"I think there's huge optimism insofar as industry has to sell and consumers don't have to buy. And what's coming up from all the market research is that 50% of Marks & Spencer's consumers are concerned... have got environmental concerns. Something like 85% are concerned about child labour, 75% are concerned about 'sweated labour', 30% have actually… they're 'called 'conscientious abstainers' - people who have actually not a bought a product because they're concerned about where it's made. And this is showing up on retailers' research. What I learnt with a Tesco expedition is that retailers take an enormous amount of notice of anything that's over 30%. So 30% coming up as people simply not buying something is enough to drive them into panic mode.

I know that H&M are selling their organic cotton collection much better than they thought, although I've been into the shops looking for it and I can't find it. I ask the shop assistants and they go to me, 'huh?' but if you rustle through you can find it and this is apparently selling really well. I also know that Wal-Mart - huge - I think they're the largest purchaser in the world of anything - have just had a huge edict gone out to all their factories that they want ethical and environmental or else they're changing suppliers. This has actually been driven by consumers. It's not coming from designers or retailers that say, 'we're going to be good now' - consumers are actually forcing retailers to go along this path or go out of business.

I think one of the interesting things that's happening now is you see this incredible tail-off on sales in every single sector, including the luxury sector, but one thing that's holding up for instance, is that organic food is holding up and everybody said that would drop off. So, I think there's a lot happening. It is very difficult for the most… things like the ETI we were talking about before, about which everybody says, 'Oh, they're members of the ETI and… fine but it's just a talking shop'. They're not - compliance isn't forced, but I think consumers are forcing retailers to do it now, whether they like it or not. So they've been flailing and screaming into ethical and environmental clothing." - Katherine Hamnett

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