Fashion designers are leaning towards green - and it's not just the colour I'm talking about. With schools, business and major beauty brands jumping on the eco-friendly bandwagon, the fashion world has finally joined in too.

A number of designers have started using Fairtrade items and recycled materials in order to contribute to the environment, with brands such as the People Tree and H&M causing a buzz when it comes to eco fashion.

The innovative move now being used by designers across the country will receive a warm welcome from environmental charities such as Greenpeace and Friends of the Earth as well as helping to raise awareness of the benefits of earth-friendly fashion.

Today there are millions dedicated to helping save the planet - through the means of recycling, saving energy and "going organic," this allows almost anyone to do their part.

Although eco-fashion used to only appeal to a small minority of people, it has now become a trend of its own, with celebrities and trend-setters snapping up the latest unique, eco-friendly pieces in a bid to become greener.

Angelina Jolie is reportedly a fan of the idea, purchasing many eco-loving garments for the Brangelina family to wear.

Fashion has never been more inventive, and many high street stores have also homed in on the trend including H&M, who recently released their second installment of eco range 'Conscious Exclusive,' a string of fashion-forward eveningwear pieces with a sustainable quality.

Although the idea of eco-friendly fashion is undoubtedly a positive thing, is it something that everyone can wear? Green fashion is often stigmatised and considered to be dull and "hippyish."

However designers today have become a lot more advanced in their creations by making the most of what they've got to create some diverse items.

Up-and-coming designer Stacey Irvine, a former fashion assistant from brand Eco Chic, said: "Eco chic is focused on helping the environment and making people realise that old material can be beautiful and as good as any dress bought from the high street or any designer store. The only difference is that our garments are one-off.

"Re-using the material that people no longer want is definitely beneficial as it helps the earth, it takes loads of years for clothing and plastic to disappear and a lot of people recycle their rubbish, why not recycle your materials too?

"Vivienne Westwood is a massive fan of upcycling garments and helping the planet also. With us doing it, we're doing our part."

The whole concept of upcycling can sound a little confusing to those who aren't familiar with the term. Stacey explained the process of upcycling and pop-up-shops.

"Upcycling is basically taking any material such as curtains, sheets, jumpers and so on and making absolutely anything out of it, for example a 1950s style dress could be made from vintage curtains," she said. "You can make absolutely anything out of old floral curtains."

Although many fashion lines use recycled materials in particular, other eco-friendly fashion companies merely select organic fabrics such as bamboo and organic cotton to create sustainable and practical clothing which helps to reduce waste. However do the eco-friendly fashion lines always use the most innocent fabrics to create stylish items?

"We have had occasions where new material has had to be used if upcycled material cannot be found," Stacey explained.

"Some of the time brands also use a shopper who sources the material for us in order to assure we use recycled materials the majority of the time.

"Pop up shops occur once a month which is when our company hold markets such as 'Granny Would Be Proud.' "We show off our ranges to the public at these markets, the last pop up show that we held was at a vintage market and a lot of people were pleased to see upcycled garments being used to create some amazing fashionable pieces that you'd probably find in high-street or designer stores."

The fact that many upcycled garments are one-off pieces with a story behind the fabrics, is also something that makes this a lot more interesting.

Eco fashion has sneaked its way into the mainstream and appears to have even shaken off its uncool reputation.

With the expansion of green fashion, this also brings an awareness of the other different ways to save the planet however through the simple task of recycling old clothes that you no longer want, this provides an easy way to participate. Eco Chic's Stacey continued: "Upcycle your cloths to do your part in saving the environment, even if it is a small gesture it is a massive gesture towards the planet."