Blue is the new green

Blue is the new green when it comes to sustainable clothing. The fashion industry's latest initiative is the "blue button", a symbol that signals garments have been produced sustainably. Bono's wife, Ali Hewson, who runs green label Edun, has signed up to the blue button, as has Kuyichi streetwear to give you an idea.

The button, which appears next to the care label, is awarded by MADE-BY, a not-for-profit umbrella labelling agency. MADE-BY's mission is to make sustainable fashion common practice.

It helps designers source eco-friendly fabrics, such as organic cotton, and enables them to find factories which treat their staff fairly (paying a reasonable wage, not employing children, serving a hot meal at lunchtime).

If you want to check the provenance of a garment with the blue button, you can also use MADE-BY's ingenious Track & Trace system.

Simply type the code on the clothing label into their website and you can discover where your T-shirt was made, and by whom - down to the harvesting of the cotton and the sewing studio who worked with the cloth.

Allanna McAspurn, UK director of MADE-BY, is talking to big-name London brands about signing up to the blue button. Designers can get on with creating beautiful collections while MADE-BY ensures they do so in a socially responsible way.

That means you can indulge in a beautiful pair of £115 Roxy jeans from Kuyichi - all its denim is made from sustainable materials ranging from organic cotton to linen and soya - with a clear conscience.

Source: This is London
Image: Kuyichi jeans