One World Cinema

Follow one of the UK's top emerging designers, and Creative Director of the fashion line 'Mother of Pearl," Amy Powney, on her 18 month journey to create a sustainable, traceable, fashion collection 'No Frills,' where she successfully balances keeping the enjoyment of fashion, while considering it's footprint and impact on the planet. If the fashion industry were a country, it would rank third for carbon emissions after China and the US, as we buy three times as many clothes as we did in the 1980's, and wear them for half as long, with three out of five garments going to landfill within one year of purchase.

Naomi Klein's book "No Logo," made a life changing impact on Amy while she was studying at University as she learned about the harsh reality and poor health and safety conditions of those working in sweatshops in the Americas and Asia, and how only 2% of the people who make our clothes earn a livable wage. The impact the chemicals have, the large quantities produced, pollution, carbon emissions, and the way the animals are treated, made her want to create her own ethically sourced, sustainable line, in a socially responsible way.

She travels to Austria, Uruguay, Peru, and Turkey and finds mills that use logs for generating power, and farms that use steam instead of chemicals to soften wool leading to total equality in the sustainable production of combed wool which is in harmony with the environment.

Mulesing, or the pain and fear inflicted on sheep caused by the practice of cutting chunks of flesh from lambs' hindquarters with shears to address problems caused by breeding them to produce excessive amounts of wool, is not practiced in Uruguay.

GOTS: or Global Organic Textile Standard is a certification body ensuring fashion products adhere to strict social and environmental standards. Under GOTS certification the minimum working age is 16, certified companies are required to pay their employees a living wage, while the use of hazardous chemicals is prohibited.

"No Frills" was the only sustainable collection on the schedule at London Fashion Week September 2018 and it's success has allowed Amy and her partner Chloe, to turn 'Mother of Pearl' into one of the first sustainable luxury brands using organic cotton, wool and Tencel, a fibre made from sustainable managed forests.

As a result of those paving the way in sustainable fashion, many industry innovations are underway including scannable labels that trace a garments supply chain, friendly bacteria that are programmed to grow colors found in nature and dye fabrics biologically and not chemically, and leather made from mushrooms.

So, in the past four years, the number of clothes described as sustainable has quadrupled, however, fashion's impact is only getting worse, with the industry projected to grow 63% by 2030 putting unprecedented strain on planetary resources.