Part 3 of 3. The jewelry industry is in many ways a messy one. What are the concrete business challenges and experiences encountered in the Far East, e.g. Japan?
With the fashion city Milan winning the honour to be the city for the 2015 World Exhibition, the Città de la Moda was part of the Expo plans. But - there will be some changes ...
London Fashion Week 02/2011 - Day 3: Sourcing ethically is all about knowledge. It's primarily about livelihoods and survival, beyond the 'Human-Rights factor'.
On March 3rd, 2011, ethical fashion was discussed in a Question session of the UK's House of Lords. Much focus was on human rights & the environment. But fashion is driven by SMEs ...
"Salaula" tells us the whole story of second-hand clothing. It brings together 2 complementary aspects: Cultural & Economic analysis, and the voice of the real people.
What about environmentally-friendly alternatives to the common plastic clothing hangers? An analysis of the market, & concrete products that help solve the dilemma.
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.
One by one European manufacturers go out of business, and with them a vast quantity of skills and knowledge is lost. The most recent example is Switzerland's Weisbrod silk weavery. Yet: it seems the tide is changing, for good reason.
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.
Looking at the sales figures of luxury brands a single conclusion can be drawn: The luxury sector is doing well.
The structure of its customers, and the brands' efforts to maintain expert craftsmanship suggests that the luxury sector is where ethical brands really can start changing the world.
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.
Cotton as an attractive alternative in tsunami regions. Leading textile manufacturers promoting the cultivation of organic cotton. New technologies and methods for natural dyeing processes and recycling. And five categories of Green Fashion in Japan.
Connecting the present and the past, learning and drawing conclusions from either, is and will remain key to creating a more sustainable fashion industry. So far, learning from the past in particular - in the good and in the bad - has been chiefly neglected. A series of thoughts.
'The hidden face of fair trade' is a thoroughly researched, critical review of the fair trade movement and its players. With France as the primary focus, the author revisits the movement's history, points out paradoxes and problems, and suggest what may, or not, become of it in the future.
Story telling is a powerful tool, and an important part of how we create lasting memories. Can we use the power of story telling to encourage a different type of fashion consumption?
'Make it British', or the equivalent: French, Italian, German, Spanish ..., is often talked of as the ultimate panacea to address the lack of sustainability in the fashion industry. A few reasons why it all is slightly more complicated than it sounds.
Where and how was 'ethical fashion' invented? Who played key roles in the past? And where are we at and where are we going? A retrospective analysis that also looks into the future.
The KISS principle - Keep it Simple, Stupid. Can it also be applied to the term ‘sustainable fashion’? Can it the concept help us to clear up some of the confusion around the term 'sustainable fashion'? A discussion by Nerida Lennon.
At the Copenhagen Fashion Summit 2012 the NICE Code of Conduct and Manual was, in collaboration with the UN Global Compact, officially launched. A review of this document, and the impact it may, or not, have onto the fashion industry it is targeting.
There exist basic assumptions that are commonly, but wrongly, accepted as universal truths. Shirahime has cherry-picked 6 myths and will examine them close up and outside in over the course of 3 article instalments. Part 1.