Katharine Hamnett
Ethical Fashion Designer
Katharine E. Hamnett is an English fashion designer best known for her political t-shirts and her ethical business philosophy. She graduated from the Central Saint Martins College of Art and Design.
In 1989 Katharine initiated research into impact of clothing and textile industry on the environment. She campaigned continuously for the next 14 years with her various licensees all over the world to get them to produce ethically and environmentally.
In 1991 her Spring/Summer collection, called 'Green Cotton by the Year 2000', reflected the policies launched in the Environmental Cotton 2000 programme, which has now evolved into the Pesticides Trust's sustainable cotton programme.
In 2004, terminally frustrated at the industry’s refusal to even attempt to do things ethically and environmentally, Katharine canceled many of her licenses and decided to go back into manufacturing herself to produce a new line, KATHARINE E HAMNETT, E for being manufactured Ethically and as Environmentally as physically possible.
In 2005 Katharine designed and sourced manufacturing for the organic cotton T-shirts for the Oxfam 'Make Poverty History' campaign: ORGANIC COTTON CAN MAKE POVERTY HISTORY FOR 1,000,000 FARMERS.
In 2007 she was voted number 1 ethical hero by New Magazine and declared the ‘Queen of Green’ by Vogue.
