This month Quiksilver and Roxy are joining forces to promote the message No Water Sucks, a Europe-wide campaign aimed at protecting our water resources. On both the Quicksilver and Roxy website internet-users are invited to post their pictures illus¬trating ‘a lack of water.’ Th winning picture will be the one that garners the most votes from other internet-users in a one-click voting system. The winner will receive two cheques of €1000 each, one of which will be fully donated to one of the three charities the winner will have selected. For every photo posted on the websites, Quiksilver and Roxy pledge to replant a tree.

Few items are as versatile as the shirt dress especially during those tricky in-between-season months. The shirtdress is perfect to wear loosely over jeans layered under Bibico knits. With heels and some big bracelets, even a simple organic cotton shirtdress can become a sexy evening outfit. I can't stop wearing my DeuxFM and Loyale shirt dresses and love to share these pieces with you.

March 15-17, 2010 - LA International Textiles Show
Known as "the largest, one-stop textile, design & production showcase in the U.S.", Organic Exchange will be exhibiting at this show to reach-out to a new market segment. Heidi McCloskey will be presenting 'Current and Future Trends in Textile Sustainability' in conjunction with Lenzing on Tuesday, March 16 at 1:00pm.

The third edition of the Green Fashion Switzerland took place on the 12th of February during the Natur Gala at the Music Theater Basel. I made my way to the event despite the rain and the freezing weather but it was definitely worth it! A lot has changed since the first Green Fashion Switzerland back in 2008. I remember it quite well because it was the first eco fashion fair I ever attended during my research on ethical fashion in Switzerland. It was a great platform (still is!) to get an initial insight into the green fashion movement and learn that so much is being done in Switzerland. However the old location was a bit small and crowded, and although the fashion show was really nice, I thought the glamour factor was missing.

Fashion Fusion Expo is a brand new event set to raise consumer awareness about fashion and sustainability in the UK. Showcasing the very best in sustainable designers including ethical clothing, shoes and accessories, this two-day event aims to attract more than 6,000 visitors. Catwalk shows and seminar talks will take place on both days, including tips on styling by ethical stylist Lupe Castro starting from 12:30 pm. Some of the designers include: Julia Smith, CRED Jewellery, Juzi, Choolips, Trousers London, Embellished Truth, THTC, By Stamo and Side Effects. Fashion Fusion Expo is taking place on 12th - 13th March from 9am-7pm at The Old Truman Brewery - 91 Brick Lane, London, E1 6QL. Don’t miss the biggest event this year celebrating Sustainable fashion!

The lesso: A long rectangular piece of cloth, brightly coloured and patterned, the traditional attire of Swahili women living along the coastal regions of East Africa. Since 2005, the lesso has taken on a different, rather more international role as the inspiration and centrepiece of clothing brand Lalesso, which is currently taking the fashion world by storm.

Showing this weekend in the Swedish Cultural Center in Paris: Camilla Norrback’s latest collection! The pieces in the autumn/winter 2010 collection are characterized by intricate knits, classic shapes and soft materials, perfect for a Scandinavian winter!

Last week several student led initiatives highlighted ethical fashion in the UK and USA. UCL's fashion society, MODO, held a spectacular show with garments made from a variety of materials including Ikea bags, paperclips, photographs, newspaper and human hair, some wearable and some not so much! The designers were all students at UCL who make clothes in their spare time as part of the society. Sponsors included 10:10, TRAID, Friends of the Earth and Greenpeace.

EFW has made its mark in the eco-fashion industry and will continue to be a portal for the latest technologies, designers and styles in the eco-fashion sector. That being said, we are forming partnerships and stretching beyond the “fashion” industry into all parts of the green spectrum to further demonstrate our commitment in protecting our planet through sustainability.

On a recent trip to a secret island (no joke), I had one of those ‘ah-ha!’ moments about one of my favorite prints. As I reached a secluded part of the beach I realized the sand at a plateau where the tide had last receded, left these incredible patterns of dark sentiment throughout. I couldn’t help but think about ikat prints. I know, ikat is sooooooo last year, but in the world of shopping and dressing green, one-off trends are just one more aspect of fashion we all need to work against. Let’s take a look at ikat as a timeless trend instead, shall we?

If the Eco Fashion Forward party was any indication, Vancouver is about to go to a whole new level with the upcoming Vancouver Eco Fashion Week in April 2010. The event is the brainchild of Miriam Laroche and draws from her 15 years of experience working in the fashion industry. Vancouver Eco Fashion Week seeks to put the “glamour” into the Ethical Fashion scene in Vancouver.

These days, a heated debate on fish leather is taking place on our social networking group on LinkedIn. Although we have written about fish leather before, we feel it is good to stick our nose in this business again.

Salmon is probably the best known fish that is used for making leather. Other species include tilapia, Nile perch, carp and sea bass, among others. The different fish species are identifiable by their shape and the size of the scale pockets. Salmon has for example very small scale pocket patterns. Fish leather is as strong as any other. It is made in a variety of finishes, most popular of which are ruffled and glazed suede. The leather is drum dyed in a rainbow spectrum of colors which allows designers a rich choice to work with.

To celebrate their 5-year anniversary, sustainable labelling pioneers, MADE-BY have joined forces with EDUN LIVE to launch a limited edition range of sustainable printed T-shirts. These will be available exclusively at Ascension during February.

The ESTETHICA exhibition, now in its seventh year at London Fashion Week, has evolved to become the epicentre of London's ethical fashion industry. The success of this initiative – which is the strongest of its kind – is evident in its rapid growth. From its first season of 13 designers, 9 new labels joined for SS10, making ESTETHICA a collective of 28 designers. This is a British Fashion Council’s (BFC) eco-sustainable initiative sponsored by MONSOON. At the press day on November 11th the BFC announced the winners of a programme to develop eco fashion businesses as part of its ethical fashion initiative, ESTETHICA. Six designer businesses have been selected to receive 1-on-1 expert support from one of three industry mentors: Brand Consultants Susanne Tide-Frater, Yasmin Sewell and Buying Consultant Bev Malik. The designers selected are Ada Zanditon, Christopher Raeburn, Goodone, Minna, Nina Dolcetti and The North Circular.

The Ethical Fashion Forum has started their Ethical Fashion Socials last September with local meetings around the world. This month’s London event will take place at the Junky Styling shop on Dray Walk and the topic is retail. Questions addressed will be: What's selling and why? What are consumers looking for? How interested are they in the ethics behind what they buy?