We know we talk a pretty big talk when it comes to responsible fashion, but can we walk the walk? We’ve decided to take on Labour Behind the Label’sSix Items Challenge to find out!
We’ll be blogging about our experiences with our fellow ‘sixers’ (who are amazing, fyi) on the LBL site and hope you’ll stop by to offer support and guidance!
Could you go 4 weeks with only 6 items of clothing?
Be sure to pop on over to Localflux to read the interview.
But while I have you, and while we’re on the subject, I’d like to take this opportunity to post a relevant RSA Animate from 2010: 21st Century Enlightenment, by Matthew Taylor.
“Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful committed citizens can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has.” Margaret Mead
This November be sure to check out the Future Fashion Expo hosted by the London College of Fashion. This event is organised by The Sustainable Angle with the support of the Center for Sustainable Fashion. Visitors to the Expo will have the opportunity to view a diverse range of fabrics and gain a feel for their aesthetics and performance, as well as finding out about their production.
Last year, I attended the first Future Fabrics Expo and found it to be an informative research opportunity that I highly recommend to others. As a fashion student interested in responsible sourcing most of my research had previously been online and I was grateful for the chance to browse at the Expo; getting up close to so many new and exciting fabrics.
Now in its second year the Future Fabrics Expo is expanding to include further information about other aspects of fashion supply chains as well as moving to the prestigious Rootstein Hopkins Space. I am excited by the broader scope of this year’s event which again promises to be an invaluable experience for designers and students alike.
Part 1: You’ll learn why United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon calls the Aral Sea“one of the worst environmental disasters of the world.” (The United Nations)
Thanks to historic satellite imagery, we’ve created a ‘tour’ that will display changes in water volume over the last 40 years.
Part 2: You’ll learn why ‘back to school’ is code for ‘back to the cotton fields’ in Uzbekistan.
Like all SAGE stations, you’ll find photos, video, informational resources (below)
The Six Items Challenge kicks off again in 19 days! The challenge begins on September 7th, overlaps with London Fashion Week (September 14th-18th), and concludes on October 7th which just happens to be World Day For Decent Work. How fitting!
The challenge:
It’s quite simple. Just pick six items from your wardrobe (not including workout gear, undergarments, socks, shoes, and accessories) and wear only those items for one month. I’ve attached a few photos of some of the items chosen by previous participants. Click on the photos to read more about their choices.
Why?
The goal of the Six Item Challenge is to bring awareness to the consequences of our fast-paced trend-driven cycles of fashion consumerism. Labour Behind the Label explains:
If you would like to take this challenge a step further, you can also get sponsored for your efforts and help raise funds to support garment workers fighting for their rights. The fundraising website can be found here.
If you’d like to know more about the challenge, check out their website where they have a great blog featuring posts from the previous cycle of participants and a hints and tips page to help you get started. Good luck with the challenge!
There are countless key players working toward responsible fashion across global apparel supply chains. This ‘sampling’ of key players will help you understanding social, political, environmental and economic contexts. Click on a key player to reach out and connect!
Within the map, ‘Key Players’ are grouped by topic:
Welcome to SAGE, the Social Alterations Google Earth module!
Each station along the SAGE module represents a small window into the vast, diverse and interdisciplinary world of conventional global apparel supply chains by introducing learners (educators and independent learners alike) to an edited sampling of resources, including classroom-ready learning activities (worksheets, study guides, lesson plans, etc.).
Through SAGE, we’ve sought to harnesses interdisciplinary resources and facilitate responsible learning to strengthen industry capacity for research in responsible apparel.
The short introduction video (below) outlines what you can expect form the module; we’ve broken it down into four key stations:
#GET| #MAKE |#BUY|#TOSS
Each key station comes equipped with placecards (so you’ll know where you are!), photos, videos, resources and learning activities – use the legend to guide you!
Fashion + Sustainability: Lines of Research is an exciting project series currently underway over at Fashion Projects. The project, beautifully curated by Mae Colburn with the support of Francesca Granata, is designed to inspire…and inspire us it has.
Three interviews have been released so far, with more to come. Here is a sampling we hope will entice you to follow the series.
Interview with Timo Rissanen: Fashion+Sustainability—Lines of Research Series
The initial stage of the NICE consumer project comes to an end this week and the NICE Framework for Achieving Sustainable Fashion Consumption through Collaboration will receive its final revisions during the Copenhagen Fashion Summit. The framework is designed to inspire action from government, industry and civil society, it also highlights areas where more discussion is needed; for example, how can we create a transparent value chain, or an environment which fosters sustainable business models and supports sustainable behaviors?
Since my last update I have attended a workshop in London, and taken part in the final webinar, Stress Testing the NICE Consumer Framework on Sustainable Consumption of Fashion. At this event there were presentations from Puma, Levi Strauss & Co., Futerra, and Vanessa Friedman from the Financial Times. The session also included a summary of the progress midway through the consultation process. Cody Sisco [BSR] spoke about the major priorities raised by participants and other important areas including supply chain transparency, and the need for increased education, understanding and collaboration. For design students out there, he also mentioned the important role designers can play in moving things forward! A full recording of the webinar is available to download at BSR.
The Copenhagen Fashion Summit
The Copenhagen Fashion Summit starts today and promises to be an exciting event, which will bring together around 900 stakeholders to discuss sustainability and CSR in the fashion industry. Organisers have been keen to include young people in these discussions and a number of student representatives from around Europe will gather today for a Youth Summit, and present the results of their discussions at the main event tomorrow. The Summit will also launch an industry specific code of conduct, a joint initiative by the UN Global Compact and NICE.
“As an industry facing serious and widely publicized social and environmental challenges, the fashion and textile industry is uniquely positioned to launch a sectoral initiative under the umbrella of the UN Global Compact.”
George Kell, Executive Director of the UN Global Compact
If you can’t get to Copenhagen but want to keep up with the event then I know that @katetfletcher and the @NICEconsumer have already been tweeting live from the summit!
“With brands and companies outsourcing production to extended global supply chains, how does a company ensure there are fair, healthy and safe conditions in those suppliers factories? While buyers can go it alone (and have for many years), there are an increasing number of opportunities to join forces with other buyers, with suppliers, with multi stakeholder organizations, and with civil society organizations. Mr. Nebel will discuss how sustainable compliance can be leveraged with a multitude of collaborative activities.” (FIBERcast)
If you’re unable to tune in, keep your fingers crossed that this latest edition will be archived online after the event — previous webinars are available online, here.
