Oxford Fashion Week - Ethical Debate/Show

On Friday it was time to talk about the serious issues of fashion and raised the question - do we really know where our clothes are coming from? And how many of us care? A lot more of us than 10 years ago according to Ethical and Fair Trade Consultant Elizabeth Laskar: most people now recognise the fair trade sign and many more people are buying fair trade. I know that the first thought for many fashionistas is that ethical fashion isn't as attractive as it could be but the Ethical Show at The Living Room, blew this theory completely out of the water. I can honestly say that not only were the designs some of the most aesthetically pleasing but also the most wearable that I've seen so far. There's a reason I'm doing a writing degree and not a photography one, so please check out the pictures on the official OFW 2011 blog.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/oxfordfashionweek/sets/72157626201473020/

My personal favourites were these cute, casual bird print dresses, pictured below, bird print has been massive for a while now and is still going strong:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/oxfordfashionweek/5501053286/in/set-72157626201473020/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/oxfordfashionweek/5500462673/in/set-72157626201473020/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/oxfordfashionweek/5499786226/in/set-72157626201473020/

Here's another gorgeous dress, but this time of the more luxurious variety:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/oxfordfashionweek/5499256489/in/set-72157626201473020/

There wasn't much for the fella's but I liked this gentleman in red, in his indie inspired skinnies and checked shirt:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/oxfordfashionweek/5501059194/in/set-72157626201473020/

Elizabeth Laskar and Judith Condar-Vidal, who describes herself as a social entrepreneur, really inspired the audience, myself included, that ethical fashion is worth investing in. "We all want to feel happy to wear something with a story," said Peru born Judith who has just designed her 7th collection for Topshop. Here's Judith in mid flow at the 03 Gallery debate, which took place prior to the Ethical Show:

Judith won The Ethical Fashion Award at Paris Fashion Week 2008

Elizabeth Laskar with Creative Director of OFW Carl Anglim

If you need further persuasion than the gorgeous garments from the ethical show, to buy into fair trade fashion then here's a few shocking facts for you to digest:

• 1.5 million tons of unwanted clothes end up in landfills every year ... in the UK alone
• Many of the people who make our clothes earn less than $2 per day
• Some of the pestacides used to grow cotton can cause deformaties and death

If you want to look great with a totally clear conscience, Eliazabeth recommends M&S, Topshop and quirky Cowley Road boutique Indigo. You could also look at these links for more info on ethical issues:

http://www.tradingfordevelopment.co.uk/

http://www.ethichic.co.uk/