Yesterday I was at SHINE, an "unconference" for social entrepreneurs, at the new Hub Westminster workspace, which was buzzing with the inspiring people behind businesses that are making a social impact in communities throughout the UK and around the world. With a social enterprise project of our own coming soon (*watch this space*), it was great to network with like-minded professionals, to share ideas and to get useful feedback.

The SHINE seminar I attended was "Bang on Trend: Can fashion and social entreprises work together?" The panelists were a mix of those with the expertise to cover the broad topics that fall under the ethical fashion umbrella: sustainable or eco-friendly fashion, slow fashion, vintage, anti-slavery and upcycling or recycling:

• Heather Lodge of Helo Eco, an online fashion store with a focus on eco friendly and ethically sourced products, that range from organic, vegan, recycled, vintage or fair trade. Follow @heloeco

• Veronica Crespi of Rewardrobe, London's first slow style consultancy which aims to show that it is possible to be trendy and fashionable, while also buying a wardrobe with a conscience. One of Veronica's campaigns is the Up-Wardrobe Project increasing awareness of breathing new life into unworn clothing through up-cycling. Follow @rewardrobe

• Lori Smith of Rarely Wears Lipstick and BitchBuzz, a textile design graduate and style blogger with a passion for vintage and craft who encourages her readers to learn how clothes are made or to organise their own clothes swap. Follow @lipsticklori

• Esther Freeman of Ms Wanda's Wardrobe, a social enterprise which is focused on ethical fashion that is light on your wallet, kind to the planet and 100% fabulous. Follow @MsWandas

• Kresse Wesling of Elvis and Kresse, a company which creates lifestyle accessories by re-engineering seemingly useless waste, such as using de-commissioned British fire brigade hoses, otherwise destined for landfill, to create a unique and stylish range of handbags. Follow @elvisandkresse

The interactive panel discussion took on a range of questions on ethical fashion, and unsurprisingly high street fast fashion retailer Primark cropped up as the antithesis of all that ethical and slow fashion represents.

To learn more, the panelists suggest reading Lucy Siegle's eye-opening book, To Die For: Is Fashion Wearing out the World, an expose on "the fashion industry that examines the inhumane and environmentally devastating story behind the clothes we so casually buy and wear".

Underlying themes of ethical fashion covered during the discussion include encouraging consumers to reduce wasteful consumption, to understand the story behind their clothes (who made them? what are they made of?) and to know how to carefully maintain their clothing, jewellery and accessories.

One of the ideas behind slow fashion is to limit purchases to brands that focus on high quality, well-made and timeless items, rather than the cheap and low quality throwaway fashion that hardly lasts through a season and is crowding our landfills. 

Photo: Guerra de la Paz is created by Miami based Cuban artists Cuban artists, Alain Guerra and Neraldo de la Paz, using discarded clothing to highlight the environmental issues of mass consumption and this generation's throwaway society.

According to the panelists, consumers need to be re-educated to understand the positive aspects behind ethical fashion. Thinking carefully about what you add to your closet should be just as important as selecting the beauty products and cosmetics you apply to your skin. By editing purchases based on the quality of the materials and the skillful design, you add value to your wardrobe with clothing you'll love to keep wearing season after season.

Just as important is learning how to properly care for the clothing in your wardrobe. A missing button or a rip shouldn't mean having to give an otherwise perfectly fine shirt, dress or pair of trousers its marching orders. Most dry cleaners offer a tailoring service at a very reasonable price, or you can hone your own sewing skills by visiting Homemade London, which offers private sewing lessons as well as sewing machine and workshop hire in its Sewing Cafe.

Photo via HomemadeLondon.com

To breathe further life into items you never wear anymore, head over to a upcycling designer/brand such as TRAIDremade and Round London who can transform unwanted clothing into unique new pieces. Learn more about Veronica Crespi of Rewardrobe's Up-Wardrobe Project with an example of items from her own closet that were updated into new, fashion forward pieces by upcycling designer Love Me Again.

For those items beyond any hope of salvaging, TRAID has over 900 textile recycling banks throughout the UK. Simply enter your postcode at this link to find the one closest to you.

Lastly, the drawbacks of fast fashion tend to include unethical, immoral practices often shielded from brands' CSR reports, such as the exploitation of a cheap workforce and cutting corners in environmental policies. Consumers can make a difference by letting fast fashion retailers know that they'll shop elsewhere until transparent information is provided on their sourcing and manufacturing practices.

Check out these links to read more on ethical fashion and campaigns from the UK, Australia and the US:

Labour Behind the Label: Learn more about the campaign to improve garment workers' wages and working conditions.

Meet Your Maker: Check out a fantastic ethical fashion initiative by Ethical Clothing Australia.

The Story of Stuff: Watch the video by Annie Leonard about the way we make, use and throw away Stuff.

Thank you to the Bang of Trend panelists for an interesting and informative discussion on ethical fashion and to SHINE Unconference for a fantastic event for social entrepreneurs!