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Emma Watson has an impressive fashion pedigree already at the age of 20.

She has modeled for Burberry, just finished shooting a campaign for Lancome, has collaborated with People Tree on a socially conscious line of clothing and now works with Alberta Ferretti, the famed Italian designer.

Pure Threads, the capsule collection Watson and Ferretti have partnered on, is now available exclusively on the website AlbertaFerretti.com and the eco-friendly line is inspired by style icon Jane Birkin.

The Harry Potter star said she was active in the creative process and did not just lend her name to line.

“I was very much involved in the design process and I really liked the organic raw materials that Alberta sourced. In particular the lace that I’ve used in all the pieces,” Watson said.

Ferretti told reporters she was impressed with Emma’s dedication.

“She is intelligent, with a strong personality, a young, modern girl of today but aware of social issues at the same time and very rigorous.”

The collection only consists of 5 pieces and is considerably more pricey than her People Tree clothing line.

Watson, who has taken time off from her studies at Brown University, will begin the rigorous press schedule for the final Potter film in the franchise: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows part 2.

She is also set to start work on The Perks of Being a Wallflower with Logan Lerman and is rumored to be one of the actresses considered for the lead role opposite Taylor Lautner in Incarceron.

Emma Watson strikes a sexy pose against an old motorcycle and amongst the green forest backdrop in the Spring/Summer teaser photo for People Tree’s latest collection.

Watson has been designing with the socially conscious company for a few years now and the Fair Trade label is something that Emma was looking for when she made the decision to endorse and work with the company:

“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,” said Watson. “I think young people like me are becoming increasingly aware of the humanitarian issues surrounding fast fashion and want to make good choices but there aren’t many options out there.”

The full collection goes on sale February 28th.

Check out the full size image inside. Read more »

Celebrity driven fashion collections come and go but Emma Watson is trying to make a lasting difference by lending her name to her collaboration line produced by People Tree. The Harry Potter actress is committed to spreading the word about how fashion is made and how we can have a positive impact on people’s lives when choosing our clothing purchases. Emma recently visited Swallows – the Fair-Trade garment community that People Tree works with in Bangladesh and was amazed by what she saw. Watson said:

“I cannot imagine how I would have the mental ability and strength to go into the garment factory slums everyday and have my children living six hundred miles away. We interviewed a woman in the slum in Dhaka. She was very candid about the fact that there just wasn’t any hope for her. There is no hope for anyone living in those conditions and being paid that kind of wage. Coming to Swallows, I see there is an alternative. The living conditions are modest but it’s clean and there is a real sense of community, there families are together and they seem to love and be proud of what they are doing – many things that we in the West take for granted. Swallows is special and I need to believe for my own piece of mind that there will be more places like this in the developing countries in the world.”

The fashion industry has long used terrible working conditions as a means to produce cheap fashion for us in the West. People Tree is working to make a difference and I applaud Watson for choosing so carefully in partnering with People Tree.

Read more of her trip to Bangladesh and see new photos of Emma’s clothing line here.

[image: People Tree]

Taking part in Prince Charles’ ‘A Garden Party to Make a Difference’ eco-festival, Emma Watson and People Tree UK will produce a fashion show of the upcoming Spring/Summer 2011 line. Held on Buckingham Palace’s Clarence House gardens, the event will showcase how people can live a cleaner, healthier future. Watson, who won’t be able to attend the show will have a video presentation before the stylish preview.

“I’m so thrilled that People Tree will be showing the spring summer collection at A Garden Party to Make a Difference,” she said in a statement. “I think The Prince of Wales’ initiative is such a brilliant idea and I’m thrilled.”

Watson is passionately committed to the cause and recently traveled to Bangladesh to gain first hand knowledge how the clothing is produced and the positive impact it has on the community.

[images: EmmaWatsonsource.webs.com]

Emma Watson’s clothing collaboration with People Tree UK is due next month and this early review of the fashion line is very positive. The ethically and environmentally sensitive wearables not only encompass her principles, they are stylish and comfortable as well.

[...]there are cropped tracksuit pants, little sailor-stripe T-shirt dresses, cricket jumpers and hoodies, polo-tops and plaid shirts for the boys. As Watson herself admits, at present her competition is minimal. “I think young people like me are becoming increasingly aware of the humanitarian issues surrounding fast fashion and want to make good choices but there aren’t many options out there.”

I have been following Emma and People Tree’s collection development for a while now – hoping it was as good as it sounded. Lots of designers try to use sustainable or natural fibers and fabrics for some of their lines and some manage to positively contribute to impoverished workers’ futures, but very few do both. This has great potential to set the benchmark for other designers and firms to get both aspects working together and still make great fashion.

The line will be available on People Tree’s UK website in February. If you believe in it and like it – support it!

Not content to just put her name on a clothing line, Emma Watson is very involved in the decisions being made for her namesake line with People Tree. The Harry Potter actress is very aware of what is going on and Antony Waller of People Tree said Emma has “attended every single design meeting over the five-month process.”

As for the Brown University student, Emma has this to say regarding the upcoming fashion line:

“I was excited by the idea of using fashion as a tool to alleviate poverty and knew it was something I could help make a difference with. “I think young people like me are becoming increasingly aware of the humanitarian and environmental issues surrounding fast fashion and want to make good choices but there aren’t many options out there.”

I am a big fan of Emma’s and can’t wait to see what she has to offer with this line of clothing.

She has been hit with these rumours before and has denied them, but once again the possible Emma Watson as-fashion-designer talk is buzzing around the net. This time, the soon to be college freshman at Brown University in Providence, Rhode Island will team up with People Tree and launch a line of eco-friendly and ethical designs. The Harry Potter actress has said in the past the she wouldn’t do a clothing line to feed her ego, however she might be open to helping out a cause. Fair trade, organic, sustainable and ethical sound like ideas Watson could go for but it would be difficult for her to do so while attending her first semester of college.