Weekly Ethical Fashion News – October 11/17

October 17, 2014October 17, 2014 Yarina Valverde Leave a comment

The global business of secondhand clothes thrives in Kenya

Reuters

October 15, 2014

Keywords: Kenia, Africa, developing countries, waste, apparel market, secondhand clothes, used clothes

Shaded by ragged squares of canvas, amid choking dust and the noise of hawkers, shoppers in Nairobi’s Gikomba market can turn up Tommy Hilfiger jeans or a Burberry jacket for a fraction of the price in London’s Regent Street or New York’s Fifth Avenue.

Secondhand clothes from Europe and the United States flood Kenya and other African countries, generating jobs and providing higher quality garments to locals who otherwise would find it hard to afford brands like Ralph Lauren .

Critics say that this makes it even harder for the local economy to develop, given the large amount of cheap imports, but others say the job generation outweighs tat effect.

“It creates new livelihoods and it creates new value in a commodity, which otherwise would have been dumped,” said David Simon, a geographer at the Royal Holloway, University of London.

The trade of these clothes remains an informal activity and it’s hard to estimate its market value, but some estimate the revenue generated in this activity is $1.1 million per month.

According to this article, thrift shops keep only around a quarter of their total items and the rest is exported at up to 90 cents/kg.

FH: This article is a great example that the high fashion production problem is not black or white. Here, trading old clothes from developed countries is giving African families extra income and clothes are not just being thrown away, like they would be if there weren’t secondhand markets.

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Hana Mitsui Uses Japanese Weaving to Recreate Fabric From Wast

Ecouterre

October 13, 2014

Keywords: fashion designer, upcycle, recycle, Japan

Hana Mitsui’s, from the Royal College of Art has developed a process to transform deadstock fabrics into new garments. Mitsui received the Visionary Process award at the 2014 SustainRCA Show & Awards earlier this month. Her technique is based on the art of sakiori, a type of rag-weaving popular in Edo-era Japan.

“One of the most important aspect of my theme is to recreate fabrics and to add value to the waste,” Mitsui writes on her website. “There are a huge amount of waste materials from fashion industry every season.”

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Farmers lead composting revolution to heal African soils

Farms in Africa — Source: National Geographic

The Ecologist

October 14, 2014

Keywords: organic farming, organic, fertilizers, soil management, sustainability, Africa

The soils on which African farmers depend are getting poorer, depleted of nutrients and organic matter. This creates a challenge: to reverse the trend in an environmentally responsible way, while feeding a growing population. But it can be done using organic composting techniques.

Moussa Konate has a secret. His fields of sorghum, millet and cotton are verdant and productive. Some neighbours are puzzled: they find it hard to believe he does not apply mineral fertilisers and other agro-chemicals.

“We have to feed the earth, so that it gives us what we need”,says the farmer of Niamana, a village in southern Mali”.

Apparently, Moussa has been following Malian organic cotton association’s recommendations, based on periodic tasks, he’s had better results. According to Moussa:

“The cotton parcel where the quality compost was applied has much taller plants and more cotton buds when compared to the parcel where undecomposed organic waste was applied, as we used to do.”

FH: We find this news encouraging, since it proves that there are ways to produce organically in a more efficient way than prior data suggests. Organic farming is, in general, less efficient than traditional farming and efforts like this one are necessary to make sure we can increase the productivity of organic farms so that the venture can accomplish it’s true purpose.

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The Secret Journey of a Fashion Piece

Journey

The Business of Fashion

October 14, 2014

Keywords: supply chain, manufacturing, garment factory, China, design, production, creativity

The Business of Fashion published a three part series on the journey of a fashion item, from design to production and all the way to logistics and supply chain management. The series is a valuable summary of the inside operations of global fashion retailers and manufacturers, giving he reader a better understanding of what goes into the making and distribution of clothes around the world. They published the third part this week and the other two are available on The business of Fashion as well.

FH: This reading is a great introduction for anyone interested in learning more about sustainable fashion and for designers that want to get into the international business of apparel retail. To understand what is wrong with the system and how to make the right changes that help reducing the environmental impact of fashion, it is imperative to understand how the “traditional” model works.

Read the series:

The Secret Journey of a Fashion Piece — Part 1: Creativity & Design

The Secret Journey of a Fashion Piece — Part 2: Manufacturing and Production

The Secret Journey of a Fashion Piece — Part 3: Logistics and Supply Chain

A sustainable fashion company that knows what it’s doing

October 14, 2014October 14, 2014 Yarina Valverde Leave a comment

Here is the deal: most ethical fashion brands are ugly. I don’t like the clothes and if I ever bought them, it wouldn’t be for style or beauty. Some brands feel the need to “look” sustainable, using unfortunate fabrics like hemp and designing clothes for a tree hugger, not a fashionista. As I have said before, the sustainable fashion movement has made a few mistakes that have kept it from reaching a broader audience in areas like marketing and design. I had yet to find a brand that moved seamlessly in the two worlds of chic fashion and sustainability. Until I find Reformation.

Here are my 3 reasons why Reformation is kicking butt:

The selling point is not “eco”, it’s “cool”

Just take a look at their designs and who is wearing their clothes. They don’t look any different than any other “non-eco” dress, they are stylish with an edge and freaking Rihanna is wearing Reformation left and right. Did you hear me well, Rihanna is wearing this stuff!!! Other famous bloggers like Rumi Neely are also digging the Reformation relaxed street chic vibe.

Rihanna wearing a Reformation dress — Rihanna in Rhodess dress. Source: hauseofRhianna

Rumi Neely in Reformation Rhodes dress. — Rumi Neely in Rhodes dress. Source: fashiontoast.com

Rumi Neely in Reformation White Taurus dress. Source: fashiontoast.com

Reformation’s founder, Yael Aflalo said they are a “green fast fashion brand”, they are fun and keep up with trends, but they do it decreasing the environmental impact, from using recycled paper and fabrics to modifying old clothes to make them cute again, you can’t help but fall in love with these people. I wouldn’t consider them a fast fashion brand, just because of the collections turnover big fashion retailers operate with, but I do see the fast fashion in their trend spotting and fun prints. They even did a collaboration with Nasty Gal.

Here is the brand’s approach in a nutshell:

Our secret weapon to sustainability and cuteness – the materials. The textile industry is one of the most chemically dependent industries on earth and the #2 polluter of clean water. Yuck. We make our clothes from three different types of materials: 1) new bad ass sustainable materials, 2) repurposed vintage clothing and 3) rescued deadstock fabric from fashion houses that over-ordered.

From: Reformation.

They found a simple way to do sustainable

Some eco brands go to many different countries to find suppliers of organic cotton, manufacturers that comply with certain regulations and then stop in Africa to make people think they are helping poor villages by giving them jobs. Did you really have to go to Cambodia? There are people in the US and the UK that need a job just as much. The real reason to go and “help” third world countries is to get cheap labor, which is fine and it’s a legitimate business practice, but I have seen many people selling this as “we are helping them”. I find it hard to trust such business models, just because it’s virtually impossible to be completely sure of what they are doing.

Reformation makes everything in LA. Yes, LA. Recycling and saving water is not location dependent, and in LA you can find as much vintage clothes to revamp as you want to.

We incorporate green solutions in everything we do. We recycle, use clean energy, eco friendly packaging, energy-efficient fixtures and appliances, recycled hangers, eco-friendly tote bags, unbleached/chlorine free paper products, organic and sustainable kitchen products, 75% recycled paper content, FSC certified paper, soy-based inks, recycled/sustainable office supplies, non-toxic janitorial products…just to name a few.

…we make our stuff in the factory ensuring not only quality but sustainability and ethics are upheld. We don’t have to worry about where or how our clothes are manufactured. Literally we just walk a few feet and see the clothes being made by our own team. We offer our entire staff fair wages, health insurance, ping pong tables and basketball hoops.

From: Reformation.

Price point

For being cool and sustainable, the prices aren’t really that bad. While they are far from Nasty Gal’s under $50 anything, they are still cheap compared to an Alexander Wang or Stella McCartney, making it an accessible option for those who want to be awesome without spending too much.

Ok, now you know that these guys are awesome. Now, to what we are here for: these are my favorite three Reformation pieces:

Made of viscose.

It’s a natural fiber and therefore biodegradable, which is super important because petroleum based synthetics like polyester can take over 200 years to decompose. Talk about a hand-me-down. This viscose is woven in a mill free of harmful substances such as heavy metals, dyes and formaldehydes. It’s weird when you wear formaldahyde anyway. Source: Reformation

Viscose is a type of rayon, which is considered a semi-synthetic fiber but is more biodegradable than cotton, for example. Read more about the biodegradability of rayon here and here.

This is made from deadstock materials. Every season, thousands of yards of fabric go to waste from fashion houses that over-ordered. The textile industry is one of the most chemically dependent industries on earth and the #2 polluter of clean water. We’re trying to lessen the blow by using fabric that already exists, because we heart dolphins. Source: Reformation.

Made from deadstock materials.

Here is an interview with the company’s founder:

Where in the world?

Ethical fashion features

Eco-friendly

Transparent supply chain

mannequin

Great design

USA

Made in the USA

Weekly ethical fashion news: October 6/10

October 10, 2014October 10, 2014 Yarina Valverde Leave a comment

The footwear industry is taking steps towards sustainability

Published on: The Guardian

Thursday, October 9, 2014

Keywords: sustainable fashion, footwear, fashion industry.

Summary:

Designer Aly Khalifa’s shoe, LYF (Love your Footprint) can be taken apart and remade without losing quality. Inspired by Japanese Shinto temples, the LYF shoe is made of parts that slot together without the need for glue. The company is about to launch a funding bid to produce LYF shoes commercially.

Customers will design or choose a fabric upper while the foot bed will be made from recycled cork from wine bottles. The sole and heel are clipped together and held in place until the customer wants a different fabric or needs a new heel.

Leather poses a problem to landfill sites because of the harmful chemicals used in the tanning process. Some of the glues used in production are also hazardous, containing volatile organic compounds like toluene and benzene. Biodegradable materials such as leather and wood also produce methane, a greenhouse gas, if they are allowed to compost in landfill, explains Professor Shahin Rahimifard leads the Centre for Smart (Sustainable Manufacturing & Reuse/Recycling Technologies) at Loughborough University.

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New clothing design award announced to target environmental impact of clothes

SCAP Awards

Source: wrap.org

Published on: WRAP.org

Wednesday, October 8, 2014

Keywords: sustainable fashion, slow fashion, design award, fashion designer, sustainability.

Summary:

The SCAP Extending the Life of Clothes Design Awards wants to incentivize designers to develop clothes that last longer. The winner will receive £5,000 and the chance to bring their idea to the market. The contest is being organized by WRAP, the organisation behind the Sustainable Clothing Action Plan (SCAP) and Love Your Clothes, with support from Defra, British Fashion Council, The Knowledge Transfer Network, InnovateUK and ModeConnect.

To read the rules and apply, click here.

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Calls to ‘evict’ clothes store at fashion event

Published on: WestBriton.co.uk

Thursday, October 9, 2014

Keywords: Rana Plaza, Labour Behind the Label, labor rights, garment factories, retail, Bangladesh

Summary:

Labour Behind the Label, an organization supporting a more ethical treatment of garment factory workers, fired off a letter to heads of a business district in the UK requesting them to make a stand and “evict” the Benetton retail fashion store from a fashion show that took place on Wednesday night. The claims are part of an ongoing campaign to improve workers conditions following the Rana Plaza disaster, which killed more than 1,000 people.

Anna McMullen, the group’s policy coordinator, said Benetton was the only firm directly linked to the disaster which has not compensated families of the workers killed.

The Italian retail store did not comment on this issue.

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Fashionhedge’s featured companies this week:

Finding beauty in the remains of war

October 9, 2014October 10, 2014 Yarina Valverde 1 Comment

Turning dreadful memories of war into beauty, that’s the strategy Emi&Eve has adopted to create unique jewelry and handbags that tell a story about overcoming adversity and turning it into something positive. Cassandra Postema is the designer behind Emi&Eve, a brand that turns bullets and bombshells into beautiful fashion accessories.

Emi&Eve clutch

The Cambodian Civil War took place between 1967 and 1975 and it left not only the irreparable human wounds of war, but a tangible trace of landmines, many of which are still unexploited, posing a danger to Cambodian families until this day. The Cambodian Mine Action Centre is devoted to search for mines and reduce this imminent threat for civilians.

Tha artisans crafting Emi&Eve’s pieces are part of Craftworks Cambodia, an organization employing local artisans while giving them tools to make a decent living under fair trade principles.

I asked Cassandra a few questions about her involvement with this cause:

What motivated you to become a fashion designer?

It’s hard to say but I guess it’s the multitude combination of color, textures, drawing, hand work and self-expression that fashion allows.

Why did you decide to live in Hong Kong?

I grew up in Asia and missed it. Although I miss London now, I feel that Asia poses the mixture if challenge, artisanal materials and ease of getting around that works well for me. Hong Kong is great for sourcing components for professional finishing, while at the same time being a westernized enough place to have a decent social life.

How did you first get into sustainability?

I’ve always found upcycling the most inspiring way to design. My final degree show at CSM was made up of upcycled wool. I unraveled jumpers and re knitted, tufted, and printed on restructured jackets and skirts…I enjoy the challenge of using limited resources and finding ways to still make a professional looking product. I also hate waste. I think with non-degradable materials such as plastic, we have a responsibility to find ways to reuse it while things such as polystyrene should be banned.

Why Cambodia?

I first went with a friend to check out the various social enterprises and see if I could help any of them develop a better product. I met a bomb shell recycling family and that was it.

What was the most difficult obstacle to get started?

I had not worked with metal before and didn’t just want to make jewelery since I love textiles, so it was a steep learning curve to make handbags incorporating both metal and fabric.

What inspires your designs?

At the moment, being in Hong Kong I really miss nature so most of my jewellery has organic natural shapes.

Who is your favorite designer?

It’s hard to pick one. Missoni is one of them, for their genius ability to keep a signature look across various product categories.

What is your favorite part about the job?

Being in Cambodia and working with the artisans.

You are also doing consulting work, how do you help your customers?

I help social enterprises with creative direction. Whether that is tweaking their logo or helping them figure out their brand DNA and from there a product development strategy. If needed I design ranges including print if at all possible since that is how you can create your signature look.

You can find out more about Emi&Eve on Facebook and shop their collection here.

LEYA BOWTIE CLUTCH — Leya Bowtieclutch, made of a bombshell

Where in the world?

Ethical fashion features

Fair Trade

Eco-friendly

Eco friendly – Upcycled

Transparent supply chain

shopping6

Buy to last

Yarina in The white t-shirt co black fitted tee

The Perfect T-Shirt

October 7, 2014October 8, 2014 Yarina Valverde Leave a comment

The product

What would you look for if you were trying to find the perfect white t-shirt? Would you focus on the fabric, the design, the quality or that it’s responsibly made? Really, you need all of those , and that’s what The White T-Shirt Co has been doing since 2002.

I am skeptical of organic cotton and some brands out there that claim to be sustainable, many times it’s hard to find the details on where their materials really come from and how are their processes sustainable or ethical. The White T-Shirt Co gave me all the info and I was able to verify the quality of the product myself.

The company has a clearly mapped out supply chain and strategic partnerships that make its sourcing process bulletproof. They work with experienced organic cotton manufacturers and I believe they have created a truly special product, definitely in the luxury category, but significantly cheaper than Kanye West’s overpriced white t-shirt, for example.

the-white-t-shirt-co-materials — The White T-Shirt Co. materials tables

As the rebel I am, I had to choose a black shirt from a brand called The WHITE T-shirt Company… But I couldn’t help it, black is my favorite ♥ I can’t say more than this is the best shirt I’ve ever owned, it feels different to all my other black t-shirts, it fits better and seems of a stronger material. At the same time, it was lighter and I felt fresh on a hot day in California! Even the packaging was outstanding: a very thin box made with eco-friendly materials, their packaging is in compliance with the the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) and Sedex, minimalist but packaged with care and extreme attention to detail. They also offer a service where you can get your shirt fitted, luckily mine fit great, so I didn’t have to use it, but I was very pleased with the cuteness of it all, definitely not “just” a plain t-shirt.

Photos!

Thw White T-Shirt Co packaging

DSCN3134 DSCN3138

The White T-shirt co fitted black t-shirt

The white t-shirt co black fitted 3/4 sleeve shirt

The white t-shirt co black shirt

The white-t-shirt-co black tee — Wearing The White T-Shirt Co’s black fitted 3/4 sleeve shirt, gray nail polish ♥, organic mascara, ankle strap sandals and my favorite sunglasses right now.

Interview

I had the pleasure to get in contact with the company’s founder, Penny Jones, and she kindly answered a few questions for me:

Tell us a little bit about yourself, your involvement in the fashion industry and what set you on the quest for the perfect t-shirt.

My degree is in Fashion & Textile design but actually it’s always been the retail side of design that has me most excited. I love seeing something grow from nothing and then seeing it as a ‘must have’ in some ones shopping basket! It was for this reason that I moved from a company Design Director and Buyer at Harrods to working on my own; I think I just got to the stage of not wanting to compromise anymore and being satisfied that the products I brought to shelf had the quality, value and ethics that I was comfortable with. I am white t-shirt devotee; it’s just one of those key wardrobe items that can never go wrong but the perfect one was always surprisingly elusive! It was while I had a little time on maternity leave though that my ‘white t-shirt’ quest really began. By good fortune I came across Novotex, the pioneering company behind Green Cotton. Green Cotton was the first clothing company in the world to go organic way back in the 80’s. They obviously had the experience, knowledge and expertise to ensure we could bring together my vision of quality with their sustainability credentials. The result is our beautiful collection of simple, classic essentials, all GOTS certified, fully transparent and sold with an ethical promise of long life!

Can you talk about the consumer preferences shift towards more sustainable and ethically sourced clothes?

We’ve found this interesting. When we first launched we found most of our customers had little in interest in how, let alone by who their t-shirts were made. All they were interested in were great quality t-shirts. This has changed. People became increasingly aware of the environmental impact of garment production and then Rana Plaza made people aware of the hidden human misery behind some labels. I guess this happened first with the food that we eat – we became increasingly concerned about the supply chain. The same thing is happening in the fashion industry. Consumers expect brands to know where their garments came from and as long as they see where their money is going, and it’s not just into profit margin for the directors then I do think they are willing to pay a little bit more. It’s been fabulous seeing so much understatement coming through the recent Fashion Weeks, which again just reinforces the trend towards customers buy less but better.

You have a transparent supply chain, providing information about each step and every country involved in the production process. How hard was it to have such oversight over the entire manufacturing cycle? Why do you think most companies don’t do this?

This was actually why we partnered with Novotex. Novotex are GOTS certified manufacturers which is the highest global organic standard. This means that their whole supply chain is transparent and all those in the supply chain are monitored for their social and environmental responsibilities. It would have been extremely difficult to do ourselves when you think of the different materials and processes which go into delivering one garment. It wasn’t exactly a short cut but more the confidence of using external expertise and to make sure we were doing the right thing which is certainly what I’d advice anyone starting from scratch to do. For us, however, it was the quality of our garments which added the complexity and this was the part that took the time as we had to find ways around some of the environmental restraints on knitting and production. I think more and more companies will be doing this. The companies that have always done this have upped their game in terms of design and quality and ‘ethical/sustainable’ fashion is now an integral part of the fashion industry and on the catwalks.

How difficult was it to move away from the “traditional” manufacturing hubs into countries like Ukraine and Turkey? Is the world missing out on resources available in places we wouldn’t normally think of as “manufacturing” specialists?

We knew the quality of garment we wanted and we knew that quality has to start with the organic cotton itself. Turkey is renowned for the quality of their cotton due to the near perfect climatic conditions so as a supply base Turkey was a natural choice. Novotex already have an ‘approved supplier list’ so we worked with them to identify the correct supplier for us, who could supply the quality that we wanted. The factory in Ukraine is actually owned by Novotex so again meets GOTS environmental requirements and is an integral part of our supply chain due to their close proximity to Corlu where our cotton is knitted. For us Turkey and Ukraine are also easily accessible so working closely with those involved in our t-shirts is so much easier.

Do you see the product becoming more desirable for other retailers to make graphic t-shirts and will you explore the wholesale side of the market?

We are always interested in collaborating with others and certainly a white t-shirt is a fabulous blank canvas! However, I’m aware that because we invested in quality and workmanship we have put the focus on understatement. This does make our t-shirts comparatively expensive for others to then embellish – although we know customers themselves sometimes do! We only launched earlier this year so to date we have concentrated on our on-line business but yes we are defiantly ready to start talking to wholesalers.

My verdict: is this a good t-shirt, NO, it’s fucking great!

You can follow The White T-Shirt Co. on Twitter, Facebook and Pinterest. And shop right here.

Where in the world?

In a nutshell: the cotton is grown and made into fabric in from Turkey, then the fabric is cut and stitched in Ukraine, inspected in Denmark and finally shipped to the UK to be distributed.

Ethical fashion features

Organic sourcing

Minimalism

Transparency in supply chain

Buy to last

Little make-up (and organic!)

Constant Simplicity: let’s talk sustainable fashion

October 1, 2014 Yarina Valverde Leave a comment

A few days ago, we brought you the story of Constant Simplicity, a new label that is truly changing the game in terms of transparency and sustainability in the fashion industry. Their first Bamboo collection exemplifies that it is possible to make clothes while minimizing the impact the process has in the environment. We interviewed Atnyel A. Guedj, the company’s founder, and here is the second part of the interview.

Why did you decide to start Constant Simplicity?

I started in PR in NYC but wanted to get closer to the product so I took on a job in London in merchandising. There I worked mostly for luxury companies. Notably for LVMH shirt maker Thomas pink. I moved to Milan for my postgrad. I somehow ended managing production lines in China. There I got the entrepreneurship bug and started my first eCom store. We were the first to introduce some great brands to the Chinese market. It was a fun and insane adventure. I later helped set up and manage a made to measure Shirt Company. My wife, Meiling, got into Duke for an amazing postgrad program at the environmental school, so we both dropped everything and moved to North Carolina. It was the first time I had so much free time on my hands and I started reimagining how I think a supply chain should look like. Constant Simplicity was born out of my reflection on how I would like to implement an understated aesthetics, which is rich in details. But this time around I wanted to do it differently. Long-term commitments to suppliers, a scientific approach and exact measurement of our eco footprint. And getting up and personal with anyone I can across the supply chain. I want to change the mindset of how fashion is made right now.

t-shirt-sustainability

You made an effort to have a transparent supply chain. Was this hard to achieve? The “traditional” fashion supply chain management involves black holes where there is no direct oversight over each step in the production process, how costly was it to change this?

It is even harder than I thought. As consumers we never imagine all the ins and outs of making a shirt or a pair of pants. There are many factors at stake here. Production is far more sophisticated than it used to be. More finishing processes, a rise of technical and semi technical fabrics. All of this makes production far more complex and it keeps shifting geographically. At the same time the cost of acquiring customers has risen sharply and there is this constant fight for an increase of margins. The result is that the brands we know work more and more with large production agencies (which tend to be huge companies). They handle the production and connect all the dots from fabric to trim and sewing. That creates a huge wall between the brands and their products. When I walk into a meeting with a fabric supplier and ask where the cotton, wool or bamboo came from they normally do not know and often cannot trace it back. So it was a huge challenge to gain tractability and then convince my suppliers to let me disclose that for everyone to see. And even that is just the tip of the iceberg. We really want to bring out the stories the many people across the chain have to tell. It’s also very expensive to do. We believe that in the long run we can use our knowledge of the supply chain to work with our suppliers to demand greater efficiency and cost reductions. But this is a long-term plan, until then we have to learn to bare additional costs without passing them on to the customers.

Where are your headquarters?

We are currently based in Durham, North Carolina. I never planned it this way but I find it amazing that we are starting this in a state with such a rich history in production.

Where are you manufacturing the clothes?

Our first collection – the bamboo collection will be manufactured as follows: the bamboo itself is harvested in Sichuan province in China, then turned into fiber and fabric in a wonderful place called Shaoxing, Zhejiang province, China.

Our Bamboo collection is currently cut and sewn in Los Angeles. We plan to add another sewing point locally in NC.

How to assure that bamboo farming doesn’t run into the same problems that cotton farming has led to, as it becomes more widely used?

The challenge with bamboo farming is to prevent deforestation when it grows more popular. The better analogy is with palm trees being planted where they shouldn’t leading to deforestation and destruction of precious ecosystems. Bamboo though has an advantage; it can grow and be used to heal land that has been over used. Overusing land means too many nutrients in the soil; bamboo has a diet rich in nitrogen so it helps improve soil quality. So bamboo can be planted in less favorable areas instead of very fertile land. That means the growth of bamboo as a raw material (not only for fashion) can be planned and managed environmentally and economically speaking. With time the question to ask will be how old the bamboo forest is and if any other trees were there beforehand. But we are not there yet in terms of demand.

Describe the water treatment used in your factories.

We use what is known as a closed system. The funny thing is that factories preferred to tell us they run an open system (meaning not recycle water and chemicals). In their view they were afraid that reusing water and chemicals would make us feel like we are getting a second grade treatment. The next stage will be to have the factory use alternative energy for this, as it requires a lot of electricity. A month ago I visited an R&D site of a young solar company called Aora . Their unique technology generates electricity and high temperatures from steam. The perfect combinations to further reduce the footprint in the factories.

water-treatment

Why do you think it is so difficult for big brands to make their supply chain shorter?

It is an addiction. They are so big that changes in the supply chain are slow and require reorganization internally. Fashion is incredibly fast and cruel. Today you are on top selling like crazy and tomorrow it stops and you owe money. So reorganizing is not something larger brands will do without a tide-wave of younger brands paving the road.

Eco footprint reduction

What are your personal favorite designers?

I could go on and on about it. It would be so cliché to say Albert Elbaz, Raf Simmons and Hussein Chalayan but they have to be the first on my list. I find my taste evolving all the time. Right now I am very impressed with the works of designers like Mary Katrantzou, Jean Touitou and eiichiro-homma.

What are some of the products in the pipeline for Constant Simplicity?

Beyond evolving the bamboo collection, which we are soon to launch I started looking at building a supply chain for denim that will meet our standards. I have the product in mind; it is a question of time. Not just jeans, but also denim skirts which I always loved. I am a huge denim fan; it’s a very geeky hobby, it’s very technical. I have crazy habits with my denim, I shower with them, I freeze them – it’s the best way to clean them as it kills the germs but slows down the fading. And then shirts for men and women and shirt dresses for women which will be super exciting to make a product I made for many companies but in a more responsible way, which will be a huge challenge.

The sustainable fashion project is launching a Kickstarter Campaign today, watch this for more:

All images used are property of Constant Simplicity and can be found on their website.

Where in the world?

H&M needs more than a conscious collection

October 1, 2014 Yarina Valverde 1 Comment

The path to sustainability

For a few months now, the fast fashion retailer H&M has been talking about a Conscious collection, somehow involving sustainability and a more ethical approach to their manufacturing. Curious, I checked out their website to read more about the initiative. The Swedish multinational describes the seven commitments implied in this initiative:

They are all explained on the website and it looks satisfactory, from my point of view. They seem to be trying to change things little by little, knowing that not only is this a global need, but that consumers are demanding it.

On their 2013 Sustainability report, they offer a detailed breakdown of the sustainability initiatives they are pursuing and the progress accomplished so far. The report states that they conduct multiple audits on their suppliers and themselves and the report itself is signed by two certified public auditors.

H&M sustainability goals — An example of their compliance self-assessment. Source: H&M

These efforts are incredibly valuable, highly appreciated and necessary. I was expecting to find a series of holes and contradiction in the report, but it looks very thorough and clearly written. They state the percentage of compliance with some of their goals, for example:

hm_business_relations hm_factories_audited hm_sustainable_materials hm_water_denim

I applaud H&M for doing this and for being aware of all the changes they still have to make to be truly “sustainable”. Two main issues jump to my attention:

1. Lack of international standards. The company isn’t really mentioning international standards of materials or workforce policies, such as GOTS (Global Organic Textile Standard) or WFTO (World Fair Trade Organization), when they make claims of organic materials or living wages. Such standards are not necessary to do things well, maybe they are on track to acquiring some of them, but adopting generally accepted regulations would seem a good way to validate what they are doing. The lack of standards might be a function of the fact that they are not 100% compliant or their own limitations as a company. I also knowledge that such a massive multinational operation is much more difficult to control and to map clearly; there is still information that is not explicit in this report or any of the other publications I’ve seen: where are their factories? Specifically, who are their intermediaries? Where are the fabrics produced? How do their factories deal with waste water? Those are still questions we don’t have complete answers to and that we consider essential to assess the sustainability and transparency of a brand.

H&M organic cotton — Yes, H&M’s use of organic cotton has increased, but it is still a small proportion of their total production. Source: H&M

2. The fact that many small companies are doing now what H&M hopes to be able to do by 2020. Right now there are multiple fashion startups producing 100% certified organic , eco-friendly, fair-trade and have a completely transparent supply chain. Yes, it is possible and these companies have gone through much difficulty to do it and earn the right to call themselves sustainable. Below is is an example of The White T-shirt Co‘s materials, all their cotton is organic cotton GOTS certified. This company and others like Constant Simplicity and beegood do their best to use all sustainable materials, weather it is organic cotton or bamboo, which is superior as it requires less water and chemicals.

Skeptical but optimistic

So, why is this important? Because H&M simply needs to focus on profitability and keep their prices low in order to keep their market share; sustainability is not a priority and wasn’t even on the map until relatively recently. They are doing a good job, but they simply cannot be compared to brands that were born with the idea of building sustainable collections and that are really fighting the machine to do thing their own way, which is not cheap or easy.

This is not about undermining the company’s efforts, but rather talking objectively about the topic: H&M’s primary virtues as a brand are competitive pricing and styles, not sustainability; they are barely scratching the surface of what they can do and I hope they do a lot more.

It is almost a contradiction: a fast fashion company trying to do slow fashion; they are doing great things, but what do they really believe in? When you have stakeholders to answer to and mullions of dollars on the line, it is hard to change the world from one day to the next, so I really hope that the company keeps up their efforts and manages to complete the transition into a true ethical fashion brand. Until then, I will remain hesitant but optimistic.

They call me Shrimpy

September 25, 2014October 1, 2014 Yarina Valverde Leave a comment

Shrimpy

Well, to start, it’s not “they”, it’s just him.

Messy hair. Big shoes. It has to be me. Shrimpy.

Legally Awesome: Elle Woods hero’s journey

September 24, 2014September 25, 2014 Yarina Valverde Leave a comment

Yes, I am going to talk about Legally Blonde, exposing myself to being criticized and accused guilty of piggy-backing on trivial pop culture sub-topics to generate content, but you know me, I like to offer different perspectives on familiar subjects. Today, I want to explore Elle Woods’ hero’s journey, because, unlike my previous character examined, this chick-flick presents a woman that defies stereotypes and makes the best of her situation.

Elle is the quintessential rich sorority girl that wears pink and loves fashion (this premise alone would have been enough to prevent me from watching it, but there is more). In an attempt to get back with her boyfriend (a douchebag of giant proportions), she decides to apply for the same program at Harvard and, in an unprecedented move, the Fashion Merchandising major gets accepted into one of the countries’ most competitive Law programs. Yes, this sounds like a dull premise, but that’s just the shell; this movie in many ways is about the essence of things and not believing in first impressions.

Here is what I make of Elle’s hero’s journey or monomyth, the recurrent pattern in countless narratives first described by Joseph Campbell in 1949. Like usual, not all the 17 stages are present in this story, but the monomyth describes many well-known hero stories like Jesus, Buddha, Ariel and Prometheus.

Separation

The Call to Adventure

The hero begins in a mundane situation of normality from which some information is received that acts as a call to head off into the unknown.

When Elle is dumped by her boyfriend in a colossal display of douchebaggery because she wasn’t serious enough, she finds a magazine with a photo of her ex-boyfriend’s brother, announcing his engagement with a ghastly looking woman. The magazine reads:

Third year Yale Law student Putnam Bowes Huntington III and his fiance Layne Walker Vanderbilt, first year Yale Law.

And Elle sees her calling:

This is the type-of girl Warner wants to marry. This is what I need to become to be serious.

Supernatural Aid

Once the hero has committed to the quest, consciously or unconsciously, his guide and magical helper appears or becomes known. More often than not, this supernatural mentor will present the hero with one or more talismans or artifacts that will aid him later in his quest.

After watching her application video, anything but the norm for a law applicant, the old guys deciding her admission end up giving her the yes, based on wanting more ”diversity” and her 4.0 GPA (not really, her bikini body was what ultimately sold them). The old men are here the supernatural aid.

Crossing the Threshold

This is the point where the person actually crosses into the field of adventure, leaving the known limits of his or her world and venturing into an unknown and dangerous realm where the rules and limits are not known.

Elle moves to Harvard.

Belly of the Whale

The belly of the whale represents the final separation from the hero’s known world and self. By entering this stage, the person shows willingness to undergo a metamorphosis.

After showing up to a party to which she was told to wear a costume, she talks to her ex-boyfriend and determines to prove him wrong in underestimating her intelligence.

Initiation

The Road of Trials

The road of trials is a series of tests, tasks, or ordeals that the person must undergo to begin the transformation. Often the person fails one or more of these tests, which often occur in threes.

Elle is ridiculed, excluded and made fun of by her peers. She also takes on different “tests”, like playing cupid for her manicurist and helping her regain custody of her dog. She manages to enter the very competitive internship her ex-boyfriend told her she wasn’t smart enough for and she even starts becoming friends with her archenemy, Warner’s serious girlfriend.

The Meeting with the Goddess

This is the point when the person experiences a love that has the power and significance of the all-powerful, all encompassing, unconditional love that a fortunate infant may experience with his or her mother. This is a very important step in the process and is often represented by the person finding the other person that he or she loves most completely.

The non-hideous Wilson brother soon becomes Elle’s clear next love interest, but the relationship develops in a very different way, as he starts off as her mentor, as a more advanced student. Later on, his trust on Elle ends up making a big difference in the development of the story.

Woman as Temptress

In this step, the hero faces those temptations, often of a physical or pleasurable nature, that may lead him or her to abandon or stray from his or her quest, which does not necessarily have to be represented by a woman. Woman is a metaphor for the physical or material temptations of life, since the hero-knight was often tempted by lust from his spiritual journey.

Clearly, this is different here, but Elle is “tempted” when she is sexually harassed by her professor and offered the chance to advance in her career.

Atonement with the Father

In this step the person must confront and be initiated by whatever holds the ultimate power in his or her life. In many myths and stories this is the father, or a father figure who has life and death power. This is the center point of the journey. All the previous steps have been moving into this place, all that follow will move out from it.

Clearly, this hero thing was conceived from a male perspective. For our heroine, this motherly figure is her first professor while at Harvard, which happens to be a Gamma Gamma Gamma (or whatever sorority she belonged to). She encourages Elle to keep going after she wanted to give up on the trial team she had been working on after being hit on by Mr. Boring Guy That Only Plays Lawyers.

Apotheosis

When someone dies a physical death, or dies to the self to live in spirit, he or she moves beyond the pairs of opposites to a state of divine knowledge, love, compassion and bliss. A more mundane way of looking at this step is that it is a period of rest, peace and fulfillment before the hero begins the return.

Elle’s dark navy suit and last season Prada shoes outfit go away with her determination of coming back to defend her client, the transformation that precedes her return to the courtroom now as the lead lawyer was painful and even made her consider going back home.

The Ultimate Boon

The ultimate boon is the achievement of the goal of the quest. It is what the person went on the journey to get. All the previous steps serve to prepare and purify the person for this step, since in many myths the boon is something transcendent like the elixir of life itself, or a plant that supplies immortality, or the holy grail.

Her success at winning the case proved to be Elle’s true mission, after turning her back on her professor and deciding to do it alone (with the help of Wilson brother) and making for some of the best climax scenes on a chick-flick ever.

Return

This journey gives Elle a new perspective in life, she rejects the man that made her go to law school in the first place and she goes on to graduate from Harvard, an accomplishment that clearly wasn’t on her old to do list, namely, being a trophy wife.

Just for perspective, this was our main character at the beginning of the movie:

I just love him so much! I loved him the first moment I saw him. He’s beautiful and smart and someone I totally respect. And I did everything I could to make him love me, but it wasn’t enough. Now what am I supposed to do? I planned my whole future around him. My life was going to be all about Warner. Now what’s it going to be about?

Is it bad if the final scene makes me want to cry a little every time I watch it? Nope.

Ethical Fashion, Transparency and Bamboo

September 22, 2014September 25, 2014 Yarina Valverde 1 Comment

Constant Simplicity's Supply Chain — Constant Simplicity’s Supply Chain

By this point, we can all agree that there are certain ideas and projects in the world of ethical fashion that sound great and even look great, but when you look into the details, there can be many hols in their stories.

This is definitely not the case with Constant Simplicity, a brand new company that had good answers to all the hard questions. Often times in our research, we stumble upon individuals that offer rather vague explanations to the specifics of why are they “ethical” or “sustainable”; Atnyel A. Guedj, the brand’s founder was everything but vague. Transparency in the fashion business and particularly in the slow fashion movement is one of the main values we focus on, since the shift to a more clear and explicit supply chain is one of the keys to solve many of the issue’s with today’s fashion industry.

Constant Simplicity manufactures and distributes clothes for men and women made of bamboo and other eco-friendly materials with the highest care for the structure of the process itself and not just the end product. It is based on the principles of Transparency, Quality and Sustainability and a simple look at their website reveals this is a clear commitment and not just marketing.

constant simplicity values

Why bamboo? You might ask. What is the problem with cotton? What kind of clothes can you make with bamboo derived fabrics? We wanted to find the answers to these and may more questions, so we interviewed Atnyel and he gave us some of the best information we’ve ever gotten from a new brand. Here are some of the questions we asked him:

You explain the benefits of bamboo, as it requires less water, no pesticides and provides superior oxygen production. Is it significantly more expensive to grow bamboo compared to cotton? Where does the bamboo you are using comes from?

Bamboo as a source of fiber is a new thing. Only since circa 2003 technological advancements allowed companies to make the very soft fabric that we can offer today. Bamboo trees for textiles are not those tiny ones you imagine a panda eating (there are more than 2000 species of bamboo). It is large and very robust. To turn that into fiber you need to go through the Rayon process. In a nutshell you crush the bamboo and extract the cellulose (like cotton it is a cellulose based fiber). To do so you need strong chemicals. One of them is Lye, which is in daily use even in the food industry, and even most organic cotton fabrics use it in the finishing process. Rayon from Bamboo is very easy to handle as a final fabric and uses less finishing processes and can be dyed much more easily than cotton. Our bamboo sea (that is how a bamboo forest is referred to in Chinese) comes from Sichuan province. It is put on a train and goes to the eastern coast of China. There, in Shaoxing it is turned into fiber and fabric. It is currently more expensive than cotton for the brand. But the distribution of wealth from it is more just. A bamboo farmer needs lower investments and it has greater yields and is pretty self-maintained so the investment of the farmer is lower which helps bring his ROI higher than cotton farmers, which bear huge risks on their backs.

Bamboo features vs. cotton — Source: Constant Simplicity

Bamboo benefits — Source: Constant Simplicity

You reduced the polluting agents and toxins used in the manufacturing process by 40% (when compared to a regular t-shirt) How did you manage to achieve this? Did this imply heavy investment or was it more about simple changes on the way this is usually done? Does reducing these polluting agents affect negatively the final product in any way?

We did a few things. First, we recognized that denim or even a dress shirt will have to be made from Cotton but for t-shirts, polos and polo dresses it is not a must. By switching to bamboo as raw material we already got rid of the pesticides and insecticides used. We also were very picky choosing our partners along the supply chain. We tried to choose (whenever we could) partners that use alternative sources of energy. In Los Angeles for example our cutting partner are true visionaries and installed solar panels years ago, before it became fashionable. This efficiency in the system made a huge impact. Also, we paid extra attention to the use of chemicals and the way they are treated and recycled. Chemicals are needed to turn bamboo into fiber, even most organic cotton t-shirts out there use chemicals for dyeing and finishing. We cannot yet eliminate all of them, as that would mean a huge price hike but we can supervise the process. Unlike on the cotton field, these are contained processes, which we can really examine how the water is treated and what is the effect of each step on human health. We tend to think we are immune to the pollution caused by our buying habits. It’s far away in china. And China sounds a million miles away. But the great Chinese smog is crossing the Atlantic and ends up in the US. To get these reductions in pollutants is a lot of hard work and it is pure gain. Quality is the same. If anything we got to know our product better and will continue this and try to keep improving it alongside further reductions in pollutants.

Pesticides — Source: Constant Simplicity

Manufacturing in countries like China and Bangladesh has been demonized by some people in the ethical fashion industry. What are the real challenges to integrate these countries, for which this is a very important economic activity into a more sustainable track?

Textile production plays a huge role in China and more so nowadays in Bangladesh. Bangladesh is a great example; the entire economy depends on it. Imagine a young woman that would otherwise be considered a burden on the family suddenly being able not only to finance herself but send money back to the village. There is only one way to move forward into a more sustainable path – commitment. Which is ironic as it’s the lack of commitment that brought brands there in the first place. We have to be willing to work with factories over a few seasons and not shut them down with the first problem in sight. We need to be willing to stick around and bring in knowledge into the country and provide stability so that they can establish change. Factory managers as a whole in Bangladesh or China are not these evil fictional characters out of a dickens novel. They are hardworking people that like us are trying to reach a better future.