In 'To Die For', Lucy Siegle jumps head on into her very own wardrobe full of hidden skeletons - the results of her love for fashion and shopping. In 15 chapters she tells the story of why that is so - and how to do better.
Since the moment that Burma's opposition Leader, Aung San Suu Ky, was released from her decade of house arrest it was clear: Nothing would remain the same.
Part I of III. The jewelry industry is in many ways a messy one, marked by ecological degradation, disruption of social and economic order, child labour, even slavery and murder.
On February 9th 2011, the Fairtrade Labelling Organisation successfully launched the Fairtrade Gold Standard. The UK is the first market where FT gold is available.
"People respond to incentives". Book review of an excellent introduction to the mechanisms and macro-economics behind development and global aid giving.
Oeko-Tex is, by numbers of products availale, both B2B as well as B2C, the most widely-used eco-label for textiles globally.
What most people aren’t quite aware of is, that Oeko-Tex offers 2 fairly substantially different certifications
n the course of the last 2 years, the Greenpeace Detox campaign has repeatedly made waves.
The latest such incident happened in the context of what is possibly the world’s most relevant trade fair for performance and outdoor wear ISPO in January 2014. At that point of time, Greenpeace released news that in the water repellent coatings of jackets by some renowned brands, traces of fluorin had been identified. And that said test results had been ‘hidden’ from the public.
The developments in the British Midlands of the industrial revolution have coined the textiles industry possibly like no other.
It was is this area that we find the roots to the modern textile industry, including case studies that (nearly) could be dated from our modern times. From archives and historical records the industrial revolution left behind in the area, we can gain many an insight that will trigger a simple ‘déjà-vu’ when taking note of news about textile factories from the Far East that with regularity hit our headlines.
The wages discussion is far from over. Not 'just' when it comes to the slightly out-of-range bonuses some people in the finance industry, together with a number of high-level executives of other industries, earn. But rather globally, even in 'developed' Western markets. This applies to 'fair wages' for physically handicapped people e.g. the blind, and crosses over to living and minimum wage discussions in the countries such as the UK, the US, or Spain (white collar precariate). The fashion industry would have a lot to tell also in this context.
How expensive is fair labour really? What would need to change in the price to make this a reality at the consumer end of fast fashion? This article diggs through some research data that while answering these questions. In short: fair labour could be had for cheap.
How expensive is fair labour really? This article summarises selected research data to answer these questions. In short: fair labour could be had for cheap.
Sahel 2010 is a déjà-vu of the year 1984: Again a food crisis is just around the corner. Sebastião Salgado pictures show the horror of this reality - hauntingly beautiful.
'Clean clothes' is THE German eco fashion book, already published in 2009. It is pragmatic yet radical, with plenty of hands on tips and explanation you need to understand how and why to change your wardrobe.
Minimum wage, living wage. Fair pay keeps being an issue in Europe & US. Whether illegal immigrants or recent graduates - increasingly even a humble life style is difficult to achieve.
Contrary to common opinion, ‘Australian-made’ does not always mean ethically made. In some cases salaries as low as AUS$ 4 are paid. Ethical Clothing Australia is campaigning to change their domestic fashion industry from within.
Computer Science and Sustainability/ESG: these two areas of expertise combine increasingly well with every passing month and year. In fact, I am tempted to say that the two worlds of sustainability and digitalisation are surprisingly similar to one another. In a number of ways – not in all, of course! – they overlap more than they differ. And mutually benefit each other.
Both areas represent critical skill-sets for boards and senior executives in the current and upcoming decades. This is why I thought I’d take the time to reflect on the overlaps, the synergies, but no doubt also the differences.
The key words: systems thinking, automatisation, fraud prevention and authentication, business model distruption, usability, and the Just Transition.
What do we know about how garment cost is broken down across the supply chain? This is the first of the two questions for which the most insightful research with fairly hard data has been published by Prof. Doug Miller from Northumbria University in Newcastle.
What 'ethical' business trends can we see across the globe. In this double post, we look at what the trends in fair trade are, and what we can infer from them.
Part 1: What we probably know.
Mid last year, an interesting campaign piece was delivered to my mailbox: London based Offset Warehouse launched a capsule collection of T-shirts retailing at £4.99 (app. Euro 6, plus P&P). Now, the point is, that even if these T-shirt were sold through a major retailer, they would hardly have retailed at more than £10 - and this at a vastly superior quality then is often case.
The issue of wages in the fashion supply chain is a never ending story: the paid wages, the unpaid wages, those that suffice, or not, for a livelihood. tackles this issue in a very thorough, and at the same time visionary way by laying out a practical frame work for a Fair Wages
