Category Archives: Cradle to Cradle

Fashioning the Future Award winners announced, London

On November 10th, the Centre for Sustainable Fashion (CSF), at London College of Fashion, announced the winners of this year’s Fashioning the Future Awards — themed UNIQUE.

Congratulations to Ashley Brock (United States), Sara Emilie Terp Hansen (Denmark), Evelyn Lebis (Sweden), Christian Frank Muller (Germany) Alice Payne (Australia), and Lara Torres (Portugal).

Here is a taste of just two of the award winning entries (now added to the ‘Projects for Change’ collection on the left):

“Man sinking to the floor” from “An impossible wardrobe for the invisible,” by Lara Torres, is “a video installation showcasing water soluble clothing in order to comment upon the transient and disposable nature of fashion.” (CSF) Click here to view the entire series of performances.

“Lara Torres present’s the recordings/documentation of seven performances in a video screening. These videos are based in the creation of temporary clothes that are produced with the aim of being destroyed. They refer to the los[s] of the object and the documentation of this loss. The action of effacing the clothes leaves a trace (the seams) translating a strong relation with memory and forgetfulness.” (Lara Torres, An impossible wardrobe for the invisible: vimeo)


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ThinkLifecycle, by Alice Payne, is “a widely applicable content management system joining new and existing industry practices in order for companies to evolve towards a sustainable fashion industry.” (CSF)

“The ThinkLifecycle CMS grew from the need for sustainability to be a central concern within the mass market design process, rather than a tacked-on extra. Mass market fashion is affordable, accessible and democratic. However, it is based on a linear model of production where resources are extracted en masse, manufactured into garments and then sold to consumers, who rapidly dispose of them to purchase new product.” (ThinkLifecycle)

 

Congratulations to all the winners, finalists, organizers and participants!

 

Source: the CSF

Photo Credit: Alex Maguire, via the CSF

Designing values, Cradle to Cradle

No matter where we sit—consumer, designer, marketer, researcher, educator, etc.—on the global apparel supply chain, our understanding of responsibility stems from our values, individual or shared.

“By design, we start with values” (William McDonough)

We must constantly ask ourselves: “What are my values? What are my intentions? Do they align? How do they translate in practice?” Easier said than done? Not with Cradle to Cradle (C2C) design theory: C2C encapsulates values in design, by design.

 

Designers Accord – Sustainability in 7 – Bill McDonough from Core77 on Vimeo.

Image Source: “Am I happier now?” image by Carlotta Cataldi, of Slow Fashion Forward

Video Source: Core 77, Sustainability in 7 (via the Designers Accord)

 

Interactive lesson plans educate learners on responsible fashion

The Creative Commons is embedded into our responsible education ethos; we have researched and aggregated content to create educational resources because we believe that accessibility leads to accountability. Of course knowledge is power, but without access to knowledge we will not move forward.

In 2009 we brought you “[Lesson 1] Sifting through the ‘Ecofashion’ Lexicon” and our “Fibre Analysis”. In 2010 we worked further to bringing you lessons on the social, cultural, economic and environmental interdisciplinary challenges facing the value system that is the global apparel supply chain.

Social Alterations 2010 //

[Lesson 4] Corporate Social Responsibility

[Lesson 3] Global Governance and the Corporation

[Lesson 2] Connect // Key Players

[Fashion High] Understanding the Impact of your Clothing (pre-16 learners)

Social Alterations 2009 //

 

[Lesson 1] Sifting through the ‘Ecofashion’ Lexicon

Fibre Analysis

Check out this how to on navigating our site:

Social Alterations 2010 // Program Guide from Social Alterations on Vimeo.

Suzanne Lee’s BioCouture grows clothes

Suzanne Lee, Senior Research Fellow at Central Saint Martins, University of the Arts London and author of Fashioning The Future: tomorrow’s wardrobe, is brilliantly combining fashion and biology in search of alternative fibre/material.

BioCouture is currently on display:

Trash Fashion: designing out waste

Antenna Gallery, The Science Museum London, until June 2011

 

The Future That Never Was: Alter Nature

ModeMuseum Hasselt, Belgium, until June 2011

Listen in on her recent TED talk:

Mark Trotzuk presents ‘Apparel Lifecycle Impacts & Mitigation of Impacts’ // ECO Fashion Week Vancouver

ECO Fashion Week Vancouver, September 29th, 2010 // Day two: Mark Trotzuk

Mark Trotzuk – Apparel Lifecycle Impacts & Mitigation of Impacts 
 

 
BIO //
Mark Trotzuk is the founder and CEO of Boardroom Eco Apparel, an audited socially compliant company and fair trade manufacturer that creates custom lifestyle clothing collections for fashion-conscious people who demand style, comfort and increased functional performance from their everyday clothing. Boardroom Eco Apparel is a Bluesign® brand member. In April of 2008, Mark’s passion for the environment brought him the opportunity to train with Al Gore as a presenter for The Climate Project; a Canadian initiative to increase awareness of Global Warming and Climate Change.www.ecoapparel.ca
NOTES //
  •  “Be careful with what you do, it’s very complicated once you start down this path” – MEC buyer on eco claims for his products. If you are going to be responsible for your product, you have to take all risks associated with every step of your product’s life cycle. 
  • So where to start:
    • Choose a fiber.
      • Need to know every stage of its lifecycle (ie, later, how much energy will be required to upkeep it)
  • You need to learn how to measure your impact. This is the most difficult thing to do in committing to eco.
  • Recycled Polyester can save 40-70% in energy savings over virgin polyester. Even then, great amounts of energy are used in dying, drying and spinning product.
  • 25% of chemicals used worldwide are used for textiles.
  • Eco Apparel has adopted the Swiss Bluesign standard. Consumer Safety; Conserving Resources;  High tech and Comfort. That said, the challenge is that the standard is new and many textiles and supplies haven’t yet been approved.
    • The point with a standard is that ultimately you’re going by the word of your supplier and as much as they say it may be one thing, tests may reveal it’s another.
    • For example, 200 factories in Bangladesh were visited by Bluesign and found that only 3 of them had wastewater treatment plants. All the other 197 were allowing all chemicals used to just flush out into the water system.
    • As for social compliance (ie, working conditions), an audit of the highest integrity is most important.
    • To do a proper carbon footprint for your company you should consider:
      • Electricity
      • Heating
      • Transportation
        • Air travel
        • Commuting
        • Other
  • Misc
    • Paper usage
    • Materials travel
  • Amongst other factors
  • Eco Apparel gives 1% to the planet because some things cannot me mitigated, such as travel for sales…
  • Examples of material energy dependency:
    • Cotton needs to be washed hot and then cycle dried. A study in London suggests that 50% of the products environmental impact comes after the sale of the product
    • Polyester on the other hand can be washed cold and air dried.
    • Over the garment’s lifetime, polyester actually uses ½ the energy as cotton.
    • Approx 3000 recycling companies in North America – for example, collecting and then sending them to third world. 30% of the material is sold as wiping products for auto, cleaning and other industries. Old denim jeans are also being used for home and car insulation.
    • Reusing polyester can be closed loop because it can be recycled back into garments. The challenge is that polyester has a long life cycle so doesn’t come back to it’s starting point often.
    • The Eco Index: www.ecoindexbeta.org. It’s a new but complicated program that is being pioneered by the outdoor industry as an open source, transparent database to be used by industry and industry partners to help create an eco index. They are setting guidelines, indicators and metrics. They are asking every company to take one item from their portfolio and measure them against these metrics in the hope of coming up with a point system that can help rate “eco-index” for different products.
    • To wrap up:
      • There is no solution yet for how to measure a products lifecycle and its impact though it’s getting there. 

Carly Stojsic presents ‘Eco as Movement, Not Trend’ // ECO Fashion Week Vancouver

ECO Fashion Week Vancouver, September 28th, 2010 // Day one: Carly Stojsic, WGSN.

Carly Stojsic – Eco as Movement, Not Trend

Photo Credit: Kris Krüg, www.staticphotography, via Flickr.com

 BIO //
Carly Stojsic is Canada’s Market Editor for Worth Global Style Network and is a freelance trend forecaster for an array of clients. She joined WGSN, the world’s leading online service for global trend analysis, as a Market Editor in December 2007. Her extensive background in sourcing, trend forecasting and as a color specialist greatly augments WGSN’s customized consultancy services in creative intelligence. Click here to read more
NOTES //
  • WGSN predicts fashion internationally… based on their knowledge, Carly tells us about eco movements. Consumers are moving towards a eco friendly lifestyle – home grown food, sustainable power sources.
  • WGSN think tank sees society having less of an identity now. Detroit is considering turning unused city lots into farmland.
  • The majority of designers target 10% of richest consumers. Revolution is required to reach other 90%.
  • Designers as activists.
  • Zero waste designs cut from fabric using all of it; no waste. Recycled denim can be used as insulation in buildings.
  • 2007 London – dissolvable dress showcased so no landfill destination.
  • Denim dye process traditionally uses toxic chemicals, movement towards natural dyes, less harmful chemicals. Natural indigo and fruit dyes used for other fabrics.
  • Many companies creating their own ‘green star’ system to monitor internal greening.
  • True sustainability may be more about recycling synthetics, not using newly produced organic natural fibres. These wear better, wash easier.
  • Bamboo fibres used in Japan. Decomposes harmlessly. Paper fibres used also for lace, knits, unique pressed fabrics.
  • China will ban plastic bags handed out in stores June 2011.
  • Mattel is producing eco accessories for Barbie. !
  • Recycling used by artists, interior design, home fittings.
  • Swaparama clothing swap parties popular. Repair also encouraged.  
  • Bicycling communities popping up internationally. Underground communities hold repair workshops, portable sound systems for bike parties.
  • George from California kayaks to work after years of traffic jams. WGSN asks, ‘Where does he put his coffee?!’

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)

“Our mission is to provide the Irish fashion sector with the tools needed to make more sustainable fashion choices.” (Re-dress)

We don’t think they’ll have any trouble accomplishing this goal–just take a look at what they have planned!

What: Re-dress ETHICAL FASHION CALENDAR LAUNCH
When: Tuesday 4th April
Where: Online www.re-dress.ie
Cost: Free

What: FASHION MENTORING SESSIONS
When: Wednesday 5th 6-8pm
Where: Sugar Club, Upper Leeson Street, Dublin
Cost: 15 Euros BOOK NOW!

What: FASHION ENTREPRENEURSHIP; EVENING LECTURE AND NETWORKING SESSION WITH KATHARINE HAMNETT
When: Wednesday 5th 8.30-10pm
Where: Sugar Club, Upper Leeson Street, Dubin
Cost: 10 Euros BOOK NOW!

What: IRISH FASHION INDUSTRY CONFERENCE
When: Thursday 6th 9am-2pm
Where: Fallon and Byrne
Cost: 40 Euros (students and unemployed 20 euros) BOOK NOW!!

What: CLEAN CLOTHES CAMPAIGN – GENERAL MEETING
When: Thursday 6th Time TBC
Where: TBC
Cost: TBC BOOK NOW!

What: FREE PUBLIC FILM NIGHT
When: Friday 7th 7pm
Where: Smock Alley Café
Cost: FREE BOOK NOW!

What: EJF Cotton T-shirt exhibit
When: Tuesday 4th-Saturday 8th 10am-5pm daily
Where: The Greenhouse
Cost: FREE

Title: FASHION EVOLUTION
Location: Ireland
Link out: Click here
Start Date: 2010-05-04
End Date: 2010-05-08

Call for Entries// The Earth Awards

The Earth Awards is a global search for creative solutions designed for the 21st Century. The award represents six categories: Built Environment, Product, Future, Systems, Fashion, and Social Justice.

Dilys Williams, Director of the Centre for Sustainable Fashion, London College of Fashion, has been included in the Selection Committee, and will be judging the Fashion category, along with other designers, architects, scientists, entrepreneurs, artists, writers, humanitarians, environmentalists and spiritual leaders.

Here is the mission of the awards:

Human imagination and ingenuity are the impetus of every good design. All across the world, people from every walk of life are generating good design ideas that offer groundbreaking solutions to the ecological and social challenges of the 21st century. The Earth Awards provides a platform for these visionary ideas, presenting a unique opportunity for individuals and organizations worldwide to expose their design innovations to a global audience. The Earth Awards is committed to the idea of popularizing the most viable of these innovations, and transforming them into market-ready solutions.

The submission period closes May 10th. Good Luck!

Check out this video of last year’s finalists!

Source: CSF

Social Alterations// Slides

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

Social Alterations @ FEI from Social Alterations on Vimeo.

CSR Trends in China’s Apparel Supply Chain

CSR Trends in China’s Apparel Supply Chain from Social Alterations on Vimeo.


Find more photos like this on Social Alterations

READ// Kate Fletcher, Matilda Lee, and Sandy Black

 

The ‘Open Space’ at the FEI conference featured celebrated authors Kate Fletcher, Sustainable Fashion and Textiles: Design Journeys, Matilda Lee, Eco-Chic: The Savvy Shoppers Guide to Ethical Fashion, and Sandy Black, Eco-Chic: The Fashion Paradox. You can find these texts and others in our reading section.

 

FEI set the stage for the Open Space format as an opportunity for conference participants to network, strategise, learn, share, challenge, be inspired and stimulate one another in a supportive environment. Fletcher, Lee and Black each presented their own discussion question, and participants were also given the chance to create posed further questions and create discussion groups.

Here is what they came up with:

1. How can we communicate providence to consumers?

2. International cooperation on ethical fashion

3. Raising awareness of organic cotton, and the impact on farmers

4. How do we get youth more involved?

5. How do we encourage behaviour change amongst consumers?

6. Scale-how big, how much? (Kate Fletcher)

7. How to get the media to be a driver for sustainable fashion? (Matilda Lee)

8. Design education-encouraging designers (Sandy Black)

9. How to bring ethics into fashion education internationally

Participants could move around and exchange ideas for a period of over two hours. To close the Open Space, a representative from each ‘talk’ presented key insights.

For those of you that weren’t following along on twitter, here are a few edited highlights that came out of the discussions.

  • What would happen if we could control scale in fashion?

             What about considering ‘Post-fashion stress disorder’?

             Fast fashion, can we raise awareness, similar to smoking bans?

             Can we change the discourse of fast fashion?

  • How can we communicate providence to consumers??

             Changing the discourse depending on who you’re speaking with:

             In some circles fashion is a bad word, so talk garment and apparel and clothing etc…

  • How to connect consumers to the cotton farmer?

             Spread the word, tell stories and stay focused.

  • Design educators encouraging designers:

             Make the experience real

             Connect the designer to the factory

             Make it exciting w/ different design strategies: design for disassembly, for example

What are your thoughts on these issues and questions? Feel free to leave a comment below!