Social Responsibility

Time to Connect the Dots!

Wednesday, August 18, 2010
By nadiralamrad
Time to Connect the Dots!

Bangladesh has been rocked by protests that resulted in injured and killed workers and security personnel, labour leaders have gone into hiding fearing the worst, some arrests have taken place — all of this over unsatisfactory wage hikes to 3,000 Taka/month (~US$43) but, don’t worry Canadian consumers, your clothing costs will not increase! I have to... »

Bangladesh// The Details

Thursday, July 29, 2010
By nadiralamrad
Bangladesh// The Details

Two weeks ago, SA founder, Mary Hanlon alerted us to a little reported story on massive worker strikes in Bangladesh.  Following that, we decided to create Social Alterations // Visual Lab and introduced The Bangladesh Project.  We noticed a lack of context in the reports circulating, so we decided to just go ahead and give... »

Refugees & Clothing

Tuesday, June 22, 2010
By nadiralamrad
Refugees & Clothing

Along with father’s day, June 20th also marked World Refugee Day.  The United Nations Refugee Agency (UNHCR) along with its partners ran week-long awareness raising activities world wide centered around this year’s theme: Home.  The day was commemorated in different ways from a simulated refugee experience in Kuala Lumpur to free concerts and entertainment... »

Aware of What We Wear

Tuesday, May 18, 2010
By Samantha Reichman, College of William and Mary
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... »

VIDEO//Parsons School of Fashion sits down with Mary Hanlon to talk Social Alterations and Responsible Design

Tuesday, April 27, 2010
By maryhanlon
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

Sunday, April 25, 2010
By maryhanlon
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... »

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

Monday, April 19, 2010
By maryhanlon
“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... »

Eco Chic – Towards Sustainable Swedish Fashion

Thursday, April 8, 2010
By maryhanlon
Eco Chic – Towards Sustainable Swedish Fashion

“The fashion industry faces major challenges in both resources and labor, but designers featured in the Eco Chic exhibition strive to change the general attitude of fashion and consumption.” (Scandinavian House, on Eco Chic) Will you be in New York sometime this year? If so, you are in luck with so many exhibits, instillations,... »

Sseko Designs: Social Change through Responsible Business

Thursday, April 8, 2010
By maryhanlon
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... »

drc: Design Research Conference 2010// IIT Institute of Design + Competition

Tuesday, March 30, 2010
By maryhanlon
drc: Design Research Conference 2010// IIT Institute of Design + Competition

“The IIT Institute of Design’s 9th Annual Design Research Conference (DRC) will be held at the Spertus Institute in downtown Chicago on May 10-12th 2010. It will feature exceptional international speakers and opportunities to spend time with our brilliant community of designers, planners, researchers, educators, students, managers and executives concerned with understanding people.” (drc)... »