Well Dressed: Livia Firth’s Eco Age and the Observer Honor Stylish, Sustainable Fashion

Sustainable style guru and Eco-Chick Heroine for the Planet Livia Firth will have a hand in choosing the Observer Ethical Awards‘ first sustainable fashion champion for 2013! Organized by British newspaper The Observer in collaboration with eco-friendly cleaning product company Ecover, these awards celebrate the people, campaigns and initiatives making a real difference in promoting a sustainable lifestyle in the UK.

Readers of the paper nominate their favorite retailers, activists, entrepreneurs, designers and other figures across science, culture and business making a sustainable splash. These green trailblazers show the public how easy and rewarding it can be to live in a way that’s better for the planet, and by extension, for us. Past winners have included Al Gore and naturalist David Attenborough, who was presented with his award by Livia Firth’s husband, actor Colin.

The ‘Well Dressed’ category is brand new this year, and who better to select a stylish and ethical fashion winner than Livia? Co-founder of the Green Carpet Challenge, which recruits design houses and big-name stars to commit to ethical looks at events like the Academy Awards, Firth is becoming a green style icon in her own right. She’s also the founder of Eco Age, an online magazine and curated shop offering ethical goods to ‘curious consumers’ all over the world.

The Observer has teamed up with Eco Age’s street style project, Fru-Gal, to find the awards’ first sustainable fashion champion, someone who lives and breathes sustainable fashion and looks amazingly stylish, too. Hopefuls for the award submit pictures and stories behind their favorite outfit, which could be vintage, homemade, hand-me-down, upcycled or made by an ethical label.

Eco-Chick founder and Editor-in-Chief Starre Vartan took a tour of Livia’s Eco Age boutique in London during Fashion Week 2010, and talked to the eco fashion expert about the designer labels she carries.

“Taking control of your wardrobe and bravely articulating your own ethical style sends an extremely important message to the fashion industry about the need for reform. Fashion to me is all about the narrative behind the pieces we wear. My favorite sustainable style quote is from Ali Hewson, the motto behind her brand Edun ‘we carry the story of the people who make our clothes around with us’. I can’t wait to hear the stories submitted by entrants to our Well Dressed category this year.”

In the UK? You can enter the Well Dressed contest at The Observer Awards site. Winners will be announced in June, and featured in a special issue of The Observer Magazine.

Bottom Photo: Wikimedia Commons