Five ethical lifestyle brands Gather & See gatherandsee.com A boutique selling only the best ethical and sustainable fashion online. Style that is conscious and sensitive to the world around us. People Tree peopletree.co.uk Ethical and eco fashion collections, partnering with Fair Trade producers, garment workers, artisans and farmers in the developing world. Veja veja-store.com Ecological and Fairtrade footwear and accessories. Veja works with cooperatives of small producers and social associations in Brazil and France. Lalesso lalesso.com Eco, ethical and sustainable African luxury fashion and lifestyle brand. Matt & Nat mattandnat.com Vegan, sustainable and eco-friendly accessories. The linings of Matt & Nat bags are made out of 100% recycled plastic bottles.
and trying to be fair at the same time. We try to build a partnership so they can trust us and we can trust them. How important is it that success is shared with everyone involved? CAMILLA The weavers are constantly busy with our orders. They’ve been so successful because they’ve had a great chairlady and understood the demands. They’re part of the success as well. It’s a whole set of different partnerships. How did you find your time at AUB? What were the most important lessons you learned? CAMILLA I think doing a final collection was a good all-round experience. We work seasonally for the business now: putting together a collection, developing it, prototyping it, reviewing it and marketing it. We learnt Photoshop and InDesign, which we use a lot now. We’re both doing a lot of CAD design work which has been really helpful. HOLLY The course enabled me to follow and grow a passion in Fairtrade and ethical fashion and design. I started using more sustainable fabrics like cotton and bamboo, and became aware of the environment and the people making the products. My dissertation was on globalisation in Africa and the textile industry. It really fed into setting up this business, more than I may have expected.
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