Inspiring businesses

Green fashionistas: Changing the way we dress

Livia Giuggioli: Eco Age


Italian fashionista Livia Giuggioli co-founded Eco Age, a one-stop eco shop situated on Chiswick High Road, London. Her unique approach to red carpet events has made headlines, too.

   

Livia set herself the challenge of only wearing ethical and sustainable fashion on the various red carpets during the 2010 awards season. There’s been no shortage of events to accompany actor husband Colin Firth to. At the Golden Globes her “upcycled” Christiana Couture wedding dress caused quite a stir.

   

In March 2009, Livia launched the 12 Degrees “pop-up” fashion shop at Eco Age. Designed to create a platform to showcase designers who were working in a sustainable way, its success led to a selection of the best brands being stocked permanently in store.

Find out more at http://www.eco-age.com


Safia Minney: People Tree

Born from a lifelong interest in environmental, trade and social justice issues, People Tree is an eco champion in the fashion industry. Founder and CEO, Safia Minney, launched the company’s first UK fashion collection in 2001 with a range created from eco-textiles like organic cotton.

   

People Tree has become an eco-fashion tour de force, actively supporting 2000 farmers and artisans through 50 Fair Trade producer groups in 15 developing countries.

   

To limit the company’s carbon footprint, Safia uses hand-woven fabrics rather than textiles from powered looms. This gives the fabrics a unique texture and luxurious feel.

   

Go to www.peopletree.co.uk for more details

   

Annika Sanders and Kerry Seager: Junky Styling

While the world sends billions of pounds worth of clothing to landfill sites every year, one dynamic fashion duo is helping to turn fashion wastage on its head.

   

While visiting cities like Tokyo and San Francisco as teenagers in the early ’90s, Annika Sanders and Kerry Seager noticed a trend for recycled fashion.

   

Back in London the friends scoured second hand shops and began creating outfits to wear to the capital’s clubs. Inundated by commissions from friends, Junky Styling was born.

   

Eleven years on, Annika and Kerry still produce cutting-edge fashion. All garments in their well-established Brick Lane shop are created from top-end recycled clothing.

   

Discover more at www.junkystyling.co.uk


Team Green Britain and London Organising Committee of the Olympic Games and Paralympic Games Ltd (LOCOG) do not endorse any of the products, companies, organisations, opinions or websites that have been mentioned in this article. The content of this article has merely been provided as background to, or discussion on, various topical issues relating to the environment and it is not necessarily representative of the views of Team Green Britain and LOCOG. Further, any figures and calculations noted in this article are estimates (unless otherwise specified), and may vary in light of numerous factors and readers are advised to undertake their own research in relation to the facts and figures applicable to their particular circumstance.

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