Inspired - A very exciting event this Sat!!

By Lorna

Saturday, 15th of October 2011@ The Kensington Roof Gardens

EVENT STARTS AT 7.00PM AT THE KENSINGTON ROOF GARDENS, 99 KENSINGTON HIGH STREET, LONDON W8 5SA

What are your plans for this Saturday eve? No plans yet, or too many to actually commit? Well, here at Ecogoddess HQ, we think we have found you the perfect night out!! At one of the most beautiful venues London has to offer, Kensington Roof Gardens, Mayamiko Trust are hosting a charity night like no other...'Inspired'. In collaboration with Slaves of the Extraordinary, there will be emerging fashion, music, ground breaking performance and dancers. Sounds good to me!

The following ethical designers will be featured: Lauren Solomon for SLAVES OF THE EXTRAORDINARY, MIA by Mia Nisbet, Fair+TRUE, Bestow Elan and Christi Sanders. There will also be music and performances from the following: Listen, feel and taste the wonderful cocktail of emerging musicians, DJs and dancers including E.I.C Dance Theatre, Michelle Cade and Catwalk music by Jakub Gaudasinski.

The event sounds fab but.... what is this REALLY about? The mission statement of the Mayamiko Trust charity is ''Empowering local communities through skills and fairer trade. To help people lift themselves out of poverty and end injustice.'' Malawi is one of the world's poorest countries with well over half the population in extreme poverty and 175 out of 1000 children die before they reach the age of 5 (World Health Statistics). Unsurprisingly then, a charity aiming to lift people out of poverty has started here - The Malawi Cotton project outlines plans to set up a factory (plans below) to produce clothing to sell to both the local and international markets. There will be education, training and childcare available to the local women who work here to allow them to generate a sustainable reliable income. They will have the life changing ability to support themselves and their family and free themselves of extreme poverty.

''We watch, we listen, we learn, we act. Through skills training, education, nutrition, sanitation and fairer trade practices. Mayamiko works to support creative talents and turn them into sustainable activities. Mayamiko loves everyone, but has a special soft spot for the most vulnerable - women and children.'' Mayamito Trust 2011

I will be going to this great event and I would love to meet you so drop us a comment below if you are going. If you know of any other exciting Ethical Fashion event happening in your area - get in touch, we love hearing from you!

To buy tickets and support this inspirational charity click here

To read more about the Malawi Cotton Project click here

EDUN - CATWALK REPORT - New York Spring/Summer 2012

By Lorna

EXCITING TIMES!!!!!! New York fashion week is going on as I type and London Fashion Week starts on friday (16th). Most of my friends are frantically cutting patterns, sewing together final outfits, printing lookbooks and sending out invites. One of the New York shows I was most looking forward to was ethical label EDUN. Since Sharon Wauchob took the creative direction reins, this label has had a profound injection of style and craftsmanship. The SS12 show featured a skillful mash-up of iconic florals overprinted with african patterns, mesh sportswear references and a beautiful optomistic pallete of red and blue hues. Edun supports six factories accross Africa where 37 per cent of the women's line is made, the label's ethos being ''Trade not Aid''. I LOVE IT!!

London Fashion Week! Vivienne Westwood sees RED...

By Lorna

If you ask any fashion student/designer (myself included) which designers they are most inspired by and Vivienne Westwood is sure to come pretty high up the list. An extravaganza of colour, volume and textural experimentation is evident but behind the showmanship of the collections lie Westwood's anarchistic punk roots.

Even now, with international acclaim, Westwood uses her skills and notoriety to continually highlight and protest ethical issues. For A/W 2008 a model walked with a placard protesting for the rights of Guantánamo Bay prisoners and Westwood took her bow in a blouse covered in protest badges. Also in the collection was a famous pair of orange pants (reminiscent of the fluorescent orange jumpsuits worn by detainees at the U.S. prison camp) with the slogan 'FAIR TRIAL - MY ARSE' 

For SS/11 Westwood worked with the International Trade Centre's Ethical Fashion Program of the United Nations to make oversized recycled eco tote bags. Handmade in Nairobi, these bags are made from recycled materials by marginalized communities of women. The Ethical Fashion Program supports the work of over 7000 women who live in conditions of extreme poverty but who have a strong desire to improve their lives.

Also for S/S11 Westwood has designed a stunning heart necklace for the charity Reprieve - who use the law to enforce the human rights of prisoners, from death row to Guantanamo Bay, they provide frontline investigation and legal representation to prisoners held outside the rule of law around the world. 

This week at London Fashion Week is no exception; Westwood has teamed up with Red Nose Day to design a range of 100 per cent Fairtrade organic cotton charity t-shirts to raise money. The t-shirts feature classic prints with bright red noses and are now available at TK Maxx from £9.99. Whilst not all her garments are organic/fairtrade, Westwood is certainly a fiesty woman who stands up for what she believes in and ensures her collections do the same. Bravo Dame Viv!!

Facts: Vivienne Westwood is a legend! 2011 Westwood Red nose organic cotton T-shirts £9.99
Learn more about International Trade Centre's Ethical Fashion Program here
Buy a Westwood Red Nose Tee here 
Buy a Westwood Eco tote or Reprieve necklace here

Monsoon launches L.O.V.E collection at LFW!

by Naomi

Monsoon has just launched a new ethical and sustainable collection, called L.O.V.E at London Fashion Week! The sponsors of LFW's eco/ethical exhibition, Esthetica, Monsoon are already kind of up there on their ethical policy and now they have a dedicated collection!

Featuring recycled materials, Indian crafts and organic fabrics the first collection is boho-tastic, here is a little snippet:





Pradesh Dress, organic cotton, traditional hand-crafted woodblock print, £190. Delhi Top, organic cotton, hand-sewn mother of pearl bib, £150.

These floaty numbers have got me fantasising about summer holidays spent on the beach and those lovely warm evenings spent in the pub!

See the rest of the collection here.

Stella McCartney does Paris Fashion Week...

By Lorna

Ok so I'll admit its not exactly the best weather to show you beautiful light summery clothes but when offered a sneak preview of Stella McCartney's Summer 2011 collection i bet you'll find it just as hard to resist as I did!!

The collection was shown yesterday at Paris Fashion Week- Highlights include an array of soft pastel colored tailored suits, modern thigh high split dresses and a tangy vibrant all-over print to add a flash of bright colors. The accessories are also well worth a lustful glance and as always with the lovely Stella, its all animal friendly!

You can check out pics from the catwalk here 


Facts: Stella McCartney, Animal Friendly, SS11 Catwalk

Moss goes Mozzy-free!

by Naomi

Who knew that protection from mosquitoes could be so chic? 

Respect must be paid to innovative London designer William Tempest for creating this little LGD (that's little grey dress) from panels of recycled mosquito nets! Kate Moss has donned the one-off dress for Sports Relief, to help raise awareness of malaria, which kills one child every 30 seconds in Africa.

Sculpted and corseted in Tempest's signature style, the dress has come a long way from its origins protecting people from mosquitoes! The nets are one of the easiest and most effective ways of preventing the spread of malaria.

For more information, visit the Sports Relief website.

New Year.... new lil black dress!!

By Lorna

Fear not ecogodesses! ...amidst all the chaos of the January sales I have searched the globe for the best LBDs. Whether you rock your style simple and classic like a modern day Audrey Hepburn or you prefer an edgier catwalk look, I have found the perfect LBD for you... and naturally they are all on sale!

My fav is the ‘Layla Dress’ by Ascension. It is a really beautiful sophisticated cut with an obi style belt tie to nip your waist in. Each dress is carefully hand embroidered by Indian Artisans with gorgeous tonal stitch detail around the neckline, shoulder and belt. This means that each dress is unique and you can wear it with pride knowing its fair trade! Now only £54.50 (was £109.00) at www.ascensiononline.com

Next up is the totally gorgeous People Tree ‘Strapless Party Dress’. The 100% silk dress is sure to steal the party limelight, it has pleat front detail, a ruched back panel and feature pockets. The cloth is hand woven in Bangladesh and the straps are removable making this dress super cute and adaptable! Was £160 now £80 at www.ascensiononline.com

And finally, no ‘top ethical LBD’ list would be complete without a nod to designer Julia Smith... This edgy dress with on-trend accentuated shoulders is made from recycled polyester and has long sleeves, which can be turned up to reveal batik lining. Rock this attention grabbing dress with black opaque’s and killer heels. £240 (was £320) at www.fashion-conscience.com

Ascension ‘Layla dress’ available from www.ascensiononline.com

People Tree ‘Strapless Party Dress’ available from www.ascensiononline.com

Julia Smith ‘Boston Puff Shoulder Dress’ available from www.fashion-conscience.com

Featuring the Best Eco Fashion from the Clothes Show Live 2009....

By Lorna

The Clothes Show Live is the biggest fashion and beauty event worldwide and serves to highlight the latest high street and designer collections in spectacular style.  It is held annually in Birmingham NEC, which boast a 6500 capacity fashion theatre for the live catwalk show. This is the 21^st year of the Clothes Show Live and I went along today to search out the BEST ECO STYLE that was on offer for all of us Eco Goddesses....

1. Environmental Justice Foundation

THE ENVIRONMENTAL JUSTICE FOUNDATION had a brilliant stall, which served as a sneak previous showcase for their new range of ‘Best of British’ designer collaboration t-shirts, featuring the designs of Alice Temperley, Richard Nicoll, Jenny Packham and Ciel. The stand succeeded in tempting even the most fashion conscious of girls in to find out more and buy a pre-release EJF t-shirt. I’m sure it had absolutely nothing to do with the posters of one of the male models from the catwalk show posing in an EJF t-shirt... no nothing at all! Ahem!

 I caught up with eco fashionistas Laura and India who were buying T-shirts and learning more from expert Larissa (from EJF), about the life changing pros of buying organic cotton... pictured below.

EJF believes children should not be forced to work in cotton fields and that cotton should be grown organically without pesticides, which poison the land and the farmers, which work on it. The proceeds from each of these designer collaborated t-shirts sold goes to support EJF in their work. To find out more about EJF's previous designer collection read Naomi's christmas wish-list post by clicking here.

2. Junk Jewels 

JUNK JEWELS were an amazing ethical find... as they design and make a veritable feast of gorgeous romantic, dreamy vintage-inspired jewellery! I met with Zoe Jones, founder of Junk Jewels who told me that they LOVE vintage and although some pieces are new they try and use as much vintage and recycled jewels as possible. There were literally swarms of girls trying on these beautiful trinkets and rightly so... as these one-off pieces are simple charming!

If you order online you can choose from two different chain lengths and bracelet sizes for you chosen vintage charm and the prices are unbelievably reasonable starting at just £6 for a bracelet and £8 for a necklace! 

If you’re a London dweller, check out the new Junk Jewels collection every Saturday at Portobello market, Notting Hill. You can even use their pick’n’mix service to create your own custom jewellery!

3.Komodo 

Unlike Junk Jewels, KOMODO are clothes show veterans and are an ethical brand, which has become massively well known worldwide.  Komodo have been in business 20 years, working with eco-friendly materials and following a philosophy of ethical business and social responsibility.

Although komodo are definitely worth checking out for their organic cotton shirts and range of winter warmers, which come in a variety of rich dark blues and warm earthy tones, I think their real strength lies in the beautiful organic cotton summer dresses they produce. Now it may sound odd, that I write that statement in December, when it is OFFICALLY FREEZING (at least in the UK it is!) but I do have a good reason!... If you check out the Komodo website they have an amazing sale on, featuring lots of beautiful summer dresses. If was you Eco Goddesses, I would show of my pre-planning skills, think well ahead and snap up a chic summery ethical bargain!!

Also ethically exhibiting at the clothes show live 2009 were The North Circular, Life's Not Fair But My Knickers Are and Terra Plana.

To find out more about EJF read our previous post by Naomi here or check out the EJF website http://www.ejfoundation.org/

Junk Jewels are available at http://www.junkjewels.co.uk/

Komodo clothing is available at www.komodo.co.uk 

Beware of the Dark this A/W.....BLLACK NOIR & NOIR Girls are fierce!

By Lorna

Pounding down the catwalk with smolderingly dark black Kohl eyes and poker straight hair, these girls have a darkness about them that is both breathtakingly beautiful and strikingly fierce. They will look incredible, dress immaculately stylishly and eat your boyfriends for breakfast! These are no ordinary eco-goddesses... dressed in glittering molten shades these Noir girls are a whole new breed of eco sophistication and sex appeal! 

BLLACK NOIR is the new diffusion line from NOIR (launched last year), and is described as a brand for young eco aware women with a look that’s edgy, exclusive and rock ‘n’ roll.  For this season (A/W 09-10) Ingwersen (founder of Noir) stated that he wanted the Noir and Bllack Noir collections to show that "sexiness, luxury, fashion and corporate social responsibility can work beautifully together in harmony".  This statement was followed by an array of beautifully sharp tailored jackets, skinny fitted pants and liquid draped looks in every molten shade imaginable. Heavily sequined Harem pants and flowing diaphanous bandeau gowns set the mood for a darkly enchanting luxe Noir collection.

As a self-confessed fashion addict, Noir is one of my favorite brands. Noir was founded in 2007 with a mission to be " the first brand to bring sophistication and sexiness to corporate social responsibility". I discovered Noir whilst at University studying fashion... I had by then decided I wanted to be an ethical designer and in a market flooded with hemp t-shirts, I lusted for a taste of high fashion in the ethical market, then came LFW A/W 06 07 and the 1^st Noir collection...

I’ll be honest in terms of design crushes...that was it.... I was in LoVE! 3 years later and I remain a massive fan of this label, (to the point where I booked a weekend trip to Copenhagen last Christmas just so that I could meet Mr Ingwersen for a coffee.) Seriously eco-goddesses take my word for it.... check out this label.... it is SO ROCK & ROLL, IT HURTS!

The BLLACK NOIR A/W 09 collection is now available at asos.com 

The NOIR A/W 09 collection is available at Harvey Nichols in London (see NOIR website for other stockists)