Estethica found itself in the spotlight of this years London Fashion Week, by opening the week with Noir catwalk and the launch of the Sustainable Clothing Action Plan.  The bar has most definitely been raised in design terms as well, with some very forward looking collections.3 of the brightest stars are Christopher Raeburn, Ada Zandition and Mark Liu click through to look at their innovative work…

The Fairwear 2010 fashion show, which showcases ethical style and a collection by Harry Potter star Emma Watson. (Emma has collaborated with People Tree on a S/S collection) will be held at Bristol Cathedral on Thursday 25th February.  Not only does the collection use 100% Fairtrade certified cotton, it is also made entirely by fair-trade groups by hand, using hand weaving, hand knitting and hand embroidery to create livelihoods for some of the most disadvantaged people in India, Bangladesh and Nepal.Fairwear 2010 will be presented by Hollyoaks and Casualty actor James Redmond and tickets, including goodie bag, cost £8 for the 4pm show and £10 for the 7pm show.To buy tickets click here http://www.fairwearfashionshow.org.uk/ Then on Friday 26th February, 120 secondary school students and further education students from Bristol and the South West will attend a conference aimed at highlighting the reality behind fast fashion.  Tara Starlet, fashion-campaginer and star of BBC3 series Blood, Sweat and T-Shirts will open the Fashion Victims conference at the University of the West of England’s Bower Ashton campus.The conference hopes to persuade the 14-18 year old students to take a deeper look at what they are buying, many are studying textiles or design and hope to work in the fashion industry eventually.

EJF’s latest report called ‘Slave Nation: State Sponsored Forced Child Labour in Uzbekistan’s Cotton Fields’, exposes how cotton production in the Central Asian Republic of Uzbekistan remains one of the most exploitative enterprises in the world.”Slave Nation” reveals how the government of Uzbekistan continues to lie to the international community while routinely compelling hundreds of thousands of children as labourers in the country’s annual cotton harvest.The report is packed with new information from the 2009 harvest, photos and a roundup of the major actions around the world for this campaign with recommendations for the private sector, policy makers and consumers.To view this click herehttp://www.ejfoundation.org/page93.html 

Laura Ashley is proud to be supporting Fairtrade Fortnight 2010 and have created some fantastic tshirt designs in aid of the Big Swap campaign.Available between 22nd February - 7th March click here to register your swap http://www.fairtrade.org.uk/thebigswap/and here to view the Laura Ashley collectionhttp://www.lauraashley.com/icat/fairtradeweek 

This years Fairtrade Fortnight campaign ‘The Big Swap’ is asking the nation to swap your usual bananas, cotton socks, coffee, anything you consume for Fairtrade alternatives.  The idea is to get the public thinking about buying Fairtrade if you don’t already.The Fairtrade website is hosting an online registration where you can claim your swaps.  The charity wants to know what people are swapping and have high expectations that over a million people will get involved and possibly stick to their swap.  The aim is to show proof that people in the UK want producers in the developing world to get a fairer deal.http://www.fairtrade.org.uk/thebigswap 

With valentines this weekend and fairtrade fortnight just around the corner, why not indulge in the latest range of fairtrade nightwear and underwear by ‘Lifes not fair but my knickers are.  Beautifully designed and made from certified Fairtrade cotton, the UK label includes flirty lingerie, flattering loungewear and seriously luxurious pj’s.To view the collection visit www.lifesnotfairbutmyknickersare.com 

Actress Emma Watson aka Hermione Granger in the films Harry Potter, has been busy designing a range of casual dresses, tees, jackets and accessories for women and casual mens range for ethical brand ‘People Tree’  Prices range from £15 - £115 and the collection will unfold over the next coming weeks.to view the collection log onto www.peopletree.co.uk 

The Soil Association annual conference ’The Future of Food’ takes place on the 3rd - 4th February 2010 at the Custard Factory, Birmingham.The conference addresses the triple challenges of climate change, resource depletion and food security and the need to develop new models for food ad farming systems in the 21st century.

Elvis & Kresse are a new wave of young designers who are turning used fire hoses and decommissioned British Army parachute silk into stunning life-style accessories by re-engineering seemingly useless waste.The London firm designs eco-friendly products to transform hoses into handbags and  uses the parachute silk into linings that bear the artists illustrations and prints.The resulting accessories line will launch during London Fashion Week next month and will include messenger bags with gold silk linings featuring a volcano image by Liverpool- born Paul Morrison and rubber wallets adorned with a spiderweb drawn by Frenchman Olivier Millagou.50% of profits will go to causes associated with the materials. Such as Fire Fighters Charity.

Made By and Edun Live will be announcing their winning t-shirt from the ‘MADE BY/EDUN LIVE’ contest today at Ascension, St Christopher’s Place.  The winners t-shirt design will be exclusively available at ASCENSION for the month of February.€5 from each t-shirt sold will be donated to the Wildlife Conservation Society in support of the Conservation Cotton Initiative.  This helps the African farmers shift from environmentally destructive cotton-growing techniques to pesticide-free organic cultivation while protecting wildlife habitats.T Shirt and Sons, the UK’s only organic t-shirt printer, produced the printed tee’s for this project.www.tshirtandsons.co.uk