Lifecycle Analysis

Watch: FTA’s ” Sustainable Fashion 101″

August 8, 2009
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Watch: FTA’s ” Sustainable Fashion 101″

Based out of Toronto, Canada, Fashion Takes Action is a member’s based organization dedicated to transforming the fashion industry.  FTA helps businesses, as well as designers, students, consumers and researchers, become more aware of their social and environmental impact, while learning the benefits of operating a more sustainable business. Up this week on the FTA site is video coverage of their recent event “Sustainable Fashion 101.” Presentations from FTA Founder, Kelly Drennan, Andrea Stairs, Head of Marketplace Development at eBay, Ellen Karp, President of Anerca, Elsa Poncet, ECOCERT Europe, and Lorraine Smith, an Independent Sustainability Consultant can be viewed...

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The University of Delaware’s Sustainable Apparel Initiative (UDSAI)

June 4, 2009
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University of Delaware’s Sustainable Apparel Initiative offers ten policies for apparel brands and retailers to implement into their business practices. Click here to learn more about the policies and the initiative. Although all ten policies are crucial considerations for sustainable practices, “Policy 5: Consider and implement end-of-life strategies (recycle, renew, or reuse) when choosing materials, designing, and producing apparel”  pays particular attention to design through suggested best practices in both material and design assembly considerations. In the context of socially responsible fashion design education, how can these policies be integrated into your fashion curriculum? Early next week, Social Alterations will...

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FIBERcast tweet along

February 23, 2009
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  The first FIBERcast, featuring Dr. Marsha Dickson and Mr. Doug Cahn, took place today, February 23, 2008. The broadcast was hosted by Dr. Hye-Shin Kim, of the University of Delaware, and focused on “Social Responsibility in the Apparel Industry”.   For those not following on Twitter, here are my live tweets of the event: searchable under #fibercast, #csr and #sr   ·  Dr. Marsha Dickson # fibercast: monitoring become the standard, but often does not provide solutions. new book http://tinyurl.com/aqb85w about 2 hours ago ·  #fibercast problems are complex and widespread/freedom of association/forced labour/discrimination/child labour about 2 hours...

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How does “Poison Plastic” translate to “Sustainable Plastic”? Anyone?

February 11, 2009
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  And so, as promised, I had sent an email requesting more information on PVC to Melissa (via Arbec Group), Vivienne Westwood and Grendene.   I received an email response from the Arbec Group immediately asking me which environmental and safety concerns I was referring to. A simple Google search might have given them an idea, but none the less, here was my response:   According to this 2005 Greenbiz article, “azardous chemicals are used and released in this commonly used material, the second highest selling plastic in the world. Studies show links between chemicals created and used during...

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Vivienne Westwood: PVC Debate

February 6, 2009
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Vivienne Westwood: PVC Debate

   Vivienne Westwood recently teamed up with Melissa to create a new shoe collection. “The Fashion Audit: 02/02/09” in The Independent claims that these shoes are made from recycled rubber. The shoe company offers limited information on the details of the environmental factors associated with the plastic. One thing for sure, the shoes, like all Melissa shoes, are made from PVC (polyvinyl chloride). Now, I am no expert on PVC, that’s for sure, but I seem to recall the material being associated with some pretty serious safety and environmental risks. What’s changed? Apparently, at least one PVC manufacturer (Grendene), has...

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Global Surplus in Organic Cotton Production

January 27, 2009
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  According to this article by Eco-Textile News, although 2008 saw an increase in demand for organic cotton by 33%, global production was left with an 8% surplus. The article cites information released by non-profit Organic Exchange, who also claim that demand for organic cotton will likely result in a 24% increase in 2009 an worry that inventory will remain too high.   The Organic Cotton Market Report will be available in Feb 2009 for review.

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FEI Conference

January 27, 2009
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FEI Conference

  Fashioning an Ethical Industry: Putting Ethics into Practice March 11th, 2009   This is a one day conference that will bring together experts in ethical fashion, as well as students and tutors, to discuss the current state of the ethical fashion industry, and ways to put ethics into practice. There is no question this will be an excellent conference.   You can read more about this year’s conference and speakers here. To read a report on last year’s event click here, or to listen to a podcast, click here. Source: FEI

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Compostmodern 09

January 24, 2009
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Compostmodern 09

  If you’re interested in sustainable design, check out the Compostmodern 09 conference. The event will be available as a webcast, so you only have to worry about the long commute to your office, living room, kitchen table, or bed to get there.   Feb 21st is the big day/40$ webcast registration   This years scheduled speakers: Eames Demetrios/Eames Office Saul Griffith/Makani Power Allan Chochinov/Core 77 Nathan Shedroff/MBA Chair, California College of the Arts (CCA) Michel Gelobter, John Bielenberg and Pam Dorr/Project M and HERO Housing Resource, Alabama Emily Pilloton/Project H Design Dawn Danby/Sustainable Design Program Manager, Autodesk  ...

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feeling fashionably overweight?

December 17, 2008
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The “Household Textile Environmental Impact Calculator” wants your closet to think about going on a diet. The calculator asseses you based on annual water usage, energy usage, use of non-renewable resources, and pollution. Unfortunately the calculator doesn’t account for non conventional fabrics, such as hemp. What is impressive however, is the fact that the calculator takes you through the lifecycle of your garments: purchasing, care, and disposal. The year is almost up, so Dec. marks a perfect time to start calculating and re-calculating to think about consumption practices for the year ahead. It doesn’t take long to calculate your annual...

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