*INTRODUCING*

Delectable 'recipes' to inspire you to whip up your own styles

A simple starter to show you how easy it is to make your clothing your own:

We discovered that local charity shops are trading a treasure trove of rare buttons for mere pennies.

Or take a gander to Edinburgh car boot sale, every Sunday morning from 9am on Lothian road, for a genuine military fastening.

Hold your needles for more how-tos to be shared shortly...

'Design is at the start of the production chain and is the most effective, direct action you can take to influence sustainability'

Dr Kate Fletcher, author of ‘Sustainable Fashion & Textiles: Design Journeys’ addressed a ‘Fashioning an Ethical Industry’ conference at Out of the Blue, Edinburgh, 23/03/11.

Fletcher disentangled some of the knotty dilemmas faced by brands, students and consumers with the shared end of a sustainable future for style.

We would like to share some of what we learned.

The Supply Chain: For the conscious consumer, trying to navigate the multifarious systems of labelling (‘organic’, ‘fair trade’, ‘made by’) introduced in recent years to offer the consumer reassurance about the origins of their clothing, can be a mind-numbing experience…

…If this t-shirt is labelled ‘organic cotton’, does it mean that the garment workers involved in its production have been fairly paid?

What does ‘fair trade’ really mean?

All of these labels, although going some way to demystifying the manufacture history of a garment, fail to extricate the consumer from murky waters.

Paradoxically, some brands which do commission factories following ‘fair trade’ guidelines, will not risk labelling their garments as such since their disconnection from the processes of production prevents any certainty of the conditions under which their products are produced.

The Power of Design: Fletcher appealed to the old adage ‘prevention is better than cure’. She highlighted that ‘eighty per cent of costs of production are choices made in design’, thus ‘design is at the start of the production chain and is the most effective, direct action you can take to influence sustainability’.

The Consumer: must become consciously, not passively engaged with garment purchase.

We must find ways to create an emotional connection with clothes.

The Doubt: The economic imperative is to grow. Growth depends on buying and selling.

The Challenge: To create a new future for ourselves. To find ways to make money in the fashion industry without selling new units. To find entirely new ways to make fashion happen.

The Style Project: inspired to engage brands, consumers and students in conscious consumerism.