'Ethical fashion is about being creative'

Jo Wood, founder of Jo Wood Organic. She explains why now is the time to make a big change.

My understanding of ethical fashion started in my teens. My mother is a doll maker and so I was always surrounded by fabrics, buttons, Victorian petticoats and old dresses. I'd watch her turn old clothes into beautiful inventive outfits and it became clear to me from a young age that clothes can be used and reused.

I would mix, match and recycle clothes from those early times. In fact the day, or rather the night, I met my husband I was wearing my granny's old dress. Even though I've been lucky enough to have access to some of the world's best designers and their new collections, I find nothing more exciting than finding an old item of clothing and giving it a new lease of life.

For a while in the 80s I bought a lot of new clothes. I was living in America and got swept up in the sheer number of shops, designers and the gluttonous consumer attitude that was sweeping the globe. It was during my time in the States that my sister and I found some of Ronnie [Wood]'s old flares and dressed up in 70s style, accessories and all. Laughing, we strode into the room where Ronnie was. He took one look and announced: "Mark my words, that look will be back in fashion one day."

He was right and it raises an important point; you only have to pick up Vogue from the last few decades to see how looks come back around and something that seemed simply unwearable one year is top of the fashion class the next. I have kept everything that Ronnie and I have bought since that time in the 80s and regularly dip into the 'treasure trove' to unearth some classic number. If I'm not in there, my daughter Leah is. If it's not her then the parents of my grandchildren are in there sourcing stuff for the young ones.

I'm not saying I never buy new clothes because I certainly do. I still buy well-made dresses and tailored jackets but more and more I am conscious of where the clothes are from and the impact they have had both sociologically and environmentally on the planet.

I am a total organic, live a strict an organic lifestyle and am passionate about being aware of where food, cosmetics, and clothes have come from. The more I have explored the path that consumables have taken to reach their buyers, the more concerned I have become about the ethical state we find ourselves in.

Over 90 million items of clothing are thrown away each year in this country alone. It seems to have become a habitual pleasure to throw something away and go straight back to the shops for more. Part of the cause of this problem is with the major distributors battling to provide the cheapest possible price for their consumer.

Garment workers throughout the globe are traditionally paid the minimum wage and work long hours in substandard, environmentally hostile conditions in order to produce the clothes that we take for granted. In the developing world, countries such as Indonesia and China mass-produce enough clothes to reach to the moon and back every day. This routine production and exploitation in the name of fashion means we can buy a new T-shirt for 50p while retailers reap huge profits from these suffering workers.

Over two thirds of the world's cotton is grown in developing countries and the former Soviet Union. Valued at over $32 billion every year, global cotton production should be improving lives. But this "white gold" too often brings misery. Along with the poverty and appalling working conditions created, the impact environmentally is enormously detrimental due to the chemicals used and the vast distances these items have to travel to get to the future buyers.

The problems don't stop there.

Discarded clothing and shoes are typically sent to landfill. There, textiles present particular problems. Synthetic products do not decompose. Woollen garments do, but in doing so they produce methane, which contributes to global warming and climate change.

At a time when the issue of global waste is on the political lips of leaders all over the world it is time to decide how we can do our bit. In a very basic sense it means that we take into account worker's rights, social justice and environmental issues. Ethical fashion is about being creative and embracing eclectic style. It's about cutting up an old T-shirt, some old jeans or a dress that's been hiding for years to give it new life. Dusting off those belts and hats. It's about being cautious about what you throw away; it's about wearing fashion that respects our planet; it's about creating a demand for ethical products so big fashion houses rethink their strategy. Ethical fashion is about buying garments from suppliers you can trust. Ethical fashion has cool scribbled all over it.

The chance to make a big change is here; we just need to take it.