Ethical Fashion Forum – Source Magazine

Ethical Fashion Forum - Source Magazine

“SOURCE contributor Emma Tynan examines the types of questions brands should be asking of their suppliers to ensure the ethical and sustainable commitments and values across the many tiers of the fashion supply chain. Image: Industry of All Nations

In this article, SOURCE contributor Emma Tynan suggests some key questions we should be asking of our suppliers to ensure that suppliers are holding up to industry standards on ethical and sustainable practices.

Looking at the Where? How? Why? questions, Emma explores some companies grappling with their cotton, denim, leather supply chains as well as labour practices….”

TG,
Emma

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Sophia Rogge: Designer/Environmentalist

Sophia Rogge: Designer/Environmentalist Extraordinaire

The sun is finally shining in Paris and I have just booked my summer vacation (two weeks in a yurt in the south of France if you must know!). I probably wont need a sarong for running about fields, but this is on my wish list none the less. It would make a beautiful scarf as well.

Fashion and activism now more than ever need each other because the capacity for change when the two combine is limitless. Sophia Rogge is one designer /environmentalist aiming to be a part of that change.

Through her namesake brand she aims to create beautiful accessories, while at the same time campaign for coral reef protection.

Every day precious reefs are being wiped out by unsustainable fishing, pollution and most catastrophically, climate change. Sophia also donates 10% from every item sold to Corals for Conservation.

So if you have to buy a sarong this summer, or anything for that matter keep researching for where and how you can make a difference through your consumer choices. Sarong available from http://www.sophiarogge.com
It’s made from 100% organic cotton, printed with natural dyes and retails for £65.

TG,

Emma

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This is the real cost of Fast Fashion. Never Again?

This is the real cost of Fast Fashion. Never Again?

Dakha, Bangladesh. The only place in the world where the clothes are worth more then the lives of those who make them.

On London’s busy Oxford Street yesterday a group of around 20 protesters staged a demonstration outside Mango and Benetton, the retailer giants who have refused to take responsibility for the collapse of Rana Plaza, one of the many factories where their garments were made.

The protest was organised by student group People & Planet along with War on Want, the South Asia Solidarity Group, Freedom Without Fear Platform, UK Feminista and Labour Behind the Label. Demonstrators carried candles and flowers to remember the 1,227 workers who perished in the collapsed building.

“More than a month after this tragic incident, Benetton and Mango still refuse to take responsibility for workers killed or injured while making their clothes. This is unacceptable”, said Ruth Fox, campaign coordinator at People & Planet in an interview with The Hindu Business Line. “We demand immediate compensation for the workers and families affected by the building’s collapse.”

The Fire Safety Accord has been signed by major European Retailers including H&M, Marks and Spencer and Carrefour, however the American giants have been slower to take it up, with Walmart blankly refusing, saying it is putting its own safety measures in place at its factories in Bangladesh.

The Accord agreement demands a five-year commitment from participating retailers to conduct independent safety inspections of factories and pay up to $500,000 per year towards safety improvements.

A small price to pay, don’t you think Walmart? (Whose profits in 2012 were over $67.35 billion.)

Tg,
Emma

Photo by Taslima Akhter

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