so I could check out websites and maybe even purchase a few bits 'n bobs (not exceeding my thirteen items a year threshold of course!) !

Overall the evening was extremely interesting and fulfilling, and I left with a different take on the fashion industry than I had when I came in!  Fantastic!

Rhiannon is one of our "Offsetters"!

Our ”Offsetters” are a group of writers, comprising of anyone who has a personal passion for ethical development.  Through short updates, they inspire us to be ethical by giving us a taste of exciting people and news they’ve come across, and letting us know about interesting things we don't already!

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Rhiannon, Offsetter.

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