Sarah Ratty was an early pioneer of sustainable fashion in Britain in the 1990s and early 2000s. After studying Fashion Textiles at Bristol University, she worked as a fashion stylist at Options magazine before launching her label Conscious Earthwear in 1990. Ratty designed Conscious Earthwear collections with a focus on environmentally responsible production and materials such as organic cotton, recycled fibres and certified eco-conscious textiles. Her designs were regularly featured in notable titles including The Face, i-D, Vogue, Elle and Dazed and Confused. The label was stocked by Browns, Harrods, Selfridges and Harvey Nichols, and worn by celebrities of the period including Macy Gray, The Prodigy, Lamb and All Saints. In 1999 Ratty suffered a near fatal road accident and was in recovery for 5 years. In 2004 she returned full-time to fashion, launching a sustainable lifestyle brand Ciel. The brand was nominated for the Guardian Award for Sustainable Fashion in 2007. Ratty was a founding member of the Soil Association’s Textile Advisory Committee, and the Ethical Fashion Forum and runs a circular design consultancy advising on sustainable approaches in the fashion industry.

In 1996-1997, Ratty first worked with materials made from recycled plastic and fabrics certified by Oeko-Tex, the independent testing and certification system for textiles, which began in 1992. The ‘Slider’ dress, ‘Tree-bark’ trousers, and fleece hoodie are part of Ratty’s Architects of the Future collection, 1998-9. This collection, like many of her later collections, used more technologically advanced materials than her earlier collections and was influenced by sportswear. The trousers and dress are made of eco-certified fabrics from Schoeller Textil AG and Dyersburg E.C.O. and the hoodie fleece is made of recycled PET plastic. The sunglasses, which were part of one of her earliest Conscious Earthwear collections in 1990, are made of recycled polymers.