SAY IT WITH A T-SHIRT

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It started with Katherine Hamnett in 1983, now Alice Temperley, Giles Deacon and Zandra Rhodes are on board. Put it down to the recent swing in consumer spending trends towards products that promote social and environmental responsibility, but suddenly T-shirts with something to say are everywhere. It seems we increasingly want clothing that reflects our ethics and T-shirts, perhaps more than any other garment, have a unique ability to do this. With a simple image and few words they convey a clear message about the personality and convictions of the wearer. Here’s a pick of some of the best.

The Ethical Justice Foundation works to promote environmental security and raise awareness on the human right abuses associated with cotton production. The result of collaborations with high profile designers on specific initiatives, EJF’s t-shirts have been a huge success with supplies in pop up stores selling out in a matter of weeks. Get behind the Pick Your Cotton Carefully campaign by snapping up one of the 10 organic t-shirts by leading designers including Alice Temperley, Christian Lacroix and ethical label Ciel.

If your concern is wildlife but the idea of walking around with SAVE THE WHALE doesn’t appeal, Belle&Dean subtly highlight the issue of decreasing bio-diversity by featuring images of endangered animals and plants on their shirts. Designs are hand drawn by co-founder Issy, and produced in a small family run factory on organic cotton with water-based inks. For those of you who want to know a bit more about the animals and plants in question, you can browse their website for all the stats before you buy.

While ethical outdoor favourite Patagonia has a sizeable collection for both men and women with original artwork by Nikki McClure and Geoff McFetridge amongst others, if you’re after distinctive designs that no one else will be wearing the online directory Etsy is the place to start. Stocking small-scale brands that largely produce by hand, Etsy has a huge number of desirable pieces under its virtual roof. It takes some trawling through but is definitely worth it. Look out for designs by Happyfamily, Isotope and Critter Jitters. Perhaps the biggest point to make in favour of t-shirts is that they are largely immune to seasons. You simply pick an issue you identify with and wear it for the next ten years.