A coat is for life: How to shop ethically 

Eloise Grey designs ethical clothing using organic tweed from the Hebrides, off the west coast of Scotland. Here she tells Living why we should be buying fewer clothes.

When I started to look into ethical fashion, I gradually found that I couldn’t look back. I had to know the story of where my garments came from. Not only this; but I found it much more satisfying, even delightful, to buy and make from people who work with dignity and often great beauty. Heavily manufactured garments lack soul for me.

I want to have a connection to my makers, in the same way as my customers want to know who I am. I am keen to keep local skills going; especially those that form part of our heritage such as the tweed weaving traditions which embody centuries of knowledge. Also, I’m very concerned at the carbon footprint associated with clothing manufacture.

I choose fabrics which are beautiful as well as incorporate stewardship of the land, the community and the skills. Using local and native materials is also important to me as this also reduces clothing miles.

While it’s good that clothes are now recycled, recycling is still part of a heavily manufactured world, which depends upon cheap oil. I’m about artisan-style production which is on a human scale and valuing materials.

Buy beautiful; buy less

We need to change our shopping practices towards a more sustainable model by buying a lot less. Buy very beautiful pieces, and buy fewer of them. They’ll last longer, your total spend will probably be less, you are unlikely to throw clothes out and you probably need less storage space too. Spend your free time doing something else than shopping!

Cheap clothing doesn’t necessarily mean you spend less on clothes in general. So, I’m keen explode the myth about cheap clothing.

If I think about the last year, I’ve bought shoes from ethical shoemakers Terra Plana, and knitwear from Herefordshire-based, Keep and Share.

I’m also a huge fan of Vivienne Westwood, who in her way is a pioneer of ethical fashion, as fashion is a vehicle for her values. Her work is sexy and flattering and also has that classic quality that doesn’t date. And I do love Margaret Howell; her aesthetic is very strong and she produces quite a lot in the UK.

When I buy clothes I look for origin and provenance, originality and design. I generally make sure the materials are top quality. I try hard to think about everything I buy carefully to ensure it’s a considered purchase.

Eloise is involved in the Twelve Degrees of Ethical Fashion experience, the brain-child of Colin Firth and his film producer wife Livia, environmental journalist Lucy Siegle, fashion designer Orsola de Castro (who runs Esthetica at London Fashion Week) and ethical fashion expert Jocelyn Whipple. She runs her business from her website, www.eloisegrey.com, and has just opened a boutique in Farnham.

IMAGE by Flickr user AnnaKika