Fairer Fashion Footprint (written for SIX Magazine)

At the end of May the SIX team descended on the West-End store of Swedish vintage hipsters Beyond Retro for a sophisticated evening of wine, debate and perhaps more importantly, sustainable shopping. Out in full force for the London School of Economics Student Union Fairer Fashion Footprint event were many an eco-pioneer including several SIX friends such as the Ethical Fashion Forum’s SOURCE magazine and one of SIX’s favourite S+E designer the delightful Ada Zanditon.

Lured to Beyond Retro for such a worthy cause, our motivation was ever-so-slightly boosted by keynote speakers Lucy Siegle and Livia Firth. Offering what could be described as a thrilling and informative overview of the state of the S+E fashion market, the social justice issues associated with fast-fashion and consumer awareness of S+E fashion in the UK.

Having formed a close bond through working on the Green Carpet Challenge for Vogue.com back in 2009, Firth and Siegle often join forces to highlight the social benefits of  S+E fashion, something which was evident in their interaction. Both ladies were firmly on point, with Siegle in particular reeling off the statistics, proving the breadth of her knowledge and in-depth research into the trends, product ion and side-effects of fashion leaving us all in no doubt that she knows the world of S+E fashion inside out.
Read the full article here.

Garment Of The Week: Lalesso

A label I first discovered several years ago while researching emerging brands of African origin, Lalesso is a firm favourite, getting additional brownie points for being ethically sound – something that is getting increasingly important to me as I get older. Having recently won the coveted Ethical Fashion Forum award for Innovation, Lalesso’s SS11 collection beautifully reflects the brand’s signature love of East African print. Offering a plethora of stylish summer dresses in a variety of figure-enhancing cuts, bright colours and light fabrics, Lalesso’s designs are both eye-catching and practical in equal measures.

In 2009 Lalesso’s lovely founders - Olivia Kennaway and Alice Heusser - transferred their in-house workshop to the HQ of another of their Kenyan inspired ideas, SOKO. After realising the potential that an ethical factory could offer - namely an increased number of jobs in the local town of Ukunda, and increased export of quality garments - the entrepreneurial pair leapt at the chance to create their own independent, charity-based, eco and ethical clothing production unit.

With Lalesso - among many other international designers and brands, including another favourite of mine, Lu Flux - using SOKO exclusively for garment production, the future for Kenyan workers in Ukunda is looking bright. Located in the grounds of Ukunda Polytechnic, this pioneering initiative seeks to place the community at the heart of production. By encouraging local hotels and businesses to donate materials, SOKO ensures students are given the means to improve their practical skills while providing the possibility of further training and employment for graduates.

Certified as a Carbon Zero company, Lalesso hone and utilise the creative talent of SOKO-based Kenyan artisans in many aspects of the design process to create: bead detailing, bracelets on the swing tags, delightful hand-carved coconut buttons and Masai beading. Rather excitingly SS11 sees a new collaboration, incorporating the beautiful brass works of the Bombolulu Workshop into garments – a project organised by the Association of the physically disabled of Kenya.

As you can tell from the 400 odd words above, there is a lot to love about Lalesso, so when it came to choosing a singular garment for GOTW I was quite surprised that only one really stood out in my mind; the Matatu halter-neck dress, which just screams out to be taken on holiday. In a beautiful sea blue with a striking yellow and red repeat print, my guess is that this dress will be beautiful for highlighting a tan and sun-kissed tresses, making it the jewel in Lalesso’s SS11 head wrap.

The Matatu dress and the entire SS11 collection is available worldwide from 1st April 2011.