How It Began

I am a really selfish person. All I want to do is be happy.

Aristotle says in order to be happy, you need to live a good life.

The Buddhists say to lead a good life, amongst other things, you need to address the need for a ‘right livelihood’ which means earning your living without hurting anything and for the good of all living things.

From 1981 when evidence started emerging in the media about the threats we were posing to the environment I ran t-shirt campaigns: CHOOSE LIFE, SAVE THE WORLD, SAVE THE SEA, BAN POLLUTION, SAVE THE WHALES, WORLD PEACE NOW and NO WAR.

And in the late 1980’s I thought I’d double check that by making clothes we were in line with ‘Right Livelihood’. I instigated research into the social and environmental impact of the clothing and textile industry, thinking everything would be ok. To my horror and amazement I found myself up to my neck in an industry riddled with horrendous social exploitation, and environmental destruction of a scale that is killing the planet-where the true cost of clothing is being paid in environmental destruction and human suffering. – Katharine Hamnett