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.
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.
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 November 8th, 8pm, UK's Channel4 emitted a documentary on sweatshop labour factories that work for fashion retailers such as TopShop and NewLook. What was it all about?
'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.
Parents complain about the prices of school uniforms. Yet - are they also considering that too cheap a price may actually ... get them school uniforms for their children, made by children of that same age?
How expensive is fair labour really? This article summarises research data to answer these questions. In short: fair labour could be had for cheap.
The book explains key factors in doing successful business with the poor, profitably as well as with a positive social impact. Numerous case studies show the how-to.
The RAGS Challenge Fund ran from 2010 to 2013, and was funded by UK aid from the Department for International Development (DFID).
“Working Together for a Responsible Ready-Made Garment Sector” is the final report of the RAGS Challenge Fund. The report is intended to be a vehicle for sharing the lessons learned during the life of RAGS for a number of audiences, such as government entities, NGOs, trade union
Minimum wage, living wage. Many are the approaches to guarantee fair remuneration for work. In 2010, Bangladesh textile workers have been rioting for fair pay. What's it all about?
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 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.
What of all that are buyers aware of, and how do they use it?
This is the second 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. The two most relevant papers in this context are: 'What price a living wage' and 'Towards Sustainable Labour Costing in the Global Apparel Industry'
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.