Be the change
you want to see in the World.
(Mahatma Ghandi)
Winner Observer Ethical Award 2011, category 'ethical blog'
The blog’s aim is to provide concise information, insights and facts about the fashion industry for an interested public, with the ultimate goal to seed knowledge as to why this industry must change and become more sustainable.
The fashion industry – from growing its fibres to discarding its waste – has one of the largest [negative] impacts onto the globe, second only to the agricultural/food industry. And hardly any other industry suffers equally from the doubtful reputation of leaving behind poverty and environmental chaos, essentially as a “way of life”. Human-rights breaches, pesticides, desertification, slave and child labour, droughts, lack of or poisoned ground water are just a few of the key words important in this context.
At the same time, there is no doubt that textiles and fabrics are important to us as human beings. Not only due to our need to dress up and cover our nudeness, but also because clothes in particular, bestow a sense of self-worth and self-imaging upon us.
With this in mind, this blog’s main aim is to critically look at the role and processes of the textile industry, and to celebrate the creativity of ideas that make a difference and bring about change.
雪女
Why 白姫?
白姫, pronounced she-ra-he-meh in Japanese, means translated ‘White Princess’. There are three reasons why this name was chosen, none of which however is conclusive. So, maybe, pick the one you like best:
- Since Pamela has lived in Japan for a number of years, a Japanese name seemed like … the most obvious thing. The Kanji characters for white and princess suggest ‘purity’ and ‘goodness’ – both important ideals when the main focus of this blog revolves around sustainability.
- There is a Japanese manga, created by Clamp, called 白姫抄 (she-rahe-meh-shoh), which is a modern variation of the Japanese tale 雪女 (you-ki-on-na = snow woman). The drawings in that manga have a rare subtlety one can fall in love with times and over again.
- 白姫 is also the name of a fighting angel’s character in yet another manga series, also by Clamp:
'Shirahime's style of fighting is graceful and powerful, and she defeats her opponents with great beauty and strength.'
Who is behind 白姫 – しらひめ – Shirahime?
Pamela Ravasio runs and maintains 白姫 – しらひめ – Shirahime in collaboration with a network of high qualified contributors. She is a Swiss/Italian dual citizen, residing primarily in London (UK).
Pamela’s passion for all things fabrics and textile craft products was ignited during primary school, and she learned to knit, sew, crochet, and do embroidery quite proficiently, thanks to – mostly – her grand-mothers. Teachers then made effectively away with this interest through streamlined educational methods (although, they probably cannot be blamed for it). Pamela then rediscovered her fascination in the course of travels through Asia and South America – and specifically in the years she lived in Japan.
She owns a whole collection of fabric samples she has acquired over years, among which her favourites are: two carrying cloths from Bolivia, various beautifully designed Japanese 風呂敷 (foo-ro-shki) and Obi offcuts.
Pamela is a strategy specialist with a Ph.D. from the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Zurich, Switzerland – Einstein’s Alma Mater. She is the co-founder director of texƧture, an advisory firm which helps players in the fashion, textile and jewellery industry to recognise and mitigate strategic and operational risk, and become long-term sustainable.
She is the winner of the ‘Siemens Japan Award 2007′ for the best CSR proposal.
白姫 – しらひめ – Shirahime was the winner of the 2011 Observer Ethical Awards in the category ‘blog’, the British ‘Green Oscars’.
Over the course of the last 15 years she has accumulated international experiences working and living on 3 continents – amongst other in Japan. She had her first brushes with the textile industry in 1999, in a project which took her right into the muddy waters of the ISO9001 process documentation for an industrial fibre filament and dye plant in Northern Catalonia (Spain). She has since delved into international project management, market research, and business process analysis, and expanded her reach through research and journalism.
Pamela is fluent in Spanish, French, German, English and Japanese, and also writes and speaks publicly on sustainability in the textile and apparel sector.
