Category Archives: Labour

READ// the Fair Wear formula

The Fair Wear Foundation (FWF) has launched a new publication, the Fair Wear formula.

“The design by Ruben @ Buro RuSt combines with the more than readable texts by Anne Lally combine to create an innovative, attractive description of the FWF approach to improving labour conditions in garment supply chains. In hardback or paperback.” (FWF)

Image: FWF’s focus (image from the Fair Wear formula, (c) Buro RuSt

 

If you aren’t already familiar with the Fair Wear Foundation, an international verification initiative dedicated to enhancing workers’ lives, take a minute to check out their guiding principles:

Supply chain responsibility = realising that the Code can only be fulfilled when sourcing companies, as well as factory management, actively pursue practices that support good working conditions.
Labour standards derived from ILO Conventions and the UN’s Declaration on Human Rights = basing FWF’s Code on internationally-recognised standards which have been set through tri-partite negotiation.
Multi-stakeholder verification = verification processes developed through multi-stakeholder negotiation, and involving experts from diverse disciplines and perspectives in FWF verification teams.
A process-approach to implementation = paying special attention to the means (i.e. building functioning industrial relations systems over time) in order to achieve the end (i.e. sustainable workplace improvements).
Involvement of stakeholders in production countries = engaging local partners in shaping FWF’s approach in a given region or country.
Transparency = keeping relevant stakeholders informed of FWF policies, activities, and results; publicly reporting on member company efforts to fulfil FWF requirements.

 

For more information on this publication, and others, contact info@fairwear.nl

Community News

Eco-conscious artist transforms trashed PCBs into stunning sculptures via Ecofriend

A roundup of some of the stories, headlines, and updates you may be interested in from in and around the community of socially responsible fashion design.

Become a Fan on Facebook for other news, links and regular updates.

Core77

Design and the public good

CSR Asia

Not for Sale: Exporting products from forced labour camps in China

CSR and poverty alleviation

CSR Europe

‘Degradable’ plastic not so environmentally fantastic, study reveals

Shoppers go green ‘to impress neighbours not to save planet’, study finds

UN report reveals financial cost of environmental damage

Corporate Responsibility comes of age  

Ecouterre

Kate Moss Dons Recycled Mosquito Net Dress For Malaria Awareness

BREAKING NEWS: Acid, Formaldehyde Found in Designer Clothing Brands

The Detectair is a “Smart” Vest That Sniffs Out Air Pollutants

Why Are There So Few Options in Men’s Eco-Fashion?

Karl Lagerfeld Ships 265 Ton Artic Iceberg to Paris for Fashion Show

Ecotextiles News

Help on organic and fairtrade supply chains

Gap Inc pushes denim recycling

Eco-Textile Labelling Guide 2010 – now published

AAFA updates restricted substances 

GOTS launches new database 

Liu Institute for Global Issues

Launch of the Global Health Network

Planet Green

There’s Going To Be a Little Less Cancer in Your Shampoo

Certified Organic Textile Companies Increase 40% Last Year: More than 50 countries now making organic cloth

The Centre for Sustainable Fashion

Call for Designers: Fashion Footprints – Sustainable Approaches

Rapid Prototype Shoes

Tesco Launches Recycled Clothing Collection  

The Global Compact

Principles for Responsible Management Education Initiative Adopts Governance Framework

Top Organizations Unite to Support Global Oath Initiative

859 Companies Delisted for Failure to Communicate on Progress

VOTE// Fashion Takes Action, Design Forward Award

Who’s your favourite responsible Canadian designer?

Fashion Takes Action (FTA) has officially launched Canada’s 1st annual eco design award, Design Forward.

I had the pleasure of working on this project, and I am so excited that Social Alterations could support this important initiative in Canada,  and I will explain the extent of our participation in an upcoming post, so stay tuned!

Here are the nominees:

All the information you need has been made available to you, the public, and you are invited to vote online for the designer you believe best represents ‘eco design’ in Canada. Once you have cast your vote, the decision will be left in the hands of the jury, who will select their winning choice from the top three finalists.

The criterion for voting is based on production, material, design, and special features. Take your time getting to know each designer: you only get one vote, so make it count!

Check out the prize, valued at approximately $50,000!

  • A free membership in Fashion Takes Action
  • A three-month national PR campaign, provided by Third Eye Media
  • Feature in EcoSalon – the number one green fashion blog!
  • Participation at Nolcha Fashion Week’s Ethical Fashion Preview in NYC in September 2010
  • Travel and accommodations for two, provided by Air Miles Reward Program
  • 75 meters of eco-friendly fabric, supplied by Telio (to make a sample collection to show in NYC)
  • Look book photo shoot with full creative team including photographer, models, hair & makeup and stylist
  • Look book graphic design by pencil design
  • $1,000 towards Fair trade and Organic certification, provided by Ecocert.

The voting will close @ midnight on Friday, April 16th.

To all the designers, we wish you luck!

Bring David Suzuki to Work

The David Suzuki Foundation has launched a FREE downloadable toolkit to help businesses and organizations tread a little more lightly on the planet.

 

“Work life isn’t just about punching a clock with a bunch of strangers. Smart employers know that their people are happiest and most productive when workplace culture matches their personal values. Companies who are in it for the long run know that reducing waste and increasing efficiency makes them more profitable and competitive.” (David Suzuki)

Here’s the pitch:

Does this sound like you?

Then David Suzuki at Work is for you!

This toolkit will help you build a cleaner, greener workplace and save your organization time and money. You’ll build stronger relationships with the people you work with, and help the planet and your organization in the process.

“I am encouraged by the many people I’ve met who tell me they want to find ways to reduce their impact where they spend most of their time – at work. This toolkit is for them. It’s good for employees. It’s good for business. And it’s good for the planet.” (David Suzuki)

Click here to download a copy for your organization today.

Organic Exchange/MADE-BY: ‘The Case for Sustainable Fashion’

“MADE-BY and Organic Exchange is delighted to invite you to a unique 2-day intensive seminar on sustainable fashion (clothing and textile) in Stockholm! This seminar is the perfect opportunity to assist textile and apparel professionals working in brands and retailers to come up to speed on changes and opportunities in the supply chain.

Speakers and several important topics covered include:

• Environmentally Friendly Fabrics – Understand the Definition, Sourcing and Production Issues,
• A Discussion on Recycled Materials – Polyester and Nylon,
• Responsible Processing – The Good The Bad & The Ugly of Dyeing and Finishing Industry,
• Product Integrity – Certification, Labeling, Transparency and Traceability,
• Social Compliance – Understand the Different Systems and Learn The Actual Work Done,
• Setting Sustainability Strategy – Learn from the Perspective of Leading Brands, Their Pitfalls, Triumphs and Lessons Learned,
• Communication Strategy – How Sustainability and Branding Strengthen Each Other?
• Fashion and Consumer Trends Towards Sustainability in Europe.

Participants will be encouraged to be critical, ask questions and share experiences during discussions. It would be an excellent place to actively share knowledge and information and to network at every possible level.” (MADE-BY)

Click here to download the latest version of the agenda.

Here are some testimonials from past events:

“Most valuable aspect was meeting with other people facing the same issues and discussing how we can work through to a solution together”

– Marks & Spencer, United Kingdom

“After the seminar, striking argument towards our top management on sustainable fashion production has been developed!”

– INTERSPORT International, Switzerland

“A real thorough approach to looking at all aspects of building and implementing a sustainable strategy, fantastically useful and incredibly interesting”

– Ted Baker, United Kingdom

“The most valuable aspect were the case studies of brands committed to sustainable fashion, good networking opportunities and the open atmosphere during interactive discussion”

– PUMA, Germany

Title: Organic Exchange/MADE-BY: ‘The Case for Sustainable Fasion’
Location: Stockholm, Sweden
Link out: Click here
Start Date: 2010-05-26
End Date: 2010-05-27

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

Lunamano

Carolina Gomez-Aubert is the Creative Director behind Lunamano : material rescue and re-design.

Presenting both her company and academic research at the FEI conference earlier this month, Carolina passionately described the desperate situation of the women she works with in El Salvador: one woman had been turned away from working at the Maquila for getting pregnant; another was left without income when her husband, away at work in America, suddenly stopped sending money when he found someone else. Lunamano offers these women an opportunity for empowerment and the chance at financial security through socially, culturally, economically and environmentally sensitive, fair labour practices.

Partnering with local suppliers in El Salvador, the resources used to create each design have been taken from reclaimed materials such as discarded foam and the old tubing from air-conditioning units, for example.

I had the pleasure of sitting down with Carolina for a long chat last week and learned so much more about the project. Now living in London, and inspired by both her El Salvadorian culture and the birth or her daughter, Carolina describes her work as the “vessel that keeps her heritage alive in a foreign land”.

To place an order, or to learn more about this exciting project, contact Carolina, here.

Responsible Design: Why should design students care?

Earlier this month SA had the pleasure of interviewing David Goldsmith from The Swedish School of Textiles and Parsons, Eleanor Dorrien-Smith from PARTIMI, Kat Ross and Larissa Clark from the Environmental Justice Foundation, Carolina Gomez-Aubert from Lunamano, and Sophie Koers from the Fair Wear Foundation.

We asked them for their take on responsible design, and why they think design students should care.

Responsible Design: Why should design students care? from Social Alterations on Vimeo.

What does responsible design mean to you, and why do you think design students should care?

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!

WATCH// Nadira Lamrad on CSR in China’s Apparel Supply Chain

SA’s Nadira Lamrad presented her research, “CSR Trends in China’s Apparel Supply Chain,” at the FEI conference on March 2nd.

The workshop, titled “New Approaches in Education and Industry,” was chaired by industry consultant Maggie Burns, and speaking alongside Nadira was Dr. Matilda Tham, professor of fashion at Beckmans College of Design in Stockholm. Tham’s presentation was titled “Lucky People Forecast Approach: How can education support engagement with systemic sustainable fashion futures?”

The workshop generated some interesting questions and concerns surrounding education in CSR, and we’re hoping we can keep the conversation going here, so be sure to leave any comments and questions below.

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