Reduce

An October to Remember// Upcoming Events

September 30, 2009
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An October to Remember// Upcoming Events

October will have you wishing you could be in more than one city at the same time. If you find yourself in Paris, Chicago, Providence, Portland, Hong Kong, London or Seattle this October, be sure to check out these amazing events. Click on the event you are interested in on the Events Calendar and we should link you straight into the events homepage. Also, if you are near London in Oct. Nov. or Dec., be sure to stay tuned into the London College of Fashion, for Clash! Creative Collisions in Fashion and Science.   Last but not least, if...

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Social Alterations is now on Ning!

September 1, 2009
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Social Alterations is now on Ning!

  You can use this space to share and upload curricula ideas, lesson plans, visual aids, research and projects, or to just discuss the current happenings in the industry with respect to social issues and environmental concerns, as well as the latest trends in socially responsible design.     “See” you in the Forum! Oh…and don’t forget to pick up your Social Alterations Badge!   Visit Social Alterations

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Nike: Considered Design Ethos, Steve Nash and the “Sixty Million Dollar Man”

August 21, 2009
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Nike: Considered Design Ethos, Steve Nash and the “Sixty Million Dollar Man”

Nike has adopted an interesting approach to corporate social responsibility (CSR). As previously mentioned, the company has seemingly managed to connect its sustainability platform to its innovation platform. Trash Talk is one example, the packaging the shoe comes in is another: The shoe will also be packaged in a new Considered Design shoebox. Like Nike’s first recycled content box in 1995, this new box is still made from 100 percent recycled fiber, but now features a new design which reduces the fiber content by approximately 30 percent.  (CSRwire)   According to the company, “Nike’s Considered ethos challenges designers to use...

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Nike Talks Trash

August 20, 2009
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Nike Talks Trash

Andrew Hartman, Design Director from Philips Design, Claudia Kotchka, Former Head of Design at Procter & Gamble, and Valerie Casey, Lead of Digital Experience Practice at IDEO and Founder of the Designers Accord, were among 20 star designer judges at the IDEA 2009: Designing a Better World competition that took place in May of this year. Hartman stressed the importance for designers to deliver an experience to their client, rather than just an instance. Kotchka expressed her belief that design thinking is a necessary tool for solving design challenges. Casey spoke on the prioritization of sustainability as moving beyond...

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Social Alterations: Forum

August 20, 2009
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Social Alterations: Forum

How can education foster sustainable change toward socially responsible fashion and apparel design and manufacturing practices? Social Alterations hopes to foster socially responsible fashion design education through aggregating relevant material that will inspire fashion/textile and apparel instructors, researchers, designers and design enthusiasts to get on board with thinking about consequence in the industry. Sign up to the Social Alterations Forum if you’re interested in sharing and contributing ideas on curriculum, research, projects, materials, design, etc. with this community.

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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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Compostmodern09 tweet along

February 23, 2009
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  Below is my tweet along for Compostmodern09, which took place on Sat. Feb 21st 09. This event was greatly inspiring, and I will be writing a post soon on the over all themes of the conference and where the convergence into sustainable fashion design comes into play. Stay tuned for that post (and some images as well).   ·  excited to be at #cm09 8:19 AM Feb 21st ·  #cm09 only 5000 days left. take it as fact. 9:55 AM Feb 21st ·  #cm09 Allan Chochinov ten rules applicable to fashion design. 10:23 AM Feb 21st ·  Michel...

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Here comes the ethical bride…

February 16, 2009
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Here comes the ethical bride…

  The current issue of Ethical Style has dedicated itself to brides to be: “Big day, big decisions — how to turn your white wedding green”   It offers simple suggestions toward some ethical options on your big day. The greatest thing about the guide however is the wide range of resources it provides; including the 3D’s: diamonds, dresses and destinations. A perfect illustration that an ethical choice doesn’t have to be   a) ugly or b) expensive (actually, in some circles the jury may still be out…)   You brides probably have enough on your mind, but you...

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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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