Katharine Hamnett is somewhat of a fashion pioneer in this field. From her infamous campaigning slogan tees in the Eighties (which inspired those prescient Relax tees) through to her current 100% organic, ethically-produced pieces, Hamnett has championed the meeting of style with conscienciousness.

Hamnett’s new Beach collection for Yooxygen, the eco department at high-end Italian online store Yoox.com, throws in retro sex bomb to that mix too. Fourteen Fifties-inspired pieces, from Bardot-esque bikinis to super-cute shorty playsuits, to “Save The Sea” maxi-vest dresses, will have you (slowly) reaching for the debit card.

Hamnett says: “I have called this collection “Save The Sea” as the sea that we all love is dying due to the impact of human activities such as oil spill, sewage dumping, industrial pollution, agricultural chemical fertilizers and pesticide run-off, lack of fish stock management and over fishing.”

With the tragic BP oil spill still top of our minds, never has there been a better time to turn our attention to caring for our oceans. And call me a slow fashionista, but I’ll be happier doing it in Hamnett.

Katharine Hamnett Beach for Yooxygen

For the last ten years, print textile designer Teresa Green has engrossed herself in combining the two, with joyful, authentic hand printed designs on her range of textiles that focus on functional designs be it bread bins, tea pots, scales, taps or a flock of birds.

“I have a passion for antique kitchenallia- especially kitchen scales and ladle shaped spoons.  Both grandpa’s have also fed my imagination with crammed sheds full of old garden objects and treasure – I have an obsession for elongated watering cans and apple ladders….”

As considered as the design, all the fabrics are from within the UK, and the linen that is regularly utilised within the collection comes from Ireland. No synthetic materials are used and, to reflect Green’s own way of life, all the inks for these prints are water based too.

jorg&olif particularly loves the sophisticated table linen and sturdy aprons that are perfect for any busy kitchen, as well as the natural linen purses with a balloon bird print.

In true Slow Life, when Green’s not exhibiting across the world, the young designer cycles to her old stable block studio within the village of Barrow Upon Soar in Leicestershire, UK.

Teresa Green

Emma Jorn is a Danish designer and she set out to give urban rainwear a serious and elegant makeover. The first stop on the journey was this rain ‘dress’ was inspired by the classic sou’ wester raingear material and many of the unique rainwear ensembles in Japan. This really taking rainwear to the next glamour level and it fits well into Slow Life. No more sprinting through the rain, seeking cover. Waltz right through it, darling. In style.

Considering the fact that cycling in skirts or dresses is as easy as ringing a bicycle bell, this outfit could be the perfect solution to spring/summer/autumn downpours. The front is designed longer than the back, just in case you hop up onto a bicycle, so that your thighs stay dry. Sweet little detail.

Another creation from Emma’s hand is the basket and hand cover, inspired by the bicycle culture of Japan and given a Nordic workover. The bicycle basket is a permanent fixture in cities like Copenhagen and is an extension of your handbag. Emma combines the basket/hand cover with a simple, elegant top to ward off pesky summer showers.

Here’s Emma in a photo shoot for Cycle Chic.

Last but certainly not least is this brilliant buddy raingear set with room for three good friends. Perhaps a bit tricky on bicycles but perfect for the summer music festival season. The famous Roskilde festival, or even Glastonbury in England, should be selling these during their notoriously rainy festivals.

All in all, Emma’s designs convey the basics of Danish and Scandinavian design: simplicity, functionality, informal elegance and a respect for materials and resources.

Check out her website at www.emmajorn.dk

Instead, more of us are turning towards more timeless, long-lasting pieces – and are willing to pay for quality. Entrepreneur Jackie Cawthra, (pictured right) saw this growing consumer dissatisfaction coming, and went on a mission to make something more enduring out of fashion.

While working as a lawyer back in 2004, she decided to set up her own luxury lifestyle company specialising in accessories with a personal touch, made the slow way with painstaking attention to detail. The result was luggage label Belen Echandia, which has received worldwide acclaim and become a thriving internet business.

Care and attention to details are key to Belen Echandia’s success, explains Cawthra, who told us that ‘nothing that we do at BE is quick’. Development of a new product can take up to six months, from the initial sketch stages through a lot of research, selection of materials, testing and tweaking. This is quite a long time compared with many labels, which bring out new trend-led collections every few weeks. While Belen Echandia’s bags are certainly stylish and fashion forward, there’s a strong emphasis on workmanship, uniqueness and ease of use: “We approach design as a customer and we know how much easier life is when you can find your keys and your mobile phone and have a lot of pockets”, says Cawthra.

Additionally, All Belen Echandia bags are produced in tiny quantities of around 10-20 pieces each, so owners are unlikely to see their bag on anyone else’s arm. Compare this with 200 pieces, which is considered a small quantity by most manufacturers. Each bag is cut by hand and very carefully selected, ensuring a quality that is impossible to achieve through mass-production. Cawthra notes ‘It’s very difficult to maintain the same quality level on a piece produced thousands of times and even if the quality is maintained, somehow mass produced items don’t have the same feel about them’.

The setup at Belen Echandia is unusual, in part due to the scarcity of producers willing to do things the old-fashioned way. “There are plenty of artisans out there with the skills required to make them”, explains Cawthra, whose bags are made by hand in Italy. “However they have been threatened by the trend towards producing in the far East and many of them have closed their workshop.”

“Many companies have tried to keep a small amount of production in Italy and take the main part elsewhere, but this will never work because the Italian producer can then barely survive”, said Cawthra. “It doesn’t help that the law in Italy says that you are allowed to write “Made in Italy” so long as you at least apply a minor part of the production, like adding a button, in Italy. Many companies use this loophole.”