Fashion: Kirsty Spencer has recycled fashion all stitched up with an ethical collection

Sep 10 2009 by Hilarie Stelfox, Huddersfield Daily Examiner

Fashion: Kirsty has recycled fashion all stitched up with an ethical collection

“I’d always been quite arty and done some dressmaking. I took one of those computer aptitude tests and it came up with art and design and creative jobs, so I went to the tech for an art foundation course and then on to Bradford College for my degree.’’

For the first year in business Kirsty, aka the Wardrobe Surgeon, worked from home but found that she needed more space. She is now based in a spacious, light and airy unit at the Colne Valley Business Park.

At the moment Kirsty has no permanent retail outlet and sells at student events, Freshers’ weeks and vintage clothing markets.

Most of her customers are students and the prices reflect this - from £10 for a mini skirt to £90 for a labour-intensive patchwork dress.

Running her own business means taking financial risks but Kirsty says she’s much happier now than she was when she worked in the Job Centre.

“My husband (Spanner Spencer) is self-employed too but we’re both much happier.

“He supported me when I left work to study and saw how happy I was and then he left his job as an electronic engineer to become a writer.

“He now makes a living writing games reviews for magazines and websites,’’ explained Kirsty.

The couple also work together once a week when they teach a tai chi class in Lightcliffe.

“I started learning tai chi when I first met my husband about 14 years ago and we started our own class about six or seven years ago.

“It was good for stress when I was working in the Job Centre because I always felt that I couldn’t help the people who needed help and I found it very frustrating.

“Now I don’t need it so much but I enjoy teaching,’’ she said.

More information on Kirsty’s work can be found on her website www.wardrobesurgeon.com

COTTON is one of the most widely used raw materials in fashion. However, the demand for cotton is fuelling environmental and human disaster. What price are we prepared to pay for a T-shirt or pair of jeans?

Cotton is one of the world’s thirstiest crops. A single cotton bud requires six pints of water. To grow the cotton for a single pair of jeans needs hundreds of gallons.

In Central Asia the demand for water to irrigate cotton fields has contributed to the draining of the Aral Sea, an environmental disaster that a United Nations report has described as ‘staggering’ in scale.

Cotton production uses one quarter of the world’s pesticides, many of which are classified by the World Health Organisation as hazardous to health.

According to the Environmental Justice Foundation, two thirds of the world’s cotton is grown in developing countries where farmers are paid only subsistence wages.

In Uzbekistan, the world’s second largest cotton producer, child labour is used to harvest the crops, with children as young as seven working for 12 hours a day.

Only 0.15% of the world’s cotton is grown organically but demand is rising.