Scientists, engineers, designers and creators. 3 'species' of people that neither in academia, nor in industry collaborate well. Yet, precisely the fashion and textiles industry is so trans-disciplinary that collaboration is a must.
Understanding cross-border diversity in consumer behaviour, advertising, sales and marketing management is a widely studied topic of international marketing. Cultural difference matter particularly in business negotiations, advertising, consumer behaviour and marketing research. One of the most frequent approaches differentiates between high-context and low-context cultures, which impacts directly on the quality and quantity of information businesses are willing to share.
India, the largest producer of organic cotton in the world is all set to have an Indian Standard for Organic Textiles (ISOT) of its own. The unique selling proposition (USP) of this standard is that it will cover the life cycle of the cotton fibre right from crop to clothing. This is different to GOTS which is primarily concerned with the growing stage of cotton, and only includes minimum regulations for the subsequent manufacturing stages.
From the Indian perspective, GOTS does not permit to maintain traceability and integrity of organic textiles.
A week or so ago, the latest, sixth, IPCC report dropped.
My suggestion hence is simply read it.
Even if only the executive summary.
But just read it.
All I would like is to grab the opportunity to give a HUGE thank you to all the scientists involved.
Thank you dear IPCC scientists!
Thank you for all the work, the patience, and the glimmer of hope that despite it all remains a firm part of the reports.
Even this latest one.
This post is part of a series where I look at and into the true cost of certain goods and services. This time I’d like to look into the True Cost of all types Transport and Mobility: road, rail, aviation and water. The question therefore is: What are the total costs – the True Cost, i.e. including what is commonly called ‘externalities’ – of the different types of transport we use globally, both for passengers and for freight? Or if you prefer: how do different types of transport compare to each other when it comes to ‘collateral damage’?
Spoiler alert: It is really quite complex and rather diverse. And: public infrastructure investments and maintenance costs play a significant role in it.
First of an article series that analyses Uniqlo's CSR - specifically in Japan - track record, and why it joint forced with Bangladesh's Grameen Bank.
For retail, Brazil is the ‘next hot’ place to go to.
For a variety of reasons: For one, the country’s economy has been for a long time up and raising. Brazil is one of the 4 BRIC countries – the 4 most dominant raising economies, and ranks forth among them. Its retail sector is expected to boom tremendously over the next few years owing largely to the two major global sport events – the 2014 FIFA World Cup and Rio 2016 Summer Olympics that will take place in the country.
Report by Jacqueline Shaw from Africa Fashion Guide, on a recent visit to The Gambia and the textile history and techniques she encountered during her stay.
The “Better Consumer” report aims to be a source of reliable information to those executive saying “Show me there is demand, and we'll be happy to cater to it” when asked why their fashion brand is not producing better, more sustainable products.
The world ‘at the other end’ of the Corona tunnel could never be the same as before. It could be so much better than ever – with a real opportunity to put it on the rails that will make it the place we desire it to be.
Or: it could be same, but indeed worse place then ever. Where past misbehaviours is ignored at best, OK’ed at worse.
Diversity and Inclusion is a highly relevant topic not ‘just’ because it is all about equality and justice. But as long as entire parts of our global population remain disenfranchised, and desperate to just survive from day to day, tackling challenges - and in particular Climate Change - that affect all of us, indiscriminately, remains impossible. Boards of Directors set out the "Tone at the Top', also in matter of diversity and inclusion. In fashion companies, what exactly is the tone, the music, that they are creating?
Strategical setting, structure and goals of the Uniqlo-Grameen joint venture.
6th of an article series that analyses Uniqlo and why it joint forced with Bangladesh's Grameen Bank.
The design stage is usually the longest, most expensive and riskiest part of the chain. Additionally, research has shown that at least an estimated 80% of a product's environmental (and to a lesser degree also social) impact is locked at the design stage into a product. By integrating the product design with the supply chain, companies can compress non-value adding time and costs in their supply chains, increase responsiveness and mitigate supply chain risks – while simultaneously managing (improving) their sustainability performance without added costs or efforts.
On May 3rd 2012 the 2nd Fashion Summit took place in Copenhagen. Bringing fashion industry key people together to discuss sustainability with them, yet without using the term itself, is already a considerably achievement. Ilaria Pasquinelli attended and reports on her insights.
Already early last year the Swedish Fast Fashion retailer H&M announced the placement of test orders for garments from Ethiopian and Kenyan suppliers. And they're not even the first ones: Retailers such as Tesco and Walmart seem to have gone down that lane already some time ago.
On May 24th 2020 Rio Tinto blew up the Juukan Gorge rock shelters in Australia, which ancestors of the Puutu Kunti Kurrama and Pinikura (PKKP) people occupied over the course of 46’000 years.There are a multitude of lessons to be learned from the entire process that lead to the disastrous blast of a site of such archaeological importance. But also from how the scrutiny in its aftermaths and the have been.
Here a selection of just a few to think about.
The 'Everything must go' exhibition, that took place from January 20 to 22, 2012, introduced the wider public to the details of the global value chain for discarded clothing. Drawing from the results of 5 years of research, the numbers and facts are staggering, and intriguing at the same time.
In Tunisia, like across most of the Maghrib region, textiles, their significance and methods of production remain a firm part of the country’s identity and history. A portrait.
With Sao Paulo Fashion Week just closed I am here to write (again) about Brazilian fashion.
This time it is about an interesting project I got to know of personally, Projeto Contem, a private and independent initiative.
Projeto Contem is both a brand and a network of entrepreneurs working in textile and fashion as well as in food, beauty, design, arts, music and cinema.
Historically, fair trade has pitch to and sold thanks to consumers' guilt. A grave mistake as the currently ongoing consumption trends show. Quality, exclusivity is what has survived the economic downturn best.
