SAVE THE SEA

I'm just one of those people that needs to be close to the sea. One breath of salty sea air and a wave of calm washes over me. I love the beach in the summer, but there is nothing more appealing to me than visiting in the middle of winter. Wrapped up warm and pondering how small a being I am in relation to the rest of the world. Throughout my life I've celebrated and at times feared the sea, it's seemingly infinite appearance has fuelled my curiosity and need for adventure. I even have sea-themed tattoos, such is my love. But I've never failed to respect it.  When I learnt of the Environmental Justice Foundation's latest t-shirt project I felt compelled to get involved. 

EJF’s ethical t-shirt project works to promote organic, fairly-traded and climate-neutral cotton supply chains. In 7 years the project has produced 30 t-shirts by 26 designers, modelled by 92 stars of the stage, screen and catwalk, which have so far contributed a massive £300,000 for EJF projects to protect the environment and human rights.

This years collection supports EJF's award-winning Save The Sea campaign. Collaborating with Patternity, Emma Cook and Serge DeNimes to produce powerful statement tees and a campaign fronted by James Brown, George Craig, Caroline Ford, Izzy Lawrence, Ben Lloyd-Hughes, Zara Martin, Max Rogers, Diana Vickers and Kimberly Wyatt. EJF provided me with some Q&A's of a couple of the designers involved with the project:

PATTERNITY

I am a huge Patternity fan, their online research library is full of masterfully curated imagery. You can (and I have) spend hours trawling through all the images offering an endless supply of inspiration. 

WHAT INSPIRED YOU TO BECOME A DESIGNER?

Design can be such a powerful tool with which to tell important and worthwhile stories about the world in which we live, to make things engaging and accessible. It can also be a great way to unite disparates and bring together specialisms - something fundamental to why we started PATTERNITY back in 2009.  Our projects are centred solely around pattern but having such a focused design approach has allowed us to connect the dots and dig beneath the surface of many different fields - from art and design through to science and nature - even history, health and education.

WHAT MADE YOU WANT TO GET INVOLVED WITH EJF'S SAVE THE SEA CAMPAIGN? 

It can be easy to forget quite how reliant and deeply interconnected we are to our environment – both on land and at sea.  Using pattern to drive awareness of important causes is fundamental to our mission at PATTERNITY so when we were approached by EJF and read the core data for ourselves we were inspired to design a pattern that would visualise the information and encourage people to take notice.

WHAT INSPIRED YOUR DESIGN FOR THE SAVE THE SEA T-SHIRT?

The data we wanted to drive awareness of on was the time it takes for seagrass beds to re-grow after damage caused by illegal bottom trawling (60 years). Endangered species rely on these ecosystems for survival so our aim was to use pattern to heighten the understanding of this important fact. As with all our projects our aim was to use pattern to encourage a more mindful awareness of our environment and the impact our patterns of behaviour can have on the world – hopefully proving that design can be both beautiful and informative. 

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SERGE DENIMES

From TV reality star beginnings, Oliver Proudlock, has garnered a lot of respect as a fashion designer for his line Serge DeNimes. Not to mention full support of his EJF design from his co-stars. 

WHAT INSPIRED YOU TO BECOME A DESIGNER? 

I have always been very creative, and my two main passions in life have been art and fashion. Having studied art for 4 years in Newcastle, when I returned to London my movement into fashion was a very natural and organic process. I now cannot imagine myself doing anything else.

  

WHAT MADE YOU WANT TO GET INVOLVED WITH EJF'S SAVE THE SEA CAMPAIGN? 

I have always felt connected to the ocean, and am very aware of the importance of looking after our sea life. When they approached us to design a t-shirt to help them raise money for the Save the Sea Campaign, it was a no brainer for me and we are so happy to be involved.

WHAT INSPIRED YOUR DESIGN FOR THE SAVE THE SEA T-SHIRT?

We wanted the bold print and slogan ‘Drop in the Ocean’ to make a statement of how important it is to protect sealife.
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EMMA COOK

Emma Cook graduated from CSM alongside the likes of Stella McCartney and Alexander McQueen. Her signature style of bold prints has won her a legion of famous fans including Rihanna, Angelina Jolie and Katy Perry. Staying true to her brand aesthetic, her design for the Save The Sea campaign is a photo-realistic depiction of the sea bed inspired by the beauty of the ocean and its marine life.
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T-Shirt, Patternity x EJF; Skirt, Topshop Boutique (not current, soz, but MIB)

 When I started a blog, I didn't think the day would come that I'd actually go through with posting a picture of myself on the net. I'm not a natural in front of the camera, but when I saw the designs, I really wanted a tee. And what better way to promote something than to wear it right? So yes, that's my face being awkwardly cool/sultry in one and pouty/not so cool in the other.
Diana Vickers... I am not.

 *It's for a good cause*

100% of funds raised will go directly towards EJF’s work protecting ocean ecosystems and threatened species including sharks, turtles, rays and dolphins, and promoting the need for transparency and traceability in seafood supply chains. 

As well as raising awareness of environmental campaign issues, all the t-shirts demonstrate the need and potential for sustainability within fashion production. The carbon footprint of an EJF t-shirt is estimated to be 90% less than a conventional, non-organic and non-environmentally friendly t-shirt from the high street. The bespoke designer t-shirt collections are made to the highest quality in an organic, fair-trade, climate-neutral supply chain, produced in India. Not to mention printed in Britain using Soil Association Certified printers. 

Okay, okay not strictly MIB but  any garment which can show transparency in it's supply chain and have a positive impact both socially and environmentally, is hard to ignore. Priced at £30, the Save the Sea t-shirt collection is on sale at www.just-for.co.uk look out for Just For pop-up shop in London’s premier fashion districts too. 

Andrea x