As Boris’s girlfriend leads the way, can the green lobby tempt the rest of us with eco style?
ABAK claims her business is sustainable and ethical rather than eco. “I’m not looking to build an empire,” she says. “I want to build a good clothing brand that works on the basis of slow fashion, collaborating with other small British manufacturers and brands to showcase what this country has to offer in manufacturing and creativity.
“We make on a continuous basis in batches, which means we don’t carry excess stock, and our prices reflect the quality and costs of producing in the UK, including the fair wages paid to our makers in London.”
An experienced former creative director at fashion retailers Boden and LK Bennett, and in-house designer at Fendi, Jigsaw, Laura Ashley and M&S, Tabak was in her 50s when she launched her own label. She began producing her timeless designs from her kitchen table in north London.
Unashamedly pretty, with its gathered, calflength skirt and shoulderof-mutton sleeves, the sprigged cotton style worn by Carrie nodded heavily towards Laura Ashley.
The modest, old-fashioned trend is sweeping the fashion world right now. Similar styles can be found on the High Street, at Zara, H&M, and online at ASOS. Traditionally, most major brands have not placed green credentials at the top of their agenda – but this is beginning to change.
Last month, Zara’s parent company, Spanish conglomerate Inditex, announced a switch to renewable energy and a commitment that all of its collections would be made from 100 per cent sustainable fabric by 2025.
Uniqlo owner Fast Retailing this week pledged to slash water use by up to 99 per cent from next year in the manufacture of its jeans collection. The Take Action programme from Spanish label Mango aims to ensure that half of all cotton used in its garments is sustainably sourced within three years. In the UK, the government-backed Sustainable Clothing Action Plan, has signed up nine large retailers including M&S, Next and ASOS. All have pledged to reduce water use and waste sent to landfill by 15 per cent before 2020.
H&M’s Conscious capsule collection, launched in 2010, uses recycled materials. So far so eco. However, the firm has admitted incinerating more than 60 tons of unsold clothing since 2013.
Consumer pressure has seen the Swedish retail giant launch various green initiatives. It has piloted a free mending service, and has also pledged to use only recycled or sustainably sourced materials by 2030.
However, the current cheap, fast fashion phenomenon has created the perception that clothes are disposable.
This is not helped by the wear-once mentality of some Instagrammers, who take selfies in garments before binning them or returning them to stores – claiming they have never been worn.
In the US, 85 per cent of garments are sent to landfill instead of being worn to the end of their useful life, recycled or re-used.
Frighteningly, it has been reported that the fashion industry could account for a quarter of the world’s carbon budget by 2050 if we don’t take action.
This weekend, at the G7 summit in