Dame Vivienne Westwood has forged a partnership with an environmental organisation in a bid to help protect forests around the world.

Dame Vivienne Westwood

Dame Vivienne Westwood

The 79-year-old fashion designer has entered into a partnership with the the not-for-profit organisation Canopy, which seeks to protect "forests, species and climate".

Christopher Di Pietro, global brand director at Vivienne Westwood, said: "Fashion has a disproportionate impact on the environment, and to remedy that we have for some time been changing the way we make clothes to reflect the need for the industry to change the way it operates."

The British fashion label has released a video - produced by artist Aidan Zamiri - that celebrates the natural world.

Christopher added: "We hope the video will help draw attention to our campaign in support of the work Canopy has been doing to transform unsustainable supply chains to protect forests around the world - and with it our climate and wildlife."

Nicole Rycroft, Canopy's founder and executive director, said that climate change and the coronavirus pandemic illustrate "how consequential our every action is".

She continued: "Vivienne and her team know that brilliance coupled with imagination and pragmatic action will transform how our economy interacts with vital ecosystems."

The campaign video features the model and activist Kai-Isaiah Jamal, who recites a poem that hails the wonders of the natural world.

Nicole explained that Jamal's poem and video "provide us with the dream of a future we all want to be part of".

Meanwhile, Naomi Campbell previously revealed that her outlook towards activism has been heavily influenced by the designer.

The 49-year-old model first met the acclaimed designer when she was just 16, and Vivienne played a major role in Naomi and Kate Moss' subsequent passion for activism.

During a sit-down discussion between the fashion icons, Naomi explained: "You sat us down and gave us a talking to about being conscious in the world.

"That had a big impact on me. It was around the time that I started working with Nelson Mandela in South Africa, so it was all new to me still."


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