The return of Cambridge Sustainable Fashion Festival this month is timely, as Velvet finds out.

We are all working on reducing our carbon footprint so the return of Cambridge Sustainable Fashion Festival this month is timely.

Showing how style and sustainability can be combined, the event which features a pop-up sustainable clothing and accessory market, expert talks about the future of fashion, clothes swapping, and styling is organised by Nicole Barton of local charity Cambridge Carbon Footprint and is championing the motto ‘buy less, choose well and make it last’.

She says: “We buy more clothes per person than anywhere else in Europe. This Festival will help visitors to understand what choices can make a real difference and what’s greenwash. They’ll discover what’s affordable to them and who is offering products that align with their values.”

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The Festival will feature a huge Swish (clothes swapping party) for women and men inviting people to bring their preloved clothes, shoes and accessories and swap them for items new to them. The clothes renting platform The Nu Wardrobe will be there as will sustainable stylist Roberta Style Lee who will be running bookable workshops on colour analysis and building a wardrobe for your body shape.

Get your torn clothes mended by some super sewers (for free btw), learn how to use everyday food as natural clothes dyes and bring along your empty make-up containers to recycle them courtesy of the John Lewis & Partners BeautyCycle service. If you want to look good without costing the earth head to St Barnabas Church, Mill Rd, Cambridge on Saturday 21 March between 11am and 4pm. See cambridgecarbonfootprint.org/events for full details.

The scarf pictured here is by Suffolk and London-based design Duo Jess Quinton and Jane Chadwick who design their slow-fashion collection of accessories using small British mills and renewable natural wool fibres. See quintonchadwick.com

The talented team

The shoot organiser and Styling @Rose_and_dandy

Photographer @lolarosephotos

Location @eggigton_house

Dress @bowendrydon

Headdress @ashleywildbridal

Hair @nadiawebberartist

MUA @emilyray_artistry

Model @ambergallagerr