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.
Circular economy is the antonym of linear economy. Linear economy has been the dominant industrial model in our history and postulates production is followed by consumption that then ends up with the disposal of used products. As opposed to this, circular economy seeks to rebuild capital, whether this is financial, manufactured, human, social or natural and sees products having a longer or a never-ending life that are either re-used as new inputs to create new products or shared and co-owned by different consumers.
Resting the case for innovation.
“Globalization presumes sustained economic growth. Otherwise, the process loses its economic benefits and political support.” (P. Samuelson). There is an evident illogic, impossibility, of the traditional 'economic growth' lemma.
Can marketing be ethical? Far too many times I am asked this question or come across people who strongly believe that marketing simply cannot. Actually, still today, for many, marketing is evil. I think that this conviction is the result of two main factors.
Algha Works are Britain’s last metal spectacle frame manufacturer, operating from Fish Island - close to the 2012 Olympics' site - for the past century. A portrait.
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.
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 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'
Uncertainty is widespread in the cotton market: Textile Exchange published organic cotton production figures. The current Farm & Fiber Report shows a drastic decrease. Simon Ferrigno on the current developments of the organic cotton sector and about his predictions for the future of the eco fashion market.
Khadi is an Indian fabric par excellence. Hand-made from start to finish it has for centuries been the livelihood of rural communities. But the industry is in decline. Interview with Shailini Seth-Amin, CEO of MoralFibres, a company set to re-invent Khadi.
The quality of governance is one of the key ingredients why projects, companies, and even governments fail in their tasks. It is also the key ingredient to achieve results, buy-in and participation. It is for this very reason that good governance was seen early on as one of the fundamental success factors for the Social Labor Convergence Project (SLCP).
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.
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.
Supply chains, as a discipline of expertise, have come out of the hiding and recognise their role in reducing corporate risk. This is notably and specifically the case in fashion and textiles. At the same time, 'design' - not just in the creation room, but in all facets where it impacts the making, delivery and use of a product or service, is increasingly recognised as relevant.
The Higg Index is an apparel and footwear industry self-assessment standard for assessing environmental and social sustainability throughout the supply chain.
The Higg Index 1.0 was released on June 26, 2012.
Perfumery can be a dirty business. In this interview with Marina Barcenilla, founder and creative perfumer of Glastonbury-based The Perfume Garden, we investigate the company's approach to ethical and vegan ingredient sourcing.
Italy. Known for the style of its inhabitants, the quality and sharp cut of its suits, the inventiveness of its fashion designers, the quality of its fabrics. Yet, if we were to talk sustainability in textiles and fashion, what is going on on the ground?
J&R Designs in Homerton is a small factory in London's East End, the only remaining of its kind, run by the Persaud family, and which specialises in hand crafted quality leather handbags manufacturing. A portrait.
The textile supply and production chain is complex. With this in mind, the ‘Handbook of sustainable textile production‘ is a unique resources: bit fosters knowledge acquisition across the different disciplines and specialities in the textile production chain, it prepares the ground for a factual, holistic discourse, and dissemination of best practise.
On September 12 to 14, I attended the European Business Ethics Network (EBEN) yearly conference in Lille, France. The theme of this year’s edition was ‘License to Operate’.
I and my colleague Ilaria Pasquinelli, both presented a research paper, focused on sustainability and value generation in the fashion industry, and the status quo of knowledge on sustainable consumption habits respectively.
