Then back to the UK for Estethica at London Fashion Week.  The show got off to a great start for us with an order from Japan on the Thursday, before it even officially opened!   Again, we found a very high level of interest from Japanese customers and it was great to see the Japanese buyers back at London Fashion Week again as, in recent years, many buyers have favoured Paris Fashion Week over London.  Other new stockists for 2012 will include the fabulous Mezzo Mezzo boutique in Corfu Town.

After the success of our collection in Paris and London, we managed to obtain a last-minute stand at The Box as we felt that the new collection had such good momentum that we should show it to some more customers.  Very excited to now have a stockist in St Barths, French West Indies, as well as several new customers in France and more Japanese stores.

Although I wasn't able to go to Paris for the entire show, my 15 year old daughter Sienna and I headed off to Paris on Friday afternoon for the weekend.  As temperatures soared, we were happy to be showing at The Box in the beautiful Pavillon Cambon, rather than in the nearby Tuileries where the temperatures in the tents were unbearable.

Sienna and I walked various shows: Première Classe, Zip Zone, Atmosphère and caught up with some of our favourite ethical designers such as Ada Zanditon, Beautiful Soul and, our neighbours from London Fashion Week, Lost Property London.  All were having a good show which was very encouraging to hear.

As we were staying with friends in St. Ouen, whereas to visit on a Sunday morning in Paris than the famous Marché Puces de St Ouen flea market which, incredibly after so many weeks spent staying in the area over the years, I had never visited on a Sunday.  Had I known that the flea market also contained vintage clothing shops, I may have visited a little sooner!  For those who aren't acquainted with the St. Ouen flea market, the name is probably a little misleading as the area has very little of the bric-a-brac normally associated with this type of market.  Instead, you can admire the most incredible antique shops specialising in different époques and merchandise: a shop filled with copper pans (my husband's favourite); lighting from huge glass chandeliers to anglepoise lamps of every shape and size; art deco furniture; antique maps and, our favourite of course, clothing.

This was vintage clothing of the ilk that is very rarely seen in vintage shops, certainly not in the many vintage stores in London which I trawl regularly for '50s dresses.  These flea market stores were specialising in the highest designer fashions and there was something incongruous but quite refreshing about seeing names like Alexander McQueen, Galliano, Dior, Vera Wang, written on scraps of paper in black marker pen and affixed to the garments, bags, shoes and jewellery on display.  

Oh how we wished to be the American women in those stores, accompanied by their husbands who we suspected would not blink at the prices and their wives would emerge with a vintage prize.  Unfortunately for us, we were on a budget, and a tight one at that.  Sienna was hunting for a vintage dress to wear to her prom next year and fell completely in love with a fabulous, floor-length, figure-hugging beaded Versace haute couture gown.  Undoubtedly a snip at 2000Euros, it certainly wasn't coming home with us.  She still sighs in a longing manner whenever I mention the flea market and I suspect that I am bringing her up to have expensive tastes.  She was hunting in Waitrose for foie gras this afternoon for goodness sake!

And so I return, sad to leave Paris but very excited at what the year ahead holds for Pachacuti.  This year has been a difficult one for most ethical clothing brands and I was concerned at what next year would hold, particularly given the poor weather we have experienced which I think has affected our sales more than the recession.  However, they always say that in a recession you should concentrate on building your exports and, with over 90% of orders from these trade shows coming from new overseas customers, that seems to be exactly what we are doing.  Now if only I could find an excuse to personally visit them all...

I arrived at the V&A with my husband & Pachacuti Marketing Manager, Mark Rogers, and Doraliz Aranda, Production Manager.  One of the first people I spotted, unmissable in her fuscia Pachacuti fedora, was Pamela Ravasio, Pachacuti's Press & Marketing Officer, who was independently up for an award for her blog Shirahime.

After champagne and socialising, the awards commenced.  The panel was composed of 32 judges who included actor Colin Firth, TV presenter Ben Fogle, Deborah Meaden from Dragon's Den and model Lily Cole.  I was delighted to hear Livia Firth, battling laryngitis, announce Greg Valerio as the winner of the Global Campaigner category.  Greg pioneered Fairtrade gold which was launched this year and worn by Livia Firth on the red carpet at the Oscars.  Read more on Livia's Vogue blog.

Other winners announced were Compassion in World Farming in the Campaigner category, with Bill Oddie accepting the award; the People's Supermarket, who were presented their award by Colin Firth; The Co-operative Group won the Ethical Business category and we were delighted when it was announced by Baroness Lola Young that Pamela had won the ethical blog award.  Before the awards started, Mark and I had been walking on the Pavegen paving slabs which turn the energy from footsteps into electricity and their win in the Big Idea category was extremely well-deserved.

Finally, it was time for the Fashion & Accessories category and T4 presenter Rick Edwards, together with Vogue fashion features editor Jessica Bumpus, took to the stage.  This is always one of the most hotly contested of all categories and we were up against strong competition: Veja with their ecological footwear made from sustainable Amazonian rubber and organic cotton and Christopher Raeburn, a designer who re-uses parachute silk and military fabrics in his collections.

Winning this award is such a fantastic accolade for Pachacuti's work in pioneering Fair Trade Fashion since 1992.  I am delighted that the eminent panel of judges appreciated the hard work which my wonderful team based in Ashbourne, Derbyshire, and I have put into in continuing to push the standards higher in the field of ethical fashion.  Pachacuti became the first company in the world to be Fair Trade Certified by the WFTO and we are now piloting an EU project on Geotraceability: the Geo Fair Trade Project. I am delighted to receive this award in recognition of the hard work which my staff and I have put into creating a Fair Trade, sustainable supply chain for our Panama hats, clothing and accessories and the innumerable benefits which this has brought to our producers and their communities in the Andes.  I can't wait to visit our producer groups in Ecuador this week and tell them about this exciting award.

The final award of the night is the Lifetime Achievement Award, won previously by Sir David Attenborough and last year by Gordon Roddick, pictured with me left.  It was Anita who initially inspired me to set up Pachacuti after reading her autobiography and thinking that if she could revolutionise the beauty industry with no experience in that field, there was nothing to stop me from trying to do the same within the fashion industry. 

This year the Lifetime Achievement Award was won by scientist and originator of the Gaia hypothesis, James Lovelock.   His pioneering model is the foundation of climate science today.

I had a wonderful evening at the awards and later at the after party where we continued to drink champagne into the early hours, exchanging stories with the Observer Food Editor about our respective visits to El Bulli.

The Observer Awards recognise those companies who make ethical living more accessible and achievable and this year's award winners do exactly that, from ensuring you can buy an ethical gold wedding ring to delivering weekly veg boxes or campaigning against mega-dairies.  It is a real honour for Pachacuti to be an award winner this year alongside so many other incredible campaigners and ethical pioneers

A new addition to our collection was our range of Carry On bags: made from recycled plastic bags.  Of course, our bags are not just recycled but are also Fair Trade, made by the Women's Hope collective in Colombia.  More about this exciting new collection to follow in the next post.

I always enjoy being part of Estethica at London Fashion Week, alongside other pioneers of ethical fashion such as From Somewhere and Junky Styling and newcomers who bring fresh perspectives and innovative materials, such as Jacob James STINGplus caps made from a blend of nettles and wool.

Surprisingly, the only Fair Trade representation at Estethica this season was the Fairtrade Foundation, showing their new collection of Fairtrade cotton scarves designed by the Fairtrade Collective and on sale at ASOS, and Pachacuti.

On the first day I was visited by Livia Firth who is such a fantastic and tireless eco-advocate.  She managed to squeeze in an afternoon at Estethica to visit all of her favourite ethical brands before flying off to the Oscars where The Kings Speech won Best Picture and Colin won a well-deserved Best Actor.

On Saturday, Estethica hosted the brunch which, as usual, boasted a few trays of canapés and copious amounts of champagne!  The venue was crowded with press, buyers and visitors and the whole day was extremely busy for us.  My beautiful daughter, Sienna, arrived at the end of the brunch and stayed for the next four days, dividing her time between getting snapped by photographers in the courtyard of Somerset House and helping me on the stand.

We had a successful London Fashion Week with orders from UK and overseas buyers and leads for some exciting designer collaborations which are under discussion as I write.  At the end of Tuesday, thanks to my friend Amanda King, Sienna and I secured tickets to Ashish, the last show of the season.  Sequinned punk tartan mixed with jumpers which looked as if they had been pulled out of a moth-filled closet: a wonderfully tongue-in-cheek way to end London Fashion Week.

Two days back in Ashbourne, a weekend in Brussels (touring Art Nouveau houses and talking about the Sustainable Fair Trade Management System) and then it was time for Paris Fashion Week and a last-minute stand at Zipzone.   Zipzone is curated by Alessandra Stretti and takes place in two locations on the rue Rivoli.  Pachacuti was located at 111 rue Rivoli at the Musée des Arts Décoratifs, which also happens to house my favourite bookshop in the world.

Finally, taking a breath and enjoying being back at home in the Staffordshire Moorlands, far away from the world of fashion.  Riding our pony Billy over the hills on chilly, sunny mornings and enjoying the annual Shrovetide football game which takes place in Ashbourne.  The entire town is closed and shops boarded up for two days, so a great opportunity to be outside and meeting up with friends who I so rarely get to see due to my hectic lifestyle. 

It was a very different kind of fashion on show at Shrovetide: hoodies, wellies and jeans (apart from me, wearing a thick, knitted Betty Jackson skirt under which I can pile on thermal leggings and wooly tights) but nice to get back to the real world for a fleeting moment, before my head is buried again in designing our 2012 collection next week.

As part of Pachacuti's Fair Trade Certification, every year, together with each producer group, Pachacuti creates an annual action plan that allows producers to direct how Fair Trade will benefit them the most. In 2008 one embroidery group all complained of poor eyesight. In Spring 2009, we paid for eye tests, glasses and eye operations for the 20 workers who required them, totalling $800.

After the success of this project, Pachacuti approached  our co-operative of women Panama hat weavers based in Ecuador and enquired if the 300+ weavers might need glasses. The answer was a resounding YES. 

The women live in a poor, rural region of Southern Ecuador and rely on the weaving of hats as their primary source of income. This traditional skill is demanding work and requires good eyesight to produce quality hats.  To remedy this situation Pachacuti and the Co-operative decided to make the purchasing of glasses for the weavers their primary goal for their 2010 Fair Trade Action Plan.

Pachacuti arranged for eye exams to be given to the weavers and it was determined just over 200 of the women required glasses, with 65 weavers being prioritised as needing glasses urgently. This was beyond the financial means of Pachacuti and the co-operative to purchase.  It was with the help of a group of Ashbourne residents that the Sunglasses for Glasses concept was born as a means to achieve the funding for this project. It is our hope that, through the involvement of area school children, we can together raise the money needed for the purchase of the glasses whilst providing an opportunity for the children to learn about global issues and empathy for others.

Sunglasses for Glasses day last week raised enough money for over 30 pairs of glasses, so we are well on our way to our target!  A huge thank you to the schools and children who took part and  I'm looking forward to posting some photographs of our weavers with their new glasses!

We are delighted that our Panama hats which are woven for Pachacuti by weavers in remote areas of the Ecuadorian highlands are now for sale at a Pop-Up shop in Liberty.  These women have very few opportunities open to them: many are single mothers or wives of alcoholic husbands and they are reliant on income from agriculture and hat weaving.  Many are forced to migrate to cities in search of low paid domestic work, leaving behind their culture and their community.

I believe that this is fantastic example of how opportunities can be created for marginalised producers if they are better organised, resourced and supported through the work of Fair Trade.  Pachacuti's producer groups are now able to secure access to one of the most prestigious stores in London under fair trade conditions, providing them with a decent and dignified livelihood.

Having sold Panama hats for the past 18 years, I thought that it was high time I really put one through its paces on an action-filled safari holiday in Kenya.

Having read on ehow , the website which tells you 'how to do just about anything' that a Panama Hat was the ideal hat to take on Safari, I decided to take a Pachacuti fedora llano weave grade 8 on a 4x4 and horseriding safari in Kenya (although evidently I didn’t wear a panama when riding!) We clearly couldn’t have a Panama hat style called the African Queen without taking it to Africa, so this style was delegated to my 13 year old daughter Sienna to wear.

Our safari holiday was with Tharua Safaris, a family run business based in the Kenyan highlands, sandwiched between the Solio and Ol Pejeta game reserves, both home to the rare black rhino.  Ol Pejeta is situated between the foot hills of the Aberdares and snowcapped Mount Kenya and before leaving for the safari I had seen it listed as the top destination for Eco Safaris.

We arrived at a time of endless rains at the end of a two year drought – great for Kenyan farmers but not so good for riding horses in the exceedingly slippery red mud.  Still, we persevered with a steady ride on the first day and discovered that the weather was deceptive.  As there was almost complete cloud cover, we set off on a three hour ride with a low factor suncream on.  

Obviously I should have realised from two decades of travelling in the Andes that I should use a high factor suncream at altitude the thin air allows more UV to reach the skin.  However, I wasn't aware that the foothills around Mount Kenya were that high but it materialised on my return that we were, in fact, at 2000 metres altitude and, of course, we got burnt.   Fortunately we had riding hats on, but they still don’t shield your face very effectively.

Due to the rains, a decision was made by Martin and Tiddy to travel north to the Mpala reserve where there was apparently no rain, although we would have to travel by 4x4 instead of on horseback.  I didn't realise at the time what an incredible privilege this was. The Mpala Wildlife Foundation operates a biodiversity conservation research center, a 48,000 acre wildlife conservancy and a variety of community health and outreach programs in Laikipia.  At present the reserve is only open to researchers but, as our guides were friends of the reserve manager, we were able to visit the reserve as invited guests.  More to follow in my next blog post about the safari, game drives and animals spotted, included hippos in the river below our tent and an elephant in the campsite!

I hadn't expected the Panama hats to be so well used.  After all, I had intended to be wearing a riding hat a lot of the time!  Standing up in the jeep with our heads out of the roof for several hours a day, the Panamas were invaluable.  We had an early morning game drive, returned for breakfast, drove out again for about three hours for a picnic lunch, then back for a cup of tea and out again for an evening drive.  Even heading out in the late afternoon, the sun was fierce.

I was surprised at how well my Panama hat stayed on, considering it was fairly breezy and we were travelling at quite a speed sometimes on very rough and bumpy dirt tracks.  Although I did put a hand up to ensure my hat stayed on a couple of times in the wind, most of the time I felt very confident that my hat would stay firmly on my head without flying off into the path of a passing giraffe.  

I was even more surprised at my daughter's pronouncement of how great her African Queen Panama was in the sun.  She really dislikes the heat and the extra wide brim of the African Queen provided excellent sun coverage but was still stylish enough for a fashion-conscious teenager to wear - even if there was no-one around for miles to see her!

Anita Roddick built an empire on skincare but still reminded people that "The most effective anti-ageing product is a sun hat." So, next time you go on holiday, please remember what Anita Roddick said and take a hat with you, preferably a Fair Trade Pachacuti Panama hat.