L’Ethical Fashion Initiative ha l’obiettivo di creare e rafforzare le imprese sociali nelle economie emergenti collegando marchi internazionali con designer, artigiani e micro-produttori locali di talento.

All’interno del panorama moda che cerca sempre più di far fronte alle problematiche di disuguaglianza e di garantire uno sviluppo sostenibile, l’Ethical Fashion Initiative decide di porre attenzione sui giovani talenti africani rimanendo così in linea con i propri obiettivi.

The whole reason for going in the first place was a presentation that was taking place with the support of the Ethical Fashion Initiative. We’ve been part of them for going on three years now. What they wanted to do was to showcase African designers to the larger fashion market. We are expanding it to show how craft can live within contemporary design.There’s always such a weird misconception about craft and how there’s not enough refinement to it. The idea is to really shift that paradigm.

En 2006, el exejecutivo en marcas de lujo Simone Cipriani creó Ethical Fashion Initiative, una plataforma que une marcas de todo tipo con artesanos refugiados o en riesgo de exclusión, en su mayoría procedentes de África Central, pero también de Siria, Afganistán o América Latina. “Hemos regenerado el capital social de muchas familias”, asegura. Trabajan con Camper, Stella McCartney o Vivienne Westwood, y dan soporte financiero e industrial para alumbrar firmas propias, como Indego, una marca de accesorios y ropa de hogar creada por refugiadas burundesas.

In parallel, other Africa-focused initiatives are emerging. For example, Fashionomics Africa, an e-marketplace run by the African Development Bank and its partners, has launched a new sustainable fashion competition with a $6,000 prize. While the mission of UN-linked Ethical Fashion Initiative (EFI) is to help African-based designers set up in business. Working as an incubator, EFI aims to generate business opportunities while showcasing creativity and talent in a variety of sectors including art, photography, film and music. EFI works with private industry to strengthen Africa’s culture sector and boost the continent’s cultural exports.

The EFI, a public-private partnership founded by Simone Cipriani that falls under the United Nations umbrella, launched an accelerator programme in 2019. Alumni include 2021 LVMH Karl Lagerfeld Prize winner Lukhanyo Mdingi, from South Africa. This year its list of designers includes Laurenceairline, whose founder is based between Côte d’Ivoire and Paris; Kente Gentlemen, another Côte d’Ivoire-based brand; Kenyan womenswear brands Hamaji and Katush; Kenyan accessories brands Suave and Jiamini; Abidjan-based jewellery brand Ohiri; and Burundi’s Margaux Wong. Lukhanyo Mdingi and Kente Gentlemen declined to share sales figures. Laurenceairline predicts 20 per cent sales growth this year.

L’anno successivo, invece, abbiamo dato avvio a un progetto con Mygrants, “Fashion Deserves the World”, che, in un’ottica di accoglienza di migranti e rifugiati politici, ha lo scopo ultimo di agevolare l’inserimento nelle realtà industriali e creative italiane di nuovi talenti internazionali, mentre insieme a EFI (the Ethical Fashion Initiative – ITC) abbiamo lanciato il primo ESG Due Diligence and Reporting Framework per l’industria della moda, ospitando il Milan Climate & Fashion Talks, nel quale si è discusso il rapporto tra moda e crisi climatica in vista del COP26.

The ultimate goal is to create fair and safe working conditions and to encourage independent entrepreneurship, while giving visibility and credit to millenary techniques. When a garment is made by workers with a dignified trade and with a purpose, all that knowledge is reflected in the piece.

Cartieraè un laboratorio di Marzabotto (Bologna) che impiega e forma persone in condizioni di svantaggio, soprattutto rifugiati e richiedenti asilo, affinché imparino le tecniche artigiane da maestri pellettieri. Lavorano con materiali di fine produzione di grandi aziende della moda e sono parte del circuito Ethical Fashion Initiative delle Nazioni Unite.

For its first event at Paris Fashion Week, the Ethical Fashion Initiative, a partnership created under the auspices of the UN, held a party to honor young African designers. With the fashion world seeking to address issues of inequality and sustainability, the decision to shine a spotlight on these young talents was very much in keeping with the organization’s objectives and the industry’s desire for a new direction. Among the labels on show from across Africa were Hamaji, Katush, Kente Gentlemen, Laurenceairline and Lukhanyo Mdingi, representing ready-to-wear, and Jiamini, Margaux Wong, Ohiri and Suave with accessories.

Horizon: Ethical Fashion Initiative for African Brands ha svelato a Parigi, durante la settimana della moda, una selezione di brand di moda africana – prêt-à-porter, borse e gioielli – capaci di valorizzare l’artigianato, le culture e le potenzialità del continente africano.

Ethical Fashion Initiative (EFI) con a capo Simone Cipriani è da sempre impegnata a connettere le comunità di artigiani emarginati in località difficili e remote con marchi di lifestyle globali per offrire alle popolazioni un’opportunità per migliorare le loro vite e allo stesso tempo per accendere i riflettori della moda mondiale su skill artigiane, tradizioni, materiali e processi creativi che rischierebbero di andare perduti.

5 jeunes créateurs de la mode africaine à suivre de près cette année
Fondée par Simone Cipriani sous le patronage du Centre du commerce international, l’initiative EFI aide les jeunes marques africaines à se développer à une échelle internationale. Cette année, 9 créateurs issus du programme Designer Accelerator ont pu mettre en avant leur travail lors d’une présentation inédite, orchestrée pendant la semaine de la mode parisienne. Parmi eux, 5 étaient spécialisés dans le prêt-à-porter : Laurenceairline, Kente Gentlemen, Hamaji, Katush et Lukhanyo Mdingi.

The Ethical Fashion Initiative brought together its best and brightest at a soiree showcase for its first official event on the Paris Fashion Week calendar.

“This is the best group of designers we have accelerated,” said program chief technical adviser Simone Cipriani. “We wanted them to be here in fashion week because these people are not only designers, in their own countries they’re agents of change. We find that this new generation of creative talents have something to say in the world of today.”

The Horizon: Ethical Fashion Initiative for African Brands Fall/Winter 2022 presentation was held at The Norm in Paris, where nine designers, all based and producing in African countries, presented collections ranging from ready-to-wear, to bags and jewelry. This was the initiative’s first show in Paris, on the official fashion week calendar.

Designers featured included LAURENCEAIRLINE, KENTE GENTLEMEN, LUKHANYO MDINGI, HAMAJI KATUSH, OHIRI, SUAVE, MARGAUX WONG, and JIAMINI.

Polimoda ha assegnato, grazie a una speciale partnership con Ethical Fashion Initiative, tre borse di studio ad altrettanti fashion designer del Kenya, con l’obiettivo di creare una connessione tra le industrie della moda di Firenze e Nairobi. I tre designer kenioti del EFI Accelerator Programme si chiamano Katungulu Mwendwa (Katush), Louise Sommerlatte (Hamaji) e Mohamed Awale (Suave) e hanno ricevuto una borsa di studio per otto settimane di formazione specialistica presso il campus Polimoda.

The Ethical Fashion Initiative is a United Nations program that enables artisans in marginalized conditions to be a permanent part of the supply chain of some international brands and retailers. Speaking with The Ethical Fashion Initiative’s founder, Simone Cipriani, gives insight into the work of this UN program and the good it does worldwide.

Key to developing all of this has been Mdingi’s two-year involvement with the Ethical Fashion Initiative, the fashion arm of the UN spearheaded by Simone Cipriani. “It connects with different pockets of textile communities within Africa, Central Asia, as well as Haiti. The idea is to work with marginalized groups that focus on working with contemporary African designers such as our label, other African labels, and also labels abroad, such as Westwood,” Mdingi explains.

Ethical Fashion Initiative and Polimoda have announced a partnership that will award scholarships to 3 Kenyan fashion designers, building links between the fashion industries of Florence and Nairobi.

Ethical Fashion Initiative e Polimoda annunciano una partnership per l’assegnazione di tre borse di studio ad altrettanti fashion designer del Kenya, con l’obiettivo di creare una connessione tra le industrie della moda di Firenze e Nairobi.

Mdingi, one of the three joint winners of the Karl Lagerfeld Special Jury Prize at the LVMH ceremony in September, was inspired by a recent visit to Burkina Faso, where he produces part of his men’s and women’s collections as part of a partnership with the Ethical Fashion Initiative.

The Kenyan designers will participate in 8 weeks of tailor-made training at the institution’s renowned campus in Italy.

Ethical Fashion Initiative and Polimoda have announced a partnership that will award scholarships to 3 Kenyan fashion designers, building links between the fashion industries of Florence and Nairobi.

Arrivano a Firenze dal Kenya per studiare al Polimoda. È una storia di collaborazione quella tra la scuola di moda fiorentina e l’Accelerator del Ethical Fashion Initiative che ha portato alla assegnazione di tre borse di studio ad altrettanti designer di moda che ora possono approfondire copetenze di settore studiando per otto settimane nell’Istituto diretto da Massimiliano Giornetti. Katungulu Mwendwa (Katush) e Mohamed Awale (Suave) e Louise Sommerlatte (Hamaji) sono i designer scelti da EFI Designer Accelerator, programma di 2 anni progettato per accompagnare i marchi selezionati verso il successo nel mercato globale.

In this weeks Fashion Africa Voices series Simone Cipriani of the Ethical Fashion Initiative of the International Trade Centre speaks to Jacqueline Shaw about the future of fashion, creatives and artisans in Africa

Il funzionario delle Nazioni Unite, Simone Cipriani, è intervenuto in collegamento da Ginevra all’Italian Tech Award che si è svolto alla Triennale di Milano.
09 DICEMBRE 2021

В начале ноября 2021 года состоялся официальный визит Симоне Чиприани, главы Руководящего комитета Альянса ООН по устойчивой моде, а также создателя и руководителя программы «Инициатива этичной моды» (EFI) Международного торгового центра, который является совместным агентством ООН и ВТО, в рамках реализации программы по этичной моде в нашем регионе. О важности внедрения философии устойчивого развития и перспективах внедрения Инициативы этичной моды в Узбекистане с нами поделились Симоне Чиприани и Ёкут Шмид — региональный координатор проекта по Средней Азии.

How did the collaboration with the UN Ethical Fashion Initiative come about?
I was at the UN Ness Summit on the handworker economy wearing one of the Suzani coats, which was spotted by Simone Cipriani, the visionary head of Ethical Fashion Initiative, who has connected international brands like Vivienne Westwood and Stella McCartney with artisans. He put me in touch with female led brands and collectives, including across Central Asia. One of our partners is Ozara, a social enterprise set up in 2014 by the National Association of Business Women in Tajikistan, to offer women income generating activities and sell Tajik handmade embroidered objects – the most popular being Suzanis.

In the Next couple of weeks, the contestants will go into the boot camp where they will be having one on one coaching with their judges and preparing for the Finale show on Friday 3rd December 2021 (Time TBC) where our super-host @sura_common will be joined by our jurors @bensoulmusic, @paynettejoan and @johnkaveke to crown our winners.

The Ethical Fashion Initiative (EFI) was born in 2019 in Korogocho, Nairobi, as a supply chain that enables artisans and micro-entrepreneurs from very marginalized backgrounds to work in a fair and dignified way with international brands from the fashion and lifestyle sector. Today, we are suppliers of many big brands including Loewe, Vivienne Westwood, United Arrows and Mimco to name but a few, and our operations expand from Haiti to Africa and Central Asia, including Afghanistan.

Simone Cipriani, president of the United Nations Sustainable Fashion Alliance, recalls being asked what consumers would say about sustainability in 2030. Sourcing Journal. “Why haven’t we started before?