Nondiscrimination

Educating and Engaging // Shared Talent India, Centre for Sustainable Fashion

December 16, 2010
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Educating and Engaging // Shared Talent India, Centre for Sustainable Fashion

Shared Talent India encourages “fashion designers to exchange expertise with other protagonists across the supply chain, transcending traditional divisions, be they linguistic, geographic, or discipline based.” (Shared Talent India) Designers can now access much needed information on opportunities and limitations of materials in India such as cotton and silk (among others). While designers may feel discouraged when they learn that genetically modified (GM) cotton “has found its way into almost every Indian supply chain,” they will no doubt understand the opportunity for change, as it exists in India, when they learn that “eed exchange projects empower farming communities” (Shared...

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‘Taking Liberties’ // Garment workers in Gurgaon earn poverty wages, facing violence and threats

December 13, 2010
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‘Taking Liberties’ // Garment workers in Gurgaon earn poverty wages, facing violence and threats

“Workers’ children in the area are not admitted in the Government schools in Delhi as they cannot provide the documents the Delhi Government Schools ask for.” (Worker X, Case Study: Taking Liberties) Labour Behind the Label and War on Want are reporting gross violations of workers rights in two Delhi factories producing garments for M&S, Debenhams, Next Monsoon and Arcadia. Taking Liberties, cites exploitative labour practices such as unregistered living in slum housing, precarious labour through non-contractual temporary employment, threats and violence against workers through hired security in anti-union workplace environment, poverty wages (workers paid less than ½ a...

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Shamelessly Idealistic? Free the Children // We Day: Vancouver, Canada

October 15, 2010
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Shamelessly Idealistic? Free the Children // We Day: Vancouver, Canada

“Acting is what I do for a living; activism is what I do to stay alive.” (Martin Sheen) Today I witnessed 18,000 youth stand up and shout out  in support for children’s rights. Have you ever heard 18,000 children chant freedom, again and again? I can assure you that it is a sound I will not soon forget. This year’s We Day events saw Free the Children co-founders Craig and Mark Kielburger celebrate the hard work and dedication of students all across Canada—students...

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Fashioning the Future 2011 Award // Fashion’s Campaign for Unique

October 14, 2010
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Fashioning the Future 2011 Award // Fashion’s Campaign for Unique

Attention tutors, students, and recent graduates! The Centre for Sustainable Fashion has launched the 2011 Fashioning the Future Award brief. What kind of world are you designing for? What is your motivation as a designer? What is your unique contribution to our collective futures? To participate, you must register your interest online: www.sustainable-fashion.com from1 October 2010 where you will have access to resources and ideas to stimulate your work. Here are the submission dates and deadlines: Round 1 of submission: you will be required to submit your work online by 15 June 2011. Candidates who are shortlisted from Round...

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TEACH// Fun Workshops for Pre-16 Learners: [Fashion High] Understanding the Impact of your Clothing

April 25, 2010
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TEACH// Fun Workshops for Pre-16 Learners: [Fashion High] Understanding the Impact of your Clothing

    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 our own exercises to create two workshops for pre-16 learners. These workshops hope to engage, educate, encourage and empower both educator and learner to get involved with the issues. Each workshop provides resources and tools to help lessen the impact of the fashion industry on...

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“Step into her shoes” for some Human Rights training with Fashioning an Ethical Industry

April 19, 2010
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“Step into her shoes” for some Human Rights training with Fashioning an Ethical Industry

Back in January, we posted on Clearing the Hurdles, a report by The Playfair campaign, which is made up of  the Clean Clothes Campaign (CCC), the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC), and the International Textile, Garment and Leather Worker’s Federation (ITGLWF), in partnership with Maquila Solidarity Network, and other organizations worldwide. This May, Fashioning an Ethical Industry invites teachers and tutors  to “Step into her Shoes” and be introduced to a “new pack of teaching resources aimed at KS4, A-level and FE themed around the London’s 2012 Olympics. The pack focuses on issues of human rights within global sportswear supply chains,...

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Sseko Designs: Social Change through Responsible Business

April 8, 2010
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Sseko Designs: Social Change through Responsible Business

Janette Crawford, who runs one of our favourite blogs, fashion loves people, has shared a wonderful interview she had originally done for KCFreePress.com. The interview is with Liz Bohannon, founder of Sseko Designs, an organization working to provide women with tuition money they need to attend college in Uganda through social enterprise. I encourage you to head over to fashion loves people straight away to check out the full interview. I wanted to share this video clip with you here, as a source of encouragement. Liz Bohannon speaks passionately on the power of social enterprise in creating sustainable change—her...

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READ// the Fair Wear formula

March 26, 2010
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READ// the Fair Wear formula

The Fair Wear Foundation (FWF) has launched a new publication, the Fair Wear formula. “The design by Ruben @ Buro RuSt combines with the more than readable texts by Anne Lally combine to create an innovative, attractive description of the FWF approach to improving labour conditions in garment supply chains. In hardback or paperback.” (FWF) Image: FWF’s focus (image from the Fair Wear formula, (c) Buro RuSt   If you aren’t already familiar with the Fair Wear Foundation, an international verification initiative dedicated to enhancing workers’ lives, take a minute to check out their guiding principles: Supply chain responsibility...

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Social Alterations// Slides

March 15, 2010
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Nadira and I both promised to make the slides from our presentations at the FEI conference available online, and here they are, along with a slideshow of some of the images we captured from the event. I’ve reposted the videos of the presentations for convenience. 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: An Education Lab for Socially Responsible Fashion Design View more presentations from socialalterations. Social Alterations @ FEI from Social Alterations on Vimeo. CSR Trends...

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Responsible Design: Why should design students care?

March 15, 2010
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Responsible Design: Why should design students care?

  Earlier this month SA had the pleasure of interviewing David Goldsmith from The Swedish School of Textiles and Parsons, Eleanor Dorrien-Smith from PARTIMI, Kat Ross and Larissa Clark from the Environmental Justice Foundation, Carolina Gomez-Aubert from Lunamano, and Sophie Koers from the Fair Wear Foundation. We asked them for their take on responsible design, and why they think design students should care. Responsible Design: Why should design students care? from Social Alterations on Vimeo. What does responsible design mean to you, and why do you think design students should care?

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