Category Archives: fashion

FEI Staff Training and Student Workshops

FEI Staff Training and Student Workshops

Ethics have a high profile in the fashion industry today. Are you equipped, as a tutor or student, with the knowledge and skills to engage with these issues?

Fashioning an Ethical Industry (FEI) runs staff training and student workshops at schools, colleges and universities on themes related to working conditions in garment manufacture. Through our training events we encourage staff and students to critically examine different perspectives on workers’ rights and initiatives to improve conditions.
FEI training combines our extensive knowledge with a participatory educational approach, building on participants’ existing knowledge and experience and using a range of activities and different media such as films, role-play and presentations.

 

More info: Fashioning an Ethical Industry

Source: FEI

Watch: FTA’s ” Sustainable Fashion 101″

FTA-logo

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 here.

Also, stay tuned to FTA this Fall for the upcoming workshop “Eco Garble – Eco Garbage = Eco Garb” with Lorraine Smith.

Here is an overview of the workshop:  

Many clothing retailers are offering eco-products in response to consumer demand for green. But it’s not always clear why products are eco-friendly; in some cases the environment may actually be the worse for wear in spite of the greenest of intentions.

There is a lot of information about environmentally sustainable fabric out there. Some of it is helpful and based on scientific, time-tested facts. Some of it is greenwash. And some of it is a confusing mix of both.

Why is bamboo more sustainable than cotton? Or is it?
Is the flame-retardant in babies’ sleepwear safe for the environment? Or for babies?
Why do some say wool is baaaad for the environment even though it’s renewable?

This half-day workshop will take a life cycle approach to garments and environmental sustainability. During the workshop participants will:

  • Experience a hands-on survey of raw materials in fabrics including wool, cotton, flax, cellulosics (rayon, bamboo, soy), and petrochemical-based fibres, providing an understanding of what these materials are in their simplest form, and how they are harvested/extracted and processed into cloth.
  • Review the environmental and social risks and opportunities associated with different fibre sources throughout the life cycle of textile products.
  • Identify through interactive discussion ways to measure, manage, and communicate environmental improvements, firmly instilling the “eco” in “eco-garb.”

Designing Out Landfill; some notes and stats.

Thanks to Jo Angell at Puff and Flock for writing up some notes of the Designing Out Landfill Conference that took place on June 15th.  

It seems some highlights of the morning presentations included some interesting statistics.

Sophie Thomas, co-founder of Greengaged

  • UK households produce over 25 million tonnes of waste every year.
  • UK currently has 106 sq miles of landfill
  • One pair of shoes takes 8,000 litres of water to make
  • 1 computer requires 1.83 tons of raw materials to make

 

Kresse Wesling, founder of E&KO

Presented two case studies where 50% donated back to the material source.

  • bags from used fire hose pipes (West End belt worn my Cameron Diaz in June Vogue, p.95)
  • bags for Sainsbury’s from coffee sacks used to deliver the raw coffee

Nick Morley, Oakdene Hollins

  • 1 gallon of oil to make 1 kilo of polyester
  • ‘comingled collection’ bad for textile recycling through cross contamination
  • ‘diversion’ schemes good: Morley gave a shout out to Vancouver’s own Mountain Equipment Co-Op for encouraging their customer to sell and trade their used MEC products with other customers online.

 

Casper Gray, Director of Wax, Sustainable design and research

Suggested possible causes for the death (end of life) of textiles:

  • Fashion
  • Boredom/change
  • Bad fit
  • Wear
  • Damage
  • Loss

Other Causes:

  • Off cuts and errors (during manufacturing)
  • fabric samples

According to Angell, Gray “implied that designers could have a stronger role in improving these aspects.”

Click here, for the full write up at Puff and Flock, a London based textile collective, that it’s a great resource for critical textile design thinking.

Source: Puff and Flock

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

 

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, “[h]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 the PVC lifecycle and cancer, reproductive and immune system damage, and asthma”.  The article claims that many companies have taken action in eliminating PVC from their products due to health, safety and environmental concerns such as Microsoft, Crabtree and Evelyn, Wal-Mart, HP, Adidas, Aveda, Bath and Body Works, the Body Shop, Gerber, Honda, Ikea, Lego Systems, Nike, Samsung, SC Johnson, Shaw Carpet, Toyota, Victoria’s Secret, Volkswagen, and Volvo. And of course, MEC as mentioned in the earlier post. The Centre for Health, Environment and Justice even maintains a “PVC: The Poison Plastic” campaign.

 

I have yet to hear back, but when I do I will post an update.  

 

So what do we have?

-These shoes are being marketed and sold as sustainable.

-We know that in 2005 companies such as adidas, Nike and Wal-Mart took steps to remove PVC from their products, as a result of the hazardous nature of the material.

-Melissa claims that Grendene is the “holder of exclusive injected thermoplastic”

-According to their website, Melissa has trademarked ‘MELFLEX’ which is “hypoallergenic and 100% safe for your health. It is odourless, neutral and natural”

-The companies involved have yet to comment on the hazardous reputation of PVC in the textile and apparel industry.

 

Let’s talk briefly on the importance of understanding the lifecycle of a garment. It may be true that the factory producing the PVC for this shoe company maintains “practically zero waste” and that the shoes are easily recyclable in house. The company boasts the sale of 176 million pairs of shoes per year. Surely all of these shoes are not sent back to the original factory in Brazil for proper breakdown.

 

There are quite a few shocking factors at play here: that a fashion/apparel company could so blatantly market itself as sustainable without feeling the need to support its claim; that the entire lifecycle (particularly post consumer) of the PVC is not taken into consideration when stressing the company’s take on its plastic “ecological manifesto”; and the lack of response for comment on the ‘sustainable nature of PVC’

 

Greenbiz article is available here

“PVC: The Poison Plastic” campaign is available here

Global Surplus in Organic Cotton Production

 

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.

FEI Conference

 

Clean Clothes Campaign via FEI

A home worker's work bench in Belgrade, Credit: Clean Clothes Campaign via FEI

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

The nature of your garment is to fall apart?

 

 

Another interesting article taken from The Independent today, discussed some frustrations in dealing with products that not only fall apart, but are designed to fall apart.

 

Thought it might be time for another poll.




Fast fashion to blame for female consumer complaints in the UK

 

Consumer complaints in the UK surrounding poorly made clothing increased by 22% in 2008, according to this article by The Independent. The article cites a report by Consumer Direct released today. It claims that the biggest consumer complaint amongst females came from ‘defective goods’, at 34%.

 

According to the article, “[i]n the past five years, with the rise of “value” retailers, the price of clothing has fallen by as much as 25 per cent, while shoppers have bought almost 40 per cent more garments. This suggests fast fashion may be behind the increase in problem items.”

 

The article also cites statistics from another report, released by Global Cool, stating that female shoppers spent £11 billion on clothes that were never worn last year.

 

Fast fashion has created systems that cycle through clothing at a speed impossible for consumers to keep up with, and impossible to produce proper value items.

 

What an incredible waste.

feeling fashionably overweight?

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 textile environmental impact, and you may be surprised at how easy it is. I don’t know about the accuracy of it all, but one thing is for sure: the exercise promotes the process of  reflecting on the lifecycle of your waredrobe.

So how did you rank?



 

Source: In the Loop and Ecotextile News