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lance at a recent copy of Vogue, any of 2009’s

best-dressed lists or front row at the shows, and one

fact is unmistakable: the fashion world just can’t get

enough of Harry Potter star Emma Watson.

She may have grown up in a Hogwarts uniform,

but she’s blossomed into everyone’s favourite British

starlet and looks set to spend her 20s dressed top-to-toe in Burberry

and Chanel (she has contracts with both brands).

Frankly we wouldn’t blame Miss Watson if she chose to spend her

Harry Potter afterlife as a full-time clotheshorse, but instead she has

chosen to flex her considerable fashion flair creating a range for the

ethical clothing brand People Tree. This is in between studying

English literature at America’s Brown University and filming the final

Harry Potter movie. It’s a savvy move by Emma – People Tree has

some serious fashion cred, having teamed up with designers Richard

Nicoll and Thakoon (a favourite of both Michelle Obama and Anna

Wintour), and never before has clothing with a conscience felt quite so

on trend.

But before you roll your eyes at the thought of yet another pretty

celebrity face putting her name and a few hours’ work to an of-the-

moment brand, believe us, this really is a collaboration of creativity

rather than convenience. The People Tree team tell us that they were

wowed by Emma’s commitment to the project: ‘I was amazed at how

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EXCLUSIVEINTERVIEW

G

‘Rather than give cash to charitiesyou can help people in poorercountries by buying the clothesthey make,’ says Harry Potter starEmma Watson, who’s lending her considerable fashion savvy – and the modelling talents offamily and friends – to a covetablenew fair-trade clothing range Interview AMYWILLIAMSMain photographs ANDREA CARTER-BOWMAN

YOU 31 JANUARY 2010

STRAWBERRIES AND CREAM FOR EVER:

Emma with brother Alex (left) and friends

Sophie and Tafari, who all took part in the

English country garden shoot for People Tree

➤

EMMAWEAVES HER FASHION MAGIC

24 YOU 31 JANUARY 2010

many hours Emma put into this

collection,’ explains founder of the brand

Safia Minney. ‘We’d often go to her home in

the evening after she finished filming to go

through ideas, or she’d come to the studio

laden with her own artwork – it was

extremely impressive.’

The aim was to create a range for

teenagers that appealed to their

consciences as well as their sense of cool.

‘We’re not asking for the sympathy vote,’

says Safia. ‘Our designs need to hold up

against the high street but also have that

level of quality and integrity that you just

don’t get from fast fashion. Emma may not

be your average teenager – I’ve not come across many 19-year-olds

who have a work ethic like hers – but her eye for what teenagers

want has been invaluable and it shows in the range. She got all her

friends involved in the ideas process and was serious about getting

everything right.’

We visited the brochure shoot for Emma’s spring/summer

People Tree collection to chat to her and give you an exclusive

preview of the range and a glimpse behind the scenes. You can almost

smell the summer…

You’ve done acting, modelling, and now you’re designing.

Is this the future for Emma Watson?

Oh, I don’t have any plans to be a designer. I’m doing this range

because I really care about fair-trade and ethical fashion. I’m so

pleased that I got involved, but I don’t want to take all the credit for

being the designer because I haven’t trained as a designer or even

gone to art college – in fact, I had no idea about the amount of work

involved at the outset!

So this is not an Emma Watson clothing line?

I didn’t want this collection to be all about me. This is not a celebrity

endorsement, it is about creating something that is genuinely a great idea

and about making a difference through fashion.

How did the collaboration come about?

It was all because my friend, Alex Nicholls, was wearing this great People

Tree T-shirt one day, which I liked. He then told me all about the company

– he knows Safia and said that I should meet her. He set up an introduction

and Safia and I just clicked. A couple of weeks later she got in touch with

the idea of a teen range – they were doing older ranges and baby clothes

but nothing in between – and asked if I’d like to help put it together. I said

yes straight away.

Wise move, People Tree – every teen wants to dress like you!

I am very interested in fashion and I’ve been working a lot in the fashion

world recently – it’s such an influential industry, so I knew that trying to help

people, trying to alleviate poverty through a fashion line, could work.

Fashion is a great way to empower people and give them skills; rather than

give cash to charity you can help people by buying the clothes they make

and supporting things they take pride in. It’s that simple.

Where did you get your design inspiration for the range?

I went through my summer wardrobe and thought, ‘If I filtered this

so that it was just the very basics, what would I want to keep?’ The

answer was cotton vests, easy T-shirt dresses, nice scarves to

accessorise with and some lovely linen pieces. For the boys’ range

I’ve done hoodies, which I know they’ll love. The clothes are very

British, which is why we shot them in an English country garden – it’s all

very strawberries and cream

and tennis.

We particularly like the T-shirts

printed with slogans such as

‘I’m not toxic’ and ‘Please don’t

panic, I’m organic’.

I was keen not to preach – you

don’t want to be too serious or

heavy. I also came up with a

daisy print which I’m really proud

of – it’s fun and messy. I just

wanted to make clothes that are

wearable, cool and easy.

What is your favourite part of

the collection?

I would wear all the clothes, which are made in Bangladesh, India and

Nepal, and there is also some amazing jewellery – especially a necklace

made from recycled sweet wrappers, which is made in Bangladesh. It

comes in a box also made of sweet wrappers. Brilliant!

It must have been a fast learning curve for you, being on the design

side of things for the first time…

It was such fun going through all the Pantone colour books with Safia, but

yes, I had to learn quickly – the colours on the page don’t always look the

same on the fabrics, so you have to be patient. It’s a case of learning as

you go along, and it’s all massively time consuming! When we did the first

set of samples some of them looked great but others needed altering a lot.

If the reaction on the shoot is anything to go by, these clothes are

going to be out of stock long before spring is here!

I really enjoyed the shoot. All the models are friends of mine: my

housemate Sophie, my brother Alex. I basically called in favours – a lot of

the crew are friends too. They are all super-talented, so I am very lucky that

they were prepared to help out. I asked Andrea Carter-Bowman to do the

photos as I just love her work, and she’s young. So this really is a

collection for young people put together by young people. And I’m so

proud of it – it’s exactly how I intended it to look.

You are something of a fashionista, but were you completely new to

fair-trade fashion?

The first time I heard about fair trade was during a geography coursework

project, and I remember thinking, ‘Why isn’t everything fair trade?’

Everyone knows about fair-trade bananas and coffee, but of course

anything can be fair trade. Fair-trade fashion costs a bit more but allows

those who make it to earn a decent living; to be able to take care of their

families and live with dignity.

But do you think it is possible to enjoy high-street fashion and also

support fair trade?

It’s important to differentiate between fast fashion, which is made very

quickly for a very small price, and fair-trade fashion. So if you buy a T-shirt

for £2, you just have to do the maths and work our how much the person

who made it is being paid.

How realistic is it that the Primark generation will buy into this range

and concept?

It sounds like a cliché, but we are the future. The earth is ours and will be

our children’s, and I think that more than any other generation we are

aware of environmental and humanitarian issues. That’s why it’s so great

that People Tree is doing something aimed at people of my age – because

we do care and we will buy with a conscience. I hope that more

companies will follow People Tree’s example.

All the clothing featured on the previous pages and opposite is available

from peopletree.co.uk. To request a catalogue, call 020 7739 9659

➤

‘The fashion industry is very influential, so I knew that trying to alleviate poverty

through a fashion linecould work’

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GREEN GENIUS (clockwise from top left): Emma and her

friends fly the fair-trade flag; Emma’s fresh-as-a-daisy

looks perfectly complement her collection’s youthful,

easy-going vibe; a gaggle of bright young things hang out

behind the scenes; Emma gets ready for her close-up;

photographer Andrea Carter-Bowman captures a

playful moment; Emma and her model brother Alex

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