Colin Firth backs Eco-bag
Designer Kate Molson aims to have the eco-friendly textile trade all sewn up – with a little help from Hollywood film star Colin Firth.Kate designs a unique range of woven hemp material, which has minimum impact on the environment and one of her first products – an upmarket shopper bag – has been snapped up by Love Actually and Pride and Prejudice star Firth, who plans to stock it in his London store Eco Age.
At a special event at the trendy Chiswick store, Firth will autograph a number of the bags, which will also bear Kate’s name.
But anyone wanting to see or buy one of the unique bags was able to do that much closer to home, as Kate was one of the star attractions in September’s Huddersfield Open Studio Trail (HOST) – one of the UK’s leading showcase events for artists. Kate said:
“It’s an amazing time for me – having Colin’s shop sell the bag and taking part in this year’s HOST are both raising my profile very quickly considering I am really just starting out. I’ve only been working on my range of materials for around five months so to be noticed so soon is incredible.”
Kate said she was on a university placement at a major textile company when she had an ‘epiphany’ moment about the impact of the clothing industry on the environment.
“It takes a vast amount of energy to produce synthetic materials and even immense amounts of water to produce cotton. Then there is the fuel bill for transporting cheap goods and the tonnes of chemicals that are used every day and end up on the materials or seeping into our water supplies. I thought there had to be a better way and that’s when I came up with the idea of creating and working with textiles which had as many green credentials as possible.”
Kate uses only organic and sustainable hemp yarn, which is manufactured locally without the use of toxins. Although expensive and labour-intensive, she is proud of the results.
Thousands of people from across Yorkshire and beyond attended HOST which also featured chainsaw sculptures, silver and metal works, jewellery, ceramics, designer crafts and commercial products, painters and printmakers.
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Icebreaker, a company that produces 100% merino wool clothing from New Zealand, can tell the customer where clothing originated and the process it went through from the second it was sheared off the sheep until the time they purchased it from the store. Each article of clothing comes with its own Baacode.