Design
Wash Less // Emma Rigby transforms taboo through ‘Energy Water Fashion’
“Wearing unclean clothes is a social taboo. Yet behind this everyday routine there are some major resource, pollution and social problems.” (Designer Emma Rigby, Energy Water Fashion) Emma Rigby investigates the nature of behaviours and rituals surrounding fashion and clothing, allowing a cross-disciplinary approach to best practices in design to help mitigate the negative... »
WATCH//Mitumba: The Second Hand Road
What happens to your clothes after you donate them? Witness, a documentary program on Al-Jazeera English, played this episode (43 minutes) exploring the journey of a single t-shirt from Northern Germany all the way to Africa’s mitumba market. This is a fascinating look into the easily forgotten part of the apparel supply chain.... »
CWAC // Ethical Menswear Product Guide
Commerce with a Conscious takes shopping for ethical menswear to the next leve1 thanks to the new CWAC Product Guide. Here is how it works: “With the CWACPG, visitors can browse and compare CWAC-approved clothing and accessories based on the criteria of their choosing. The idea is have all of the best eco /... »
Aware of What We Wear
Aware of What We Wear: an Ethical Fashion Initiative by Samantha Reichman, Secretary of the Student Ethical Fashion Organization, The College of William and Mary How can fashion, a multibillion dollar flashy, frivolous, fickle industry, created to appeal to the whims of the consumer possibly be ETHICAL? Students of “Ethical Fashion” have discovered the... »
Wind Powered Knitting Machine, by Merel Karhof
Check out this Wind Knitting Factory by RCA grad Merel Karhof. But don’t just stop there—also check out Karhof’s Energy Harvesters: broaches that are worn to illustrate the amount of personal wind power harvested as you walk around! “The knitted material is harvested from time to time and rounded-off in individually packaged scarves. Each... »
VIDEO//Parsons School of Fashion sits down with Mary Hanlon to talk Social Alterations and Responsible Design
Over the past few weeks, I’ve had the pleasure of sitting down with Tamara Albu, Director of the A.A.S. Fashion Design Program at Parsons School of Fashion in New York to discuss Social Alterations, and the work we’ve been doing in developing free, open-source curricula for students and educators. Tamara asked me to sit... »
TEACH// Fun Workshops for Pre-16 Learners: [Fashion High] Understanding the Impact of your Clothing
![TEACH// Fun Workshops for Pre-16 Learners: [Fashion High] Understanding the Impact of your Clothing](http://socialalterations.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/04/FashionHigh_Image4.jpg)
Fashion High @ Balmoral Jr. Secondary School from Social Alterations on Vimeo. On Earth Day, SA stepped back into the classroom to introduce Grade 8 students to the social and environmental impacts of fashion. We have collated our favorite activities from Teaching Sustainable Fashion: A Handbook for Educators as well as developed... »
Toxic Chemicals in Personal Care Products: David Suzuki’s ‘Dirty Dozen’
Credit: jypsygen via Flickr. The David Suzuki Foundation (DSF) has compiled a list of toxic chemicals to avoid in personal care products. Research has shown that “one in eight of the 82,000 ingredients used in personal care products are industrial chemicals, including carcinogens, pesticides, reproductive toxins, endocrine disruptors, plasticizers, degreasers, and surfactants.” (DSF)... »
Fashion High// Educating Youth on Responsible Fashion Consumption
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 EVOLUTION
Our friends over at Re-dress in Ireland have been BUSY! In less than one month, Re-dress will present FASHION EVOLUTION, Ireland’s 3rd ethical fashion week: “Fashion Evolution aims to re-vitalise the spirit of the Irish fashion industry, with a schedule of exciting events catering for consumers, producers, retailers and supporters of fashion alike.” (Re-dress)... »
