Meet the future stars of sustainable fashion

new breed of fashion designer is putting ethics at the heart of everything they do. No longer is sustainability and social responsibility a token extra or cynical marketing ploy. The smartest brands are the ones taking full responsibility for every step of the process, from the supplier to the maker – and in some cases the aftercare of the product, too. These are designers interested in quality, never quantity – a generation making clothes we will cherish, that will make us consume less and make the best possible choice when we do.

Next week the windows of Selfridges in London’s Oxford Street will be dedicated to the store’s annual Bright New Things. This year the focus is on designers who are making innovative and beautiful products in a clean, transparent way. The store consulted the Centre for Sustainable Fashion to select and mentor nine designers to showcase in its windows. One BNT will be awarded a bursary of £30,000 to support their work.

For their Selfridges window, Hiut will be promoting their No Wash Club, encouraging customers not to wash their jeans for at least six months. “If you wash them before you’ve had time to put your imprint on them, they become quite a flat jean,” says Hieatt. And the less you wash, the more water you save. “They become your jeans – all those lines are individual to you; there’s a beautiful reason not to wash them, both for the planet and the person.”