Category Archives: Labour

“Defy them”

New short film out of Amnesty International this week. Whether we like to admit it or not, there is a direct correlation between the fashion industry and torture. Social issues facing the industry today include: forced labour, child labour, harassment or abuse, nondiscrimination, health and safety, freedom of association and collective bargaining, wages and benefits, hours of work, overtime compensation (Workplace Code of Conduct, FLA).

[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=09m798EcJxI]

Source: Amnesty UK

upcoming FEI events

Image Source: Fashioning an Ethical Industry (FEI)

7th July 2009

Teaching Ethical Fashion

“A Fashioning an Ethical Industry tutor training day and official launch of Sustainable Fashion: A Handbook for Educators edited by Liz Parker for Fashioning an Ethical Industry, UK, and Dr Marsha A. Dickson for Educators for Socially Responsible Apparel Business, USA.

This event will bring together educators from fashion-related courses and organisations around the country to share ideas and resources, and support tutors in teaching about ethical fashion. The day is aimed at tutors on any fashion-related further or higher education course who are looking to be inspired and share best practice with other tutors.

The event will also launch the HEA funded research, being coordinated by the Centre For Sustainable Fashion at London College of Fashion, into the needs and expectations of fashion industry employers in relation to sustainable education within fashion related courses at HE.

The event will take place at London College of Fashion between 9.30 – 4.30.” (FEI)

Direct Source: Fashioning an Ethical Industry (FEI)

The Cotton Conundrum

Nowadays, when it comes to cotton, you can pretty much take your ‘pick’: low-chemical, organic, low-water use, fair trade, conventional. So what’s all the hype this week about organic cotton? Well, Organic Exchange released their 2007-2008 Organic Cotton Market Report.

According to this article:

“Global retail sales of organic cotton apparel and home textile products climbed 63 percent in 2008 to $3.2 billion […]

‘Despite the global retail outlook, most brands and retailers selling organic cotton products remain committed to their sustainability plans and upbeat about market growth with plans to expand their product lines 24 and 33 percent in 2009 and 2010, respectively, to result in an estimated $4 billion market in 2009 and a $5.3 billion market in 2010,’ the report said.

The amount of organic cotton farmers grew worldwide in 2007/08 increased 152 percent, according to the 2008 Organic Cotton Farm and Fiber Report.

The amount hit 145,872 metric tons, which is equivalent to 668,581 (480-lb.) bales. It was grown on 161,000 hectares (400,000 acres) in 22 countries worldwide.

Organic production is based on a system of farming that maintains and replenishes soil fertility without using pesticides, fertilizers or genetically modified seeds.”

Keep in mind, just because the cotton is certified organic, doesn’t necessarily make it the best defence against the many negative effects of conventional cotton.

Take, for example, the Sustainable Cotton Project (SCP). The low-chemical system of biological integrated pest management (IPM) helps farmers reduce chemical usage at a much larger scale than what would be achieved through a smaller number of completely organic cotton farms. This approach looks toward the overall impact of the sector, rather than just on one farm at a time. To help growers and consumers make sense of the difference, the project has developed an online calculator. Buyers and growers can use the calculator as a means of comparing the ecological footprint of BASIC (biological agricultural systems in cotton) against conventional cotton. The ecological calculator measures land, water and carbon footprints. I haven’t used the calculator (as I am neither a cotton buyer nor grower) and would like to welcome anyone who has used it, or who is interested in using it, to leave a comment with some feedback on the success/failure of the SCP initiative. What impresses me most about SCP is their involvement in sustainable fashion design education. Based out of California, the SCP initiative has partnered with California College of the Arts and The Academy of Art educating fashion design students in the area of sustainable design through the BASIC program. This is exciting.

Social Impact?

Missing from most footprint calculators is a fibre’s social impact. But, how do you measure a social footprint? How do you measure happiness? Certified Fairtrade cotton is not always organic, so what is it?

According to the Fairtrade Foundation

“The Mark is an independent product certification label which guarantees that cotton farmers are getting a better deal – receiving a fair and stable Fairtrade price and Fairtrade premium, receiving pre-financing where requested and benefiting from longer-term, more direct trading relationships.

The Fairtrade minimum price is set at the farm gate level and is based on actual costs of sustainable production. If the local market price is higher than this minimum price, then the market price applies. An additional payment of a Fairtrade premium is set aside for farmers’ organisations to spend on social and environmental projects or to strengthen their businesses. This ensures that communities have the power and resources to invest in long-term improvements. Elected farmer committees decide democratically how these premiums are spent.”

Organic Cotton ≠ Fair Trade Cotton: Responsible fashion is not just about being ‘organic’.

“All Fairtrade certified cotton producers are required to demonstrate increased diligence in choosing appropriate non-harmful chemicals or a biological or home-made alternative wherever possible. As would be expected, farmers are prohibited from using pesticides in the Pesticide Action Network’s “dirty dozen” list and those in the FAO/UNEP’s Prior Informed Consent Procedure list.”

According to Kate Fletcher, “[t]he total area of land dedicated to cotton growing has not changed significantly for around 80 years, but in that time output has tripled” (8). Fletcher directly associates the increase in production to a swell in pesticide and fertilizer use, and recommends organic, low chemical, hand-picked, rain-fed, or drip-irrigated cotton as alternatives, or using hemp or flax as a fibre substitution (9). A rise in consumer awareness about the negative effects of conventional cotton on the environment has no doubt created the business case for companies to begin to source organic cotton.

Top 10 companies:

1. Wal-Mart (USA)
2. C&A (Belgium)
3. Nike (USA)
4. H&M (SE)
5. Zara (Spain)
6. Anvil (USA)
7. Coop Switzerland
8. Pottery Barn (USA)
9. Greensource (USA)
10. Hess Natur (Germany).

But how have companies such as these been able to incorporate organic cotton into their production lines? According to Fletcher, “[u]nlike more politically contentious and technically challenging ‘alternative’ fibres such as hemp, organic cotton fibre is a fairly straightforward like-for-like substitute for conventionally grown cotton” (21). And what stands in the way of an increased use in organic cotton? Apparently the answer is supply. According to Fletcher, “organic cotton makes up a tiny percentage (0.18 per cent) of the world fibre demand and around 1 per cent of the total cotton market.” (21)

So what does all this mean? When searching for sustainable fibres make sure to consider the entire lifecycle of that fibre (both environmental and social). Eliminating pesticide use is only part of the solution. Let’s not forget to think outside the crop.

Source: Greenbiz, Fairtrade, Reuters, SCP and Sustainable Fashion & Textiles: Design Journeys, by Kate Fletcher

Women Exploiting Women

The National Labor Committee released a report last week citing sweatshop conditions in a Guatemalan factory manufacturing clothing for Briggs New York (80%) and Lane Bryant (remaining 20%) clothing.

If you don’t want to read the full article, here is the abstract:

“Young Mayan women sew Briggs New York and Lane Bryant clothing under abusive and illegal sweatshop conditions at the Nicotex factory outside Guatemala City. Women in the U.S. are unknowingly purchasing clothing made by other women who are being exploited.

All overtime at the Nicotex factory is mandatory, and 14 2/3-hour shifts, from 7:00 a.m. to 9:40 p.m. including six hours of overtime, are uncommon. The women are routinely at the factory up to 72 hours, forced to toil 20 to 25 hours of overtime. Women unable to remain for overtime work, even if they have family emergencies, are fired. The workers are allowed just 10.2 minutes to sew each Briggs New York blouse for which they are paid 19 ½ cents. The women and their families are trapped in extreme poverty, earning just 76 cents to $1.15 an hour, which comes nowhere close to meeting even their most basic subsistence level needs.

Workers and their children are cheated of health and maternity care, including paid maternity leave, which they paid for and is supposed to be guaranteed under Guatemalan law. Workers are also robbed of their vacation and severance pay and are shortchanged of their legal bonuses.

The Nicotex garment workers have no rights. U.S. company audits are a sham, and the workers have never even heard of a “corporate code of conduct.”

At least some officials of the government-run Social Security Institute appear to be involved in a widespread corruption scam, along with factories such as Nicotex, to defraud the workers and their children of the healthcare they pay for. This scam is an open secret in Guatemala, and it has devastating consequences for the workers.

The Nicotex sweatshop is just another example of how the U.S.-Central America Free Trade Agreement has badly failed to enforce even Guatemala’s most minimal labor laws. US-CAFTA has certainly not empowered workers through respect for their legal rights, nor has it helped raise them out of extreme poverty.”

Source: NLC

For those of you who don’t know who Charles Kernaghan is, he is “The Man Who Made Kathy Lee Cry”. He also heads the National Labor Committee. He discusses what he calls ‘the science of exploitation’ and his work with the NLC from the film The Corporation. You can view the trailler for the documentary in the videos section of this site (on the left hand side).

slogan t-shirts: what do you think?

Katharine Hamnett, Slogan T-Shirt "No More Fashion Victims"

I have been obsessed with U.K. designer Katharine Hamnett for a long time. In fact, it was her slogan t-shirts that first showed me that there was opportunity to transform this industry; she is the quintessential example of a pissed off designer who refuses to stand for the high human cost of fashion. She is dedicated to the promotion of organic cotton, and runs a strong campaign against the conventional ‘white gold’:

“Conventional cotton represents 10% of world agriculture and uses 25% of the world’s pesticides.

100 million conventional cotton farmers, from Russia to South Africa, are living in conditions of abject poverty and near starvation.

Conventional cotton subsidies funded by American taxpayers are causing poverty in the developing world as they lower the world price for cotton. (Americans are the only ones that can change this by writing to their Congress people and telling them they insist on organic cotton clothing.)

20,000 people die every year from accidental pesticide poisoning in conventional cotton agriculture (World Health Organisation). Death by starvation is alarmingly prevalent and 200,000 cotton farmers commit suicide annually due to spiralling debts incurred from buying pesticides. A further 1,000,000 people a year suffer from long-term pesticide poisoning (Pesticide Action Network).

However, if farmers grow cotton organically and can sell it as such, this dire situation is reversed.

By growing organically, farmers get a 50% increase in their income – due to a 40% reduction in costs – and the 20% premium they receive for producing organic cotton allows them to feed, clothe, educate and provide healthcare for their children.

Organic cotton helps farmers trade their way out of poverty. It’s the only formula for survival in the cotton sector in the developing world.”

(Katharine Hamnett, Campaigns: Organic Cotton)

Another company that offers slogan t-shirts is American Apparel. I have been familiar with their ‘Legalize L.A.’ campaign shirt, but only recently came across their ‘Legalize Gay’ slogan t-shirt. The American Apparel slogan t-shirt wants you to promote and support the repeal of prop 8.

It got me thinking. For me, these slogan shirts represent the convergence of fashion and politics in a clear and positive way; they offer the consumer a sense of empowerment, and send a clear message of support. But what do you think?

Two very different questions….

FIBERcast tweet along

The first FIBERcast, featuring Dr. Marsha Dickson and Mr. Doug Cahn, took place today, February 23, 2008. The broadcast was hosted by Dr. Hye-Shin Kim, of the University of Delaware, and focused on “Social Responsibility in the Apparel Industry”.

For those not following on Twitter, here are my live tweets of the event: searchable under #fibercast, #csr and #sr

· Dr. Marsha Dickson # fibercast: monitoring become the standard, but often does not provide solutions. new book http://tinyurl.com/aqb85w about 2 hours ago

· #fibercast problems are complex and widespread/freedom of association/forced labour/discrimination/child labour about 2 hours ago

· Environmental responsibility does not just have to do with fiber choice. remember the whole life cycle analysis/ #fibercast about 2 hours ago

· CSR to Mr. Doug Cahn# fibercast is about looking at the impact, to mitigate the negative, and augment the possitive about 2 hours ago

· Doug Cahn #fibercast http://thecahngroup.com/ about 2 hours ago

· #csr is not an add-on, its a core issue, supplychain for an apparel company..pay your workers the legal limit, at least make up short fall about 2 hours ago

· disctinction between compliant and non-compliant/the industry is aflling short. yes there is cost, but also have a business case (save$)#csr about 2 hours ago

· #csr #fibercast Dr. Marsha Dickson Answers Q. on WRAP factory certification is important but not the answer http://tinyurl.com/bjckwu about 1 hour ago

· limitations of factory monitoring asks “what?” not “why?” and quality of auditing can be lacking…provides only ‘snapshop’ #csr #fibercast about 1 hour ago

· # fibercast #csr #recession: Cahn finds opportunity in downturn for better integration/restructuring interdepartmental thinking opportunity about 1 hour ago

· #csr #fibercast Dickson: consumer difference perceptions from behaviour. no real ‘no sweat’ label, cannot ensure compliance about 1 hour ago

· #csr #fibercast Dickson believes to look for honest companies working toward real change #nike #adidas (ex) about 1 hour ago

· # fibercast #csr Cahn: government can play a voluntary role, also use trade agreement..ensure internationally approved standards on imports about 1 hour ago

· # fibercast #csr Cahn check out fairlabor.org for opperations and http://www.sa-intl.org/ about 1 hour ago

· # fibercast #csr Cahn, small/med. company: ask questions again and again, collaboration fairfactories.org about 1 hour ago

· #csr #fibercast Dickson stresses importance of multi-stakeholder initiatives and also ngo’s light the fire under companies about 1 hour ago

· #csr #fibercast Dickson to students: we need to educate students on #sr in graduate program, but also integrated into undergrad class about 1 hour ago

· #csr #fibercast #sr Dickson http://tinyurl.com/b3ep9u about 1 hour ago

Sweated Labour, Dell, Transparency and this Blog

The issue of transparency is an important one. So, here’s a little blogging transparency … I write Social Alterations on my ‘Made in China’ Espresso Brown Dell Inspiron 1525.

The National Labour Committee released a report today titled “High Tech Misery in China: The Dehumanization of Young Workers Producing Our Computer Keyboards” Sure enough, Dell is one of the companies manufacturing products in the Meitai Plastics & Electronics factory highlighted in the report in Dongguan City, Guangdong China.

According to the report, the base salary at the factory is 64 cents/hour. Minus room and board, workers take home 41cents/hour. Tax all in, my ‘made to order’ laptop set me back $620.48.

Other companies producing in the factory include Hewlett-Packard, Lenovo, Microsoft and IBM.

You can view the NLC report here

AHRC: Call for more attention for handloom weavers suffering from hunger and Tuberculosis in Varanasi‏

The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) released a ‘Hunger Alert’ update today regarding the state of poverty and TB amongst handloom weavers in Varanasi, India. According to the report, the weavers are suffering from lack of medical attention, government neglect and extreme poverty and hunger. You can read the entire alert, as well as view a letter to the UN Special Rapporteur on the Right to Health and World Health Organisation calling for their intervention here.

What does this have to do with sustainable fashion design?

To say that the textile sector in India is vast would be an understatement. A decline in India’s handloom weaving industry has left these weavers without work to provide for their family, and created a situation where they are too ill to change their circumstance. Human Rights violations against the handloom weavers in Varanasi cannot be ignored. Sustainable solutions must include all aspects of the industry.

On a related note, the Centre for Sustainable Fashion released information this week regarding the Shared Talent: India competition. This competition will showcase sustainable textiles in India. For more information on the competition, see here.

Source: AHRC and CSF

FEI Conference

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

Compostmodern 09

If you’re interested in sustainable design, check out the Compostmodern 09 conference. The event will be available as a webcast, so you only have to worry about the long commute to your office, living room, kitchen table, or bed to get there.

Feb 21^st is the big day/40$ webcast registration

This years scheduled speakers:

Eames Demetrios/Eames Office

Saul Griffith/Makani Power

Allan Chochinov/Core 77

Nathan Shedroff/MBA Chair, California College of the Arts (CCA)

Michel Gelobter, John Bielenberg and Pam Dorr/Project M and HERO Housing Resource, Alabama

Emily Pilloton/Project H Design

Dawn Danby/Sustainable Design Program Manager, Autodesk

Emcee: Joel Makower/GreenBiz

What does this have to do with sustainable fashion?

Compostmodern is a design conference dedicated to creating a platform for discussion on sustainable design practices. The interdisciplinary nature of the conference has created a network of information sharing that is relevant to discussions in sustainable fashion/textile design practices, as design is interdisciplinary. Last year, Mark Galabraith, discussed the nature of the sustainable filters used to create outdoor clothing company Nau Clothing, Inc. In his presentation, Galabraith discusses the clothing company as wanting to participate in the industry not as a brand, but rather as a cultural movement.

Some of the design questions he mentions as particularly central to the development of Nau Clothing, Inc. are issues surrounding durability, ease of repair, multi-use, raw material (biodegradability and treatment of animals) and impacts within manufacturing processes. He also speaks of the challenges associated with harmonizing urban sensibility with outdoor performance in a way that questions the ‘aesthetic point for sustainability’.

What I found particularly interesting is the company’s warehouse approach (coupled with a showroom boutique) used to hold merchandise. Although customers are able to take their product home immediately, a 10% is available to customers who are willing to have their garment sent to them. The company also boasts a recycle program (end of life strategy) where old products can be reused to be transformed into new ones (polyester used as a post-consumer material)

The key to Nau Clothing, Inc. is flexible design.

Check out Galabraith, and other speakers from last year’s conference here.

Check out more from Nau Clothing, Inc., like this men’s riding jacket, here.

Nau Clothing, Inc. Men's Riding Jacket