Green Celebrities: Emma Watson

Green Celebrities: Emma Watson

Most of us know her best as Hermione from Harry Potter, but did you know that Emma Watson is a dedicated environmentalist too?

As well as being a UN Women Goodwill Ambassador, her main passions lie in promoting fair trade and ethical standards in the fashion industry.

Here’s what makes Emma Watson a green celebrity.

Feel Good Style

Back in 2010, she launched a website called Feel Good Style, which is dedicated to sustainable fashion and natural beauty products. The message behind the site is that beauty is not about the products you wear or the clothes you buy, it’s about having compassion for the planet and the people and animals we share it with. It’s also about making choices every day that are better for us and for the planet, including using naturally-derived products and wearing sustainable fashion.

People Tree clothing collections

Emma Watson has helped the English Fair Trade clothing brand People Tree create three organic and fair trade clothing collections.

The collections were designed with an aim in mind; to bring fair trade and organic fashion to 16-24-year-olds. Speaking about the collections, she said that younger people are becoming more aware of the human and environmental cost of fast fashion, and want to make better choices, but they aren’t that many out there.

The People Tree collections include knitwear, cotton T-shirts, jersey dresses, poplin skirts, and shorts and much of the range is made from organic and fair trade cotton. The items in the collection are made by hand by fair trade groups, and it’s helping to provide a living to people in Bangladesh, India, and Nepal.

So what attracted Emma Watson to the People Tree brand? The company was a pioneer in sustainable fair trade fashion and it started its mission in the early 90s. Every product’s journey upholds the highest ethical and environmental standards, and the result is affordable fashion which respects the people who make it and the planet.

Items are made from organic cotton, sustainable wool, and other environmentally-friendly materials, and they are produced using more traditional skills like hand weaving, hand knitting, hand embroidery and hand block printing as opposed to mass production. The clothing is dyed using dyes that are free from chemicals.

People Tree was the first fashion company to be awarded the World Fair Trade Organisation product label. To receive this award, companies have to prove their commitment to fair trade, fair wages, good working conditions, transparency, environmental best practice, and gender equality.

The company’s values persuaded Emma Watson to want to collaborate on some collections, and it’s easy to see why.

People Tree says that its mission is to:

• Support makers of its products to become economically independent and have control over their environment.
• Protect the environment and use natural resources in its operations, as well as promoting environmentally responsible initiatives designed to increase sustainability.
• Supply customers with good quality products and increase their awareness around fair trade goods and environmental sustainability.
• Be an example of a fair trade business based on partnership, people-centred values, and sustainability.

Pure Threads eco clothing

The actress also joined forces with the renowned Italian designer Alberta Ferretti back in 2011 to produce an eco-range of clothing called Pure Threads. The collection features five Seventies-style items made from 100% environmentally-friendly materials, including a black lace embroidered cotton sleeveless dress, a white muslin long-sleeved lace shirt with ribbon, and lace-trimmed denim shorts. The collection is made in Italy and is packaged in sustainable packaging.

Alberta Ferretti approached Emma Watson to ask about the possibility of working together after she saw the great work that she has done with People Tree. Watson said she was thrilled to collaborate with the designer whose dresses she has often worn on the red carpet. She immediately agreed to work with Ferretti and they began work on the collection, using organic raw materials.

Speaking about the Pure Threads collection, Emma Watson said that eco-fashion is very important to her and added that she believes that it’s important to be aware of what we’re buying and where it comes from.

Alberta Ferretti commented that she was grateful to work with the actress on the project which benefits the fashion industry and the planet. She added that the problem of fast fashion and the need for more sustainable clothing and practices in the industry needs to be addressed and that she’s glad the collection is helping to spread the message.