Fashion Gets a Conscience

By Cara Davis | February 22, 2011 at 12:04 pm

Fashion Against AIDS; Image by H&M

Stark white organic cotton mark H&M‘s spring conscious collection, but one characteristic stands out above the fashion: sustainability. The collection, launching April 14, is for women, men and children is made from environmentally adapted and greener materials such as organic cotton, Tencel® and recycled polyester.

Also from H&M comes Fashion Against AIDS (FAA), a campaign designed to raise both funds and awareness (it’s donated over 41 million Swedish Krona for Designers Against AIDS (DAA) and various other international HIV/AIDS projects over the past four years). “Because the HIV/AIDS message is as important for young women as much as it is for young men, the sporty unisex collection is for everyone to wear in their own way,” according to H&M Press. The collection is available in H&M’s Divided department beginning April 26. A quarter of sales will be donated to youth HIV/AIDS projects around the world.

Harry Potter’s Emma Watson has made her third and final organic and fair-trade collaboration with eco-friendly fashion line People Tree, and announced she will continue to work in green fashion. Her new project will be for Ferretti, an Italian style guru.

“I don’t know how to impress upon people the importance of Fair Trade,” Watson said. “If, when buying an item, whatever it may be, people have the choice to buy Fair Trade or non Fair Trade, they should buy the Fair Trade item. It really does make all the difference – the contrast between Swallows and the slums in Dhaka is testimony to that.”

She’s not the only celebrity lending her name to fashionable causes. Ashton Kutcher and Demi Moore teamed up with artist Jack Vartanian to create a collection of necklaces inspired by the DNA logo to raise awareness about the reality of child sex slavery. Half of sales will be donated the DNA Foundation.