Emma Watson's Eco-Friendly Clothing Line Debuts

Back in October of 2009, Tonic reported that Emma Watson, perhaps better known to millions of fans as Hermione in the popular film incarnations of the Harry Potter series, spent her gap year designing clothing for the ethical clothing company People Tree. Watson left her native England to begin her freshman year at Brown University this fall, but her designs were put into production by the clothing line.

Today, the first part of Emma Watson's People Tree collection hit the Internet on the company's website. As we previously reported, "The clothing is made from organic and fair-trade certified cotton and the accessories will all be created from recycled products." Additionally, EW.com reports that "all proceeds from clothing sales go to the People Tree Foundation, which directly benefits fair-trade farmers and artisans in developing countries."

Why does the actress have such an active interest in promoting ecologically-sound clothing? "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," Tonic reported. It's great to see how cognizant Watson is of her influence on fans and in the fashion world, where she's known as quite the trendsetter in both England and the United States.

Looking through the first pieces in her collection, I think she has a true eye for what young people will buy, which should help the line sell. Many eco-friendly lines suffer from the problem of, well, looking eco-friendly. Although that makes an interesting Project Runway challenge, no teen wants to be caught looking like she's wearing a burlap potato sack. Head over to People Tree's website to peruse the Emma Watson collection yourself and pick up a few items.

Photo courtesy of Matheus Sanchez via Flickr