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LIVIA FIRTH IS EXPLAINING THE key to solving fashion’s environmental issues. She’s describing the one thing that could potentially halt the destructive effects of fast fashion. ‘Imagine if Kim Kardashian started a campaign for ethical and sustainable fashion – we would change the world!’ she proclaims from Eco-Age, the London-based sustainability consultancy she founded in 2OO8. If Kim ‘Break-the-Internet’ Kardashian were to start posting ethical missives to her 114 million-strong social-media following, then ‘we’d be done, we could close the company,’ says Firth. ‘So that’s my mission this year: to get the big social-media influencers to start campaigning about these issues.’
If the force, and success, of Firth’s past projects are anything to go by, then it’s certainly not beyond the realms of possibility. She is realistic about the challenges faced by the fashion industry, and yet equally ambitious in her outlook. This year has seen visits to the European Parliament to look into trade regulation, and to Buckingham Palace for the Commonwealth Fashion Exchange, a new ethical programme connecting designers with artisan producers that was launched in partnership with Eco-Age.
And it’s not just Kim Kardashian she has her sights set on. The Duchess of Cambridge, whom Firth says is ‘very into textiles’, hosted the party for the Commonwealth Fashion Exchange. ‘In spite of herself, the Duchess of Cambridge has become a fashion icon. Each time she steps out, everyone is interested. It’s very important that she starts becoming involved and interested [in sustainable causes], because that will ripple,’ Firth says.
But the ripples have already started, and Firth, with her unwavering dedication to social and environmental justice, has been a driving force: ‘The stories of the people who make the clothes are becoming much more promGREERinent now,’ she says. It’s these tales, and the With a PhD in environmenctoanl nections consumers are making with the toxicology, senior scientihsut man cost of clothes, that Firth says are so and all-round wonder powerful. They’re also some of the main principles woman Linda Greer of Eco-Age, which helps a number of launched the Natural clients, including Matchesfashion.com and Resources Defense CouncGil’uscci, find sustainable ways of working,
fashion-focused Clean bwyhether in their supply chain or corporate Design program in 2OO9sttroategy. ‘At Eco-Age, the environmental jusairtice clean up water and goes hand in hand with the social justice.’ pollution in apparel is also fervent about the way feminism plays into the question of sustainability. ‘When you look at the #MeToo campaign and the concept of feminism, you think, “How can we just be feminists in our little world?” When you are a feminist, you have to consider women everywhere. When you get dressed, you are wearing the story of another woman who is getting exploited. If you are a true feminist, #MeToo also has to apply to them. You have to make the connection and remember those stories.’
So how do we do that? ‘Be mindful and remember the concept of interdependence – we are all connected. Every day you get dressed, it’s because someone else is sewing your clothes. Every day you eat, it’s because someone else has been growing your food. You are one part of a lot of hands at work, and you have to be mindful of that, then everything will fall into place.’
eco-age.com