A significant part of this workmanlike documentary is taken up with an effort to convince us that Big Fashion is as much of a danger to the planet as Big Oil or any of the other Big Bads. It takes reservoirs of water to produce a pair of jeans. The fabric is flown across continents before being stitched together. Then we bung them in the bin after wearing them twice.
The amiable, unpretentious Amy Powney, creative director of the Mother of Pearl brand, is among those who believes there is another way. After winning Vogue’s best young designer award, she used the prize money to research the possibility of delivering a genuinely sustainable high-end collection for her No Frills strand. Difficulties abounded. Did you know that none of the sheep in England produces wool suitable for knitwear? So we are told. In South America, Powney is introduced to a farmer who uses adjacent lagoons to detoxify the water used in the production of his fabrics. Questions that should be simple offer the sort of challenges that would distress the most diligent of investigative journalists. Sourcing the cotton that goes into our pair of jeans above proves as challenging as tracing back the molecules in a glass of water.
[ Why corporate climate pledges don’t always stand up to scrutinyOpens in new window ]
Director Becky Hutner does a decent job of injecting some tension into the later stages of the film as Powney, a winning protagonist, fights to get the collection ready in time. Visits to the designer’s self-sufficient family in Lancashire flesh out the origins of her quest. Katherine Hamnet, the politically alert queen of British fashion, is here to offer words of support and caution.
There is no shortage of worrying information to chew on here. But certain nagging questions are not fully investigated. Surely the real danger is not from the relatively small number of garments produced for the designer labels but from the bushels of cheap stuff being sold to saps like you and me. And in its later stages the film does end up looking a little like an infomercial for Powney’s brand. At least one critical voice would be welcome. A worthwhile enterprise, nonetheless.
