In our activity “Talking Back” students were asked to ‘talk back’ to fashion magazines, by cutting out images and placing them on a poster board either under the category “OK!” or “NO THANKS.” Students at Balmoral said “NO THANKS!” to this fashion theme.

 I recently had the pleasure of stepping in as a guest speaker at Balmoral Jr. Secondary School, in North Vancouver (BC, Canada), to talk responsible fashion consumption with a fantastic group of Grade 10’s (thanks Ms. Thomson!).

Why? We got to talking recently at SA about how many of the resources we’re aggregating for fashion designers/students/educators are easily translated into resources for youth (pre-16). In fact, thanks to groups like Fashioning an Ethical Industry and TRAID (to name just a couple), so many resources on responsible fashion dedicated to students within this age bracket already exist.

Because we want to make sure teachers know where to go to access these great educational tools, we’ve pooled some of our favourites together to present to you what we think is an amazing workshop for Pre-16 students: [Fashion High] Understanding the Impact of your Clothing: An Introduction.

We want to share the experience with you here and give you all the tools you need to run your own workshop. We’ll be uploading a package for the 1 hour workshop I ran at Balmoral, as well as an extended 2 hour version of the same workshop. Like all of our content, these lessons are completely interdisciplinary.

I’ll be stepping back into the classroom at Balmoral soon, so to make sure that this workshop goes as smoothly as possible on your end, I will record some video footage to give you a sneak peak at how it all works together when put into action.  

My experience at Balmoral, here in Canada, was a complete success; Not only was I inspired by these students, encouraged at how comfortable they were discussing Human Rights and the environment within the fashion context, I believe that the workshop had a real impact on the students, providing them with tangible solutions to some very big problems.

Stay tuned for more on this.

Here are some images of the workshop:

Eco-conscious artist transforms trashed PCBs into stunning sculptures via Ecofriend

A roundup of some of the stories, headlines, and updates you may be interested in from in and around the community of socially responsible fashion design.

Become a Fan on Facebook for other news, links and regular updates.

Core77

Design and the public good

CSR Asia

Not for Sale: Exporting products from forced labour camps in China

CSR and poverty alleviation

CSR Europe

‘Degradable’ plastic not so environmentally fantastic, study reveals

Shoppers go green ‘to impress neighbours not to save planet’, study finds

UN report reveals financial cost of environmental damage

Corporate Responsibility comes of age  

Ecouterre

Kate Moss Dons Recycled Mosquito Net Dress For Malaria Awareness

BREAKING NEWS: Acid, Formaldehyde Found in Designer Clothing Brands

The Detectair is a “Smart” Vest That Sniffs Out Air Pollutants

Why Are There So Few Options in Men’s Eco-Fashion?

Karl Lagerfeld Ships 265 Ton Artic Iceberg to Paris for Fashion Show

Ecotextiles News

Help on organic and fairtrade supply chains

Gap Inc pushes denim recycling

Eco-Textile Labelling Guide 2010 – now published

AAFA updates restricted substances 

GOTS launches new database 

Liu Institute for Global Issues

Launch of the Global Health Network

Planet Green

There’s Going To Be a Little Less Cancer in Your Shampoo

Certified Organic Textile Companies Increase 40% Last Year: More than 50 countries now making organic cloth

The Centre for Sustainable Fashion

Call for Designers: Fashion Footprints – Sustainable Approaches

Rapid Prototype Shoes

Tesco Launches Recycled Clothing Collection  

The Global Compact

Principles for Responsible Management Education Initiative Adopts Governance Framework

Top Organizations Unite to Support Global Oath Initiative

859 Companies Delisted for Failure to Communicate on Progress

Speakers and several important topics covered include:

• Environmentally Friendly Fabrics – Understand the Definition, Sourcing and Production Issues,
• A Discussion on Recycled Materials – Polyester and Nylon,
• Responsible Processing – The Good The Bad & The Ugly of Dyeing and Finishing Industry,
• Product Integrity – Certification, Labeling, Transparency and Traceability,
• Social Compliance – Understand the Different Systems and Learn The Actual Work Done,
• Setting Sustainability Strategy – Learn from the Perspective of Leading Brands, Their Pitfalls, Triumphs and Lessons Learned,
• Communication Strategy – How Sustainability and Branding Strengthen Each Other?
• Fashion and Consumer Trends Towards Sustainability in Europe.

Participants will be encouraged to be critical, ask questions and share experiences during discussions. It would be an excellent place to actively share knowledge and information and to network at every possible level.” (MADE-BY)

Click here to download the latest version of the agenda.

Here are some testimonials from past events:

“Most valuable aspect was meeting with other people facing the same issues and discussing how we can work through to a solution together”

– Marks & Spencer, United Kingdom

“After the seminar, striking argument towards our top management on sustainable fashion production has been developed!”

– INTERSPORT International, Switzerland

“A real thorough approach to looking at all aspects of building and implementing a sustainable strategy, fantastically useful and incredibly interesting”

– Ted Baker, United Kingdom

“The most valuable aspect were the case studies of brands committed to sustainable fashion, good networking opportunities and the open atmosphere during interactive discussion”

– PUMA, Germany

Title: Organic Exchange/MADE-BY: ‘The Case for Sustainable Fasion’
Location: Stockholm, Sweden
Link out: Click here
Start Date: 2010-05-26
End Date: 2010-05-27

Thanks to everyone who offered feedback, we were so grateful for your considerations. Please, keep let’s keep the conversation going!

Be sure to contact us with any questions!

Social Alterations @ FEI from Social Alterations on Vimeo.

CSR Trends in China’s Apparel Supply Chain from Social Alterations on Vimeo.

Find more photos like this on Social Alterations

Here are just two of the videos we took at the conference. We have more videos to come, so stay tuned for those.

The first video is of my Pecha Kucha talk. I’ll be posting the slides and my notes a little later on. Please contact us if you have any questions on the works cited in the presentation.

Social Alterations @ FEI from Social Alterations on Vimeo.

FEI Conference 006 from Social Alterations on Vimeo.

Pesticide Action Network (PAN) was also there, asking participants “what organic cotton means…..to me”. Pictured above is Nadira Lamrad (right) with her answer.

So here we are in London for the Fashioning an Ethical Industry Conference: Fast Forward. Today, Nadira and I will both be presenting at the conference, and with Katrine in attendance, this will mark the first time the SA team is all together in the same place at the same time!  

We will be doing lots of blogging and twitter (ing?) from the event, and will have our presentations uploaded later tonight for you to check out, so be sure to tune in.

Follow on twitter via @maryhanlon for that feed.

Wish us luck!

Despite the comments out of Loudermilk’s office, we’re not quite convinced it was a responsible choice. Even if we were to believe that this bamboo was in fact not rayon, meaning that it was mechanically processed, not chemically processed, and that such mechanical processing was done without violating any human rights, we still think it’s an inappropriate fibre to showcase due to the global misconceptions on the use of bamboo as a responsible fibre both within and outside of the ecofashion movement.

Why not utilize the opportunity to showcase this design in linen, hemp or peace silk?

Here is a refresher on the potential social and environmental (not to mention cultural and economic) consequences of the use of Bamboo fibre, taken from our Fibre Analysis:

Still don’t believe us? Still not convinced? Read more on treehugger, the Competition Bureau of Canada, and Ecotextile News (re: FTC).

What do you think readers? When will the bamboo rayon train leave the ecofashion station?!?!

Source: treehugger and Vogue UK

The Ethical Sourcing Forum is a unique industry event that brings together members of the global sustainability community in order to address emerging sustainability and ethical supply chain challenges.

Here is the Agenda (subject to change):

Day 1: Thursday, March 18^th, 2010.

7:45 AM  -  8:30 AM: Registration & Breakfast

8:30 AM  -  9:15 AM: Welcome Note and ESF Community Poll Findings

What are YOUR top sustainability issues and management challenges? (Kathrin Bohr, Director, ISS Advisory Services)

9:15 AM  -  10:30 AM: ‘VISUALIZE’ Panel Discussion

The Arc of Sustainability Progress: What have we achieved, where are we going and where do we need to be?

• David Schilling, Program Director for Human Rights at Interfaith Center on Corporate Responsibility (Moderator)
• Matt Kistler, SVP Sustainability, Walmart
• Linda Yanz, Director, Maquila Solidarity Network
• Stephen Howard, CEO, Business in The Community
• Amy Hall, Director of Social Consciousness, Eileen Fisher
• International Labor Affairs Bureau, U.S. Department of Labor

10:30 AM  -  10:45 AM: Spotlight on Innovation: Walmart’s Sustainability Index

• Matt Kistler, SVP Sustainability, Walmart

10:45 AM  -  11:00 AM: Coffee Break/ Networking

11:00 AM  -  1:00 PM: RE-THINK LABS

Mini-Lab 1: Social Networking for Effective Stakeholder Engagement
(Kevin Long, Co-Founder, JustMeans & Brian Walsh, Head of Global Social Engagement, Liquidnet for Good)

Mini Lab 2: Collaboration: Potential and Pitfalls
(Scot Sharland, Executive Director, Automotive Industry Action Group & Monique Oxender, Global Manager, Supply Chain Sustainability, Ford Motor Company)

Mini Lab 3: Role of investment in driving CSR progress
(Garry Bell, VP Global Marketing for Gildan Activewear & Curtis Ravenel, Analyst at Bloomberg)

Mini Lab 4: Measuring and Reporting Environmental & Social Impacts
(TBC)

1:00 PM  -  2:15 PM: Lunch

Joe Sibilia, Chief Visionary Officer of CSRWire and David Mager, President, Major Environmental Solutions  and Co-organizer of Earth Day preview their new book: Street Smart Sustainability – The Entrepreneurs Guide to Profitably Greening Your Organization’s DNA

2:15 PM  -  4:15 PM: RE-THINK LABS

Mini-Lab 5: New Models for Sustainable Purchasing and Factory Compliance (Amy Hall, Director of Social Consciousness, Eileen Fisher  & Julie Yan, Manager, Hudson Bay Company)

Mini Lab 6: New Approaches to Factory Compliance
(Marie David, Director, Corporate Strategy & Sustainability, Walmart)

Mini Lab 7: Transparency in Supply Chain (Chuck Goncalves, Director of Global Responsibility for the America’s Region, Gap)

Mini Lab 8: Managing Supply Chain Environmental Risk: ” Both Win” Tools and Approaches (Jia Liu, Intertek Sustainability Solutions with Supplier (TBC), moderated by The Home Depot)

4:15 PM  -  4:30 PM: Coffee Break/ Networking

4:30 PM  -  5:30 PM: Panel Disussion: What Combination of Strategy and Tactics Really Drives CSR Progress?

• Moderator: NY Bureau Chief, major international magazine (To be confirmed)
• Genevieve Taft, Global Workplace Rights, The Coca-Cola Company
• Sherlyn Broderson, Ethical Sourcing and Sustainability Manager, Cadbury
• Frank Rexach, VP and General Manager, Haworth
• Judi Kovacs, VP EHS Programs, NBC Universal

5:30 PM  -  7:00 PM Cocktail Reception

Day 2: Friday, March 19^th, 2010

8:00 AM  -  8:30 AM: Breakfast

8:30 AM  -  9:00 AM: Keynote Presentation
TBC

9:00 AM  -  10:00 AM: Presentation: Child/Forced Labor Preview of New Anti-Child/Forced Labor Supply Chain Management Criteria

CREA (Center for Reflection, Education and Action) will preview its work on developing ethical supply chain management criteria (contracted by the U.S. Dept. of Labor)

10:00 AM  -  10:15 AM: Coffee Break/ Networking

10:15 AM  -  12:15 PM: SOLUTION LAB – Backcasting: Developing Your Sustainable Roadmap

A hands-on collaborative sustainability decision-making / solution session involving the technique of reframing – a model for examining challenges from multiple stakeholder vantage points in order to uncover previously unseen perspectives and decision paths.

12:15 PM  -  1:45 PM: Lunch/ Closing Remarks

Source: Ethical Sourcing Forum Agenda

Title: Ethical Sourcing Forum North America 2010
Location: New York
Link out: Click here

Start Date: 2010-03-18
End Date: 2010-03-19

Social Alterations has been following the FIBERcasts out of the University of Delaware, and we are very excited about the upcoming live event tomorrow. Make sure to pre-register! There will be opportunity to email in questions, live. Here are the details:

“The next FIBERcast will take place this Thursday, February 4, at 11 a.m. (EST) and will examine Fair Trade in the Global Apparel Industry. Join host Dr. Marsha Dickson of the University of Delaware and board member of the Fair Labor Association in examining fair trade practices and possibilities in the global apparel industry.”

“The FIBERcast guests will explore these and other important topics:

• What does fair trade really mean?
• How does fair trade benefit workers in developing countries?
• How do we know whether a product is fair trade or not?“

Our Podcast section has links to past FIBERcasts. Check them out, and be sure to tune in with us tomorrow!

For a brief summary of the first half of the last FIBERcast, click here. We’ll post some notes on this 4th installment, so stay tuned.

“The World of Apparel Sourcing 2010-2012 looks at the trends that influenced apparel sourcing between 2007 and 2009 and reviews which of them are likely to change between 2010 and 2012. It then makes detailed forecasts for the net effect on apparel exports from over 60 countries in 2010, 2011 and 2012.” (Clothesource) Click here to download the Management Summary, and to purchase the report.

Recently, on their blog, Clothesource Comments, Michael Flanagan outlined “The Twelve (Probable) Laws of Apparel Sourcing from 2010 to 2012” (in twelve separate posts).

Here is just the beginning of each (probable) law of apparel sourcing, to wet your appetite and encourage you to read-up on them.

1. There are no new sourcing hotspots:

“Now as long as we’ve been commenting on garment sourcing, people have been   asking us what new hotspots are emerging. For years now, we’ve been saying there aren’t any. But there’s always a “what about…?” rejoinder. So – what about [click here to read more]”

2. For most emerging-market factories, it’s China (and Vietnam a bit), not the recession:

“Total clothing imports by rich countries fell 4.2% in the third quarter of the year. But from countries outside China, imports fell 9.8%. If China, Macao and Hong Kong together had kept their share of world trade in Q3 2009 at the 42.6% they held in 2008, their clothing exports would have fallen by just 4.2% [click here to read more]”

3. Global instability is bankrupting factories – recession or no recession:

“The real impact of the recession so far, though, has been on financially weak factories.

Each twist in constantly changing energy and raw material costs, and interest and exchange rates, weakens a new group of suppliers. An epidemic of delayed and dishonoured payments in the winter of 2008/9, together with reduced and cancelled orders, tipped many businesses over. Such fluctuations will still devastate undercapitalised businesses even if sales start growing [click here to read more]”

4. What recession didn’t kill, recovery won’t cure:

“Throughout the world since mid 2008, garment factories have been reportedly closing, and workers losing their jobs, at unprecedented rates. Naturally this has been blamed on the recession [click here to read more].”

5. China just did what it had to for garment exporters to survive. It’ll probably keep doing that:

“Through the recession, China changed its laws, offered hundreds of billions in credit for exporting businesses and changed its tax rebate system – all to keep its exporting companies alive. Its government showed unmatched determination to keep its garment exporters in business. Probably, we’ll see similar determination in the future [click here to read more].”

6. Sharper Asian operations have also undermined European and Central American competitiveness:

“The biggest sufferers from China’s growth at the end of this decade have been Europe’s and America’s neighbours [click here to read more].”

7. Prices seem to be forever falling:

“Pricing is the central issue in sourcing. And it’s often misunderstood.

Wholesale clothing prices have been coming down since Western manufacturers started moving their sourcing offshore [click here to read more].”

8. “Ethical” sourcing has to be properly understood:

“Everyone wants ethically-produced clothes. But few customers are prepared to pay for them [click here to read more].”

9. An economist’s “recovery” doesn’t mean demand increases:

“Though economists keep telling us there’s a recovery going on, few retailers would agree. And, if they’re honest, few emerging-market garment makers would either [click here to read more].”

10. Protectionist barriers are falling, and few are likely to be re-erected:

“The world trade in garments is largely about rich countries importing from poorer ones. And – quite contrary to widely believed myths – those rich countries have been dropping their barriers against apparel imports consistently for the past five years. How likely is that trend to reverse? [click here to read more]”

11. Entire countries’ apparel industries are currently under threat:

“Clothing manufacturing in surprisingly many countries is threatened by proposed changes in duty-free arrangements, or by political instability. And China’s growing strength is putting growing pressure on the viability of many others’.

A large group of countries remain competitive because they enjoy preferential duty concession in rich countries that their rivals don’t. But this competitive advantage is under heat from four directions [click here to read more]”

12. In the post-post-quota world, China’s currently got the edge:

“During 2009, garment sourcing moved from the post-quota world to the post-post-quota world. And many countries that seemed to do well when quotas first came off might be far less able to survive in tomorrow’s post-post-quota world [click here to read more]”

Of particular interest to SA, is (probable) law 8. According to Clothesource, consumer apathy toward ethical concerns within the supply chain can encourage corporations to turn a blind eye to human rights violations. While understanding that consumers have a role to play isn’t breaking news, Clothesource confirms two commercial reasons corporations should get behind ethics: happy workers and the cost of public scandals. Of course, the issues are more complicated than they seem…

Be sure to follow Clothesource to make sense of it all.