Dress sense

OneWorld UK

By Daniel Nelson

Research shows that we often wear particular clothes infrequently, wash them too often and at too high a temperature and chuck them out after less than three years in the wardrobe. Its all bad news for the environment.

Britain tosses 500,000 tones of unwanted clothing into landfills every year.

But the environmental damage begins even earlier.

To make a T-shirt requires 250 gallons of water and a cupful of pesticide and fertiliser. Up to one-third of its weight is made up of chemical residues.

Between 10 and 20 per cent of material is wasted in the cutting process during the manufacture of a garment.

About 700,000 tons of dye a year are used to make fabrics.

But at least the workers in the factories make a living. Well - to a degree. A Chinese worker making a $100 pair of trainers might earn 50 cents.

All this information comes from Well Fashioned: Eco Style in the UK, an exhibition of the role fashion might play in our ecological future.

Neither making environmentally sound clothes nor making clothes-buyers environmentally conscious will be easy. The exhibition points out that if worldwide cotton and wool production switched to natural dyes, more than 30 per cent of the worlds agricultural land would be needed just to grow the required dye matter.

At last, however, a start is being made. Exhibition curator Rebecca Earley says that in the last two years general interest in eco-fashion has experienced significant growth.

Exhibitor Natalie Dean of Beyond Skin, an ethical footwear label, is quoted as saying: Id continually found that attempts to combine fashion and ethics generally resulted in one side of the equation being sacrificed. I wanted to prove that they could go hand in hand.

Her answer is manufacturing that sets out to be non-exploitative to humans, animals and wherever possible the wider environment.

That means, for example, using satins made from polyester rather than viscose as the latter has a far greater impact on the environment as it is processed with huge amounts of acid chemicals. For the same reason, the ventures synthetic leathers are made from cotton-backed polyurethane rather than PVC. Packaging is produced with materials from a sustainable source and promotional material is printed on recycled paper using soya-based inks.

howies uses organic cotton (less pesticide and less irrigated water), low-impact printing inks and dyes, and has developed an environmentally friendlier way of washing its indigo denim clothes. Its Earth Tax pledge sees one per cent of turnover or 10 per cent of pre-tax profit go to grassroots and environmental projects.

Enamores material of choice is hemp, which requires no pesticides at all.

Another exhibitor, Benjamin Shine, designs garments that have multisize and multifunctional qualities, thus extending the potential life and usage of one piece of clothing.

Washing and drying clothes has a big environmental impact, so some designers use materials that can be washed in cool water.

Red Mutha offers customers the chance to have an old garment redesigned and embellished to their own style.

Kerry Seager of Junky Styling goes for recycling, as does Worn Again - 99% recycled, with materials that include old car leather, used coffee bags and prison blankets.

The company says 15p from each pair of trainers goes to Climate Care, to offset carbon generated in manufacturing and transport, and £1.50 to Anti-Apathy, an organisation that promotes awareness and action for positive social change.

Sari - We believe in creating beauty and creating hope donates 10 per cent of sales to a childrens charity. Co-founder Sital Haria says, All our saris are unwanted garments that are being thrown out. Sari is the first recycling organisation to provide a service to the Indian community in the UK, and prevents these wonderful fabrics from ending up in a landfill.

Earley admits that many of the designers featured in the exhibition are small traders whose production volume makes very little impact in contrast to the large high street and designer companies. But, she adds, perhaps they mark the beginning of a new direction, perhaps they are signposting the future for us, and perhaps their impact could in fact be very great indeed.

Oh, the attractiveness of the clothes on display? You'll have to make up your own mind.

* Well Fashioned: Eco Style in the UK
is at the Crafts Council in London until 4 June, and then
The City Gallery, Leicester, 15 July-26 August
The Design Centre, Barnsley, 7 September-27 October
City Museum & Records Office, Portsmouth, 4 November-7 January 2007
Bilston Craft Gallery, Wolverhampton, 20 January 2007-3 March 2007