Many people do not realise that fashion is the second most pollutant industry in the world behind none other than the oil industry. From over farming and using masses of cancerous pesticides in the growth of the cotton to masses of chemicals used in the manufacturing process. This impacts on local water amenities and ruins the soil for future use, environmentally this is very damaging.
However, there are also larger human elements at stake; from the exploitation of farmers, factory works and child refugees all getting paid as little as $2 a day. Three years on since the Rana Plaza disaster which saw 1,134 factory workers lose their lives and many other thousands injured and what has changed? The recent Panorama exposure by Darragh MacIntyre has shown not much with manufacturing reverting back to business as usual, exploiting Syrian refugees and using child labour for big brands such as Asos and Marks & Spencer. Companies still seem so focused on the bottom line that all care for human rights and life seem to be ignored.
Cheap fast fashion is the root cause of this and has created a toxic culture of greed. This philosophy of racing to the bottom has led to corner cutting on a global scale where everyone loses apart from the corporations wallets.
However, companies are not all to blame, we are too. The UK alone contributed to 1 million tonnes of clothing being sent to landfill in the past year, this level of waste and consumerism is far from sustainable and it is time we pioneered for change.
My mum is a vegetarian and so I have been brought up knowing the life of animals and to always try and buy free range and organic food where possible. Organic and free range food is a hugely popular and growing market and so people obviously do care about the environment and animal rights. However, organic clothing still seems to be unrecognised as a globally friendly alternative to fast fashion at the price of exploitation. In a world moving towards social consciousness, I think organic clothing is imperative for global change.
I learnt all of this while studying at university and was inspired to positively pioneer for change. At 21 years old I have built a clothing company which uses only premium quality, sustainable and organic fabrics and have also brought production back to the UK. I not only wanted to use more environmentally friendly fabrics but also wanted far more transparency and accountability in the creation of the garments. The UK is globally recognised for its quality of craftsmanship and so I wanted to produce great quality clothing made by someone who loves what they do and gets a fair wage for their work.
You can find our latest collection here. The foundations of our collections are comprised of bamboo, bamboo is a natural and sustainable fabric which grows in natural rainforests so no additional pesticides or irrigation is needed. Bamboo also benefits from being far faster growing than cotton, highly breathable and luxuriously soft. While our sweatshirts are built from 100% organic cotton and are combined with double stitching, raglan sleeves and thick twill tape for extra durability and comfort.
By putting quality at the heart of what we do not only are we able to offer far superior quality items of clothing that look far better and last far longer but they also benefit from being far better for the environment as well, it's a win win.