The Katharine E Hamnett organic cotton clothing range is manufactured to the most stringent ethical and environmental standards.

ORGANIC COTTON, THE FACTS

Organic cotton definition - what it is: cotton grown without the use of pesticides or chemical fertilisers.

Organic cotton definition - the standards: Different levels exist, however, for cotton to be classed as organic it must be grown in soil that has been chemical-free for at least the last three years.

Organic cotton definition - what it isn't: Brown, lumpy or eco-look. Wear it with pride and spread the word.

WHY CONVENTIONAL COTTON IS SUCH A KILLER

Conventional cotton represents 10% of world agriculture and uses 25% of the world's pesticides.

100 million conventional cotton farmers, from Russia to South Africa, are living in conditions of abject poverty and near starvation.

Conventional cotton subsidies funded by American taxpayers are causing poverty in the developing world as they lower the world price for cotton. (Americans are the only ones that can change this by writing to their Congress people and telling them they insist on organic cotton clothing.)

20,000 people die every year from accidental pesticide poisoning in conventional cotton agriculture (World Health Organisation). Death by starvation is alarmingly prevalent and 200,000 cotton farmers commit suicide annually due to spiralling debts incurred from buying pesticides. A further 1,000,000 people a year suffer from long-term pesticide poisoning (Pesticide Action Network).

However, if farmers grow cotton organically and can sell it as such, this dire situation is reversed.

By growing organically, farmers get a 50% increase in their income - due to a 40% reduction in costs - and the 20% premium they receive for producing organic cotton allows them to feed, clothe, educate and provide healthcare for their children.

Organic cotton helps farmers trade their way out of poverty. It's the only formula for survival in the cotton sector in the developing world.

KATHARINE'S FIGHT FOR ORGANIC COTTON CLOTHING

On a visit to Mali in Africa in 2003, I witnessed firsthand the devastating poverty faced by cotton farmers. I met a cotton farmer's wife who had lost two children at the breast from malnutrition because she had nothing to eat. Her fate is typical of thousands of cotton farming families across Africa and the developing world.

When I was there I asked a cotton farmer what is the downside of growing cotton conventionally and he said, "When we have sold our crop we have nothing left." I asked, "What is the upside of growing cotton organically?" He said, "When we have sold our crop all the money is ours and we have our health."

I realised then that I had to help create demand for organic cotton clothing. I want people to appreciate that organic cotton can look and feel as good as conventional cotton but the difference to cotton farmers and their families is huge.

I'm hoping organic cotton clothing will catch on for all the right reasons.

The difference is ethical. By choosing organic cotton t-shirts you'll feel how soft, stylish and luxurious they are. More importantly, you'll help change thousands of lives for the better.