Anya Hindmarch awarded MBE

Eco designer Anya Hindmarch has been awarded an MBE in the Queen’s New Year’s Honours list for her iconic ‘I’m Not A Plastic Bag’ and her contribution to the British fashion industry.

The British designer said she had to ‘pinch herself’ to believe she had been awarded an MBE and said the bag’s success, which sold 80,000 in one single day, shows us that fashion could “reach and influence beyond the immediate industry”. Anya knows she can use her raised profile as a platform for greater green issues. “I am lucky enough to have a career in fashion that has led to involvement in many other fields such as the environment. The bag’s popularity was unbelievable and the ramifications of it are still being felt.”

Anya created the durable £5 holdalls for the We Are What We Do movement, to increase understanding of the enormous ecological impact of those rustling, neon pests, plastic bags.

People even queued for hours outside Sainsbury’s where the bags were originally sold, once the bag was snapped by the paparazzi dangling off the trend setting arms of Lily cole, Lily Allen and Keira Knightley.

Although there has been critical backlash recently about the infamous bag and its lack of sustainable materials and its fast-fashion trendiness, the awareness raised regarding shunning plastic bags in favour of life long, re-usable accessories has been phenomenal.

Also read: We love these high fashion shoes made from plastic bags