Also in the collection is a collaboration with Artisan Fashion, an initiative set up under the United Nations Ethical Fashion Initiative. Based in sub-Saharan Africa, its aim is to employ experienced artisans via a connected chain of social enterprises – oftentimes with all-female artisans – to create jewellery, homeware, bags and accessories for brands worldwide (alongside Emporio Armani, these include Vivienne Westwood and Stella McCartney).

Here, a community of women in Kenya collaborate with Emporio Armani on a limited-edition series of shopper bags. The scheme ensures fair wages and access to an international marketplace, as well as preserving local and traditional craft.

It has also initiated new partnerships with the likes of the Ethical Fashion Initiative (EFI), which aims to transform fashion into an engine for poverty reduction and women’s empowerment, whose artisans in East Africa hand- crafted the golden nugget embellishments and buttons that run throughout the collection.

The United Nations program The Ethical Fashion Initiative will make its debut at Lineapelle 101, the objective of which is to encourage the encounter between international development, creative industries and the fashion and lifestyle sector, offering services, products and development projects for sustainability.

Shot in two weeks, on two continents, the film was made with the collaboration of the Ethical Fashion Initiative, which introduced Oyéjidé to the weavers of a village just outside Ouagadougou in Burkina Faso who become characters in the film. “It’s set in Burkina Faso and the name is in the title for deliberate reasons, but the idea is that really this boy or child or person could be from anywhere, going to anywhere. It’s intended to be a universal global story about the need to leave and the desire to return.”

Oyéjidé spoke to OkayAfrica about how this film, which sees a young boy leave his Burkinabè village, fits into his greater life’s work.

Her involvement with the Ethical Fashion Initiative, which supports thousands of marginalized women from African communities through the UN group, the International Trade Centre, enabled her to impact bag production through inspiring ethical practices and inventive sustainable solutions. Precisely, collections employed recycled materials from landfills and underdeveloped areas.

“Our accelerator program is providing the mentoring that is needed, mentoring that enables young designers to understand what it means to be a fashion designer in the international and local market,” Cipriani tells us. “It’s helping them understand what it means in terms of idea development, collection development, management of the company, and management of production processes, while also imparting lessons on governance of the brand, how you can create brand value, and what all this means for a young designer. By placing them on a global stage and increasing the potential of investment, we’re enabling them to mobilize the continent’s fashion community and to ultimately create new jobs which pay a living wage.”

Influencers like her are “agents of change”, said Simone Cipriani, the chair of the UN Alliance for Sustainable Fashion and founder of the Ethical Fashion Initiative.

“They counter the negative influence of another kind of thing that you find on social media… overconsumption.”

Westwood was also tireless in her activism off the catwalk collaborating with NGOs and organisations such as Greenpeace and the United Nations. In 2011 Westwood collaborated with the International Trade Centre to produce their Ethical Fashion Initiative.

The programme supports the work of female artisans from marginalised communities in Africa.

“Con il programma Etichal Fashion Intiative gestiamo, tra le altre cose, una catena di fornitura con artigiane che vivono in condizioni di marginalità in Africa. L’obiettivo è farle lavorare regolarmente con le case di modA, perché possano trovare una dignità e una nuova vita. A questo abbiamo lavorato con Vivienne e Carlo Damario, il coproprietario di Westwood, che con noi hanno mantenuto il lavoro per tutti questi anni, 12 anni”.

Before founding Ohiri, Kpolo studied sustainable development, which is evident in the brand’s commitment to upholding traditional craftsmanship, participating in the expansion of the jewellery ecosystem in Africa, and ultimately moving all operations and production to Côte d’Ivoire. It participates in the Ethical Fashion Initiative (EFI), a UN-backed programme for fashion businesses in emerging economies, so production is in two locations: ‘The pieces are made by artisans in Côte d’Ivoire and then finished in an EFI-supported atelier in Kenya,’ she explains. But things are evolving. ‘The artistic scene in Côte d’Ivoire has grown, and African jewellery art is very complex, because the continent is vast. We come from different kinds of energy, different kinds of land, different kinds of inspiration.’

The new line of Aiken Homeware, created specifically for the dastarkhan, reflects the cultural heritage of the designer’s roots and the path of the nomads of Central Asia. The collection was presented for the first time at the Salone del Mobile in Milan and as part of Paris Design Week and the Ethical Fashion Initiative supported by UNESCO and EC in Paris. It is based on korpe-type blankets, pillows with removable pillowcases and bowls resembling yurts. All of them are created in cooperation with artisans from Kazakhstan using materials from Central Asian countries.

Dat de mode-industrie een grote impact heeft op het klimaat is algemene kennis. Maar hoe de industrie hun impact kan verbeteren, daar is nog veel onduidelijk over. Claire Bergkamp van non-profit Textile Exchange gaat in deze podcast in gesprek met modejournalist Clare Press en Verenigde Naties topman Simone Cipriani.

ABY-Concept and the Ethical Fashion Initiative are delighted to announce a series of events taking place in December to showcase 10 labels producing sustainably on the continent. The events, which will take place in the striking setting of the ABY concept store, will highlight some of the biggest innovations in Ivorian and African fashion.

The featured brands supported by ABY for this event are part of EFI’s Designer Accelerator, an initiative that supports African brands to build their businesses in order to gain investment and achieve a global reach. Ready-to-wear labels Hamaji and Katush (Kenya), Oudy K (Mali), Atelier VO (Benin) and native Côte d’Ivoire brands Laurenceairline and Kente Gentlemen, will showcase alongside Accessories labels Rummage, Jiamini (both Kenyan), Margaux Wong (Burundi) and Côte d’Ivoire’s own OHIRI.

Among the issues that were discussed during this forum, it is possible to rescue concepts that have the ability to transform the structure of the industry globally. The intersection of fashion with the Ethical Fashion Initiative of the UN, the sustainable challenges for emerging designers, the rise of new measures and regional perspectives for sustainable management, the opportunities in circular economy, the inheritance of values and ethics by different fashion houses, the crucial role of supply chains and the cultural approach to new sustainable initiatives are topics that will improve fashion’s path towards sustainability.

En diseno – que es de lo que mas sé -, elegimos como provedores organizaciones sin dines de lucro! afirmo y menciono como referencia a la empresa uruguaya Manos del uruguay. Ademas, dio credito a la fundadora de la iniciativa de moda etica de la ONU; Simone Cipriani, por ayudar a emparejar los talleres de Chloé con otros artesanos de paises en deserarrollo

“There are too many metrics for sustainable fashion, and we needed to find a way to streamline them. This is not another metric, it is a platform designed to be fed with data that already exists,” says Simone Cipriani, founder and manager of EFI. “If brands have invested in existing schemes and certifications, this should be incredibly easy to use. It’s a way to bring everything together in a framework of responsible business, to allow consistent reporting between companies.”

Created in partnership with Artisan Fashion, it’s the holy grail of minimal impact ethical accessories. Artisan Fashion is the East African Ethical Fashion Initiative (EFI) of the International Trade Centre, a joint agency of the United Nations and the World Trade Organisation, which specialises in supporting the work of thousands of micro-producers from marginalised African communities and the production of high-end accessories with community craftspeople. Together with Westwood, they pioneer upcycling and support artisanal skill development.

Founded in 1945, Ratti’s ethos is underpinned by the persuasion that “knowing the past is the only way to give life to the future” so they “observe, caress and study the fabrics of the past as a source of inspiration”. The Italian textile company’s heritage is strongly linked to the processing of silk, an ancient and precious fibre. Now, they work with various natural, synthetic and artificial fibres and offer numerous ecologically sustainable fibres. At the recent CNMI Sustainable Fashion Awards 2022 at the Teatro alla Scala in Milan, Ratti received a special mention – Giving Hope – for the programs carried out with the Ethical Fashion Initiative.

THE BRITISH designer has long been and advocator for social and political change, especially in regards to the health of the planet, and this ethos has continued following the appointment of Andreas Kronthaler as creative director. However, we are now at a point in time where actions speak undeniably louder than words, and Vivienne Westwood’s continued collaboration with Artisan Fashion is doing just that.

Ο Simone Cipriani, αξιωματούχος των Ηνωμένων Εθνών και ιδρυτής της πρωτοβουλίας Ethical Fashion Initiative of the International Trade Centre εξήγησε τι ακριβώς προσφέρει το παραπάνω πρόγραμμα και εστίασε στο πώς η αξιοπρεπής εργασία μπορεί να συμβάλλει στη βιωσιμότητα στη μόδα.

Non mancava nessuno: i protagonisti della moda, le istituzioni, le celeb, gli ospiti della fashion week erano alla Scala domenica 25 settembre: prima un brindisi in una piazza, chiusa al traffico e trasformata in un fantastico dehors e poi tutti in teatro a seguire la kermesse. Quando vanno in scena i CNMI Sustainable Awards – e siamo alla terza edizione, dopo i due anni di sospensione causa Covid – è come se tutta la frenesia della fashion week si fermasse un attimo per dare il giusto spazio e l’atmosfera più consona alla sostenibilità. La festa ha naturalmente un glam tutto suo, sospeso tra lo scintillio di un party della moda e la compostezza di una Prima della Scala. E lo spettacolo non delude mai. Alla proclamazione dei vincitori si sono alternati brevi sfilate dei brand simbolo del made in Italy – Armani, Gucci, Prada e naturalmente Valentino – i balletti della Scala Academy – Ballet School Students e qualche brano lirico con la soprano Valentina Nafornita, direttrice d’orchestra Speranza Scappucci

Anche la Milano Fashion Week è arrivata alla sua conclusione. Dopo una settimana di sfilate mozzafiato che ci hanno regalato più di una daily crush, la kermesse di presentazione delle collezioni Primavera Estate 2023 ha chiuso col botto con il green carpet dei CNMI Sustainable Fashion Awards 2022. Per chi non lo sapesse, questi premi vogliono valorizzare le 14 personalità e realtà che hanno prestato particolare attenzione all’ambiente nel loro lavoro legato alla moda. I CNMI Sustainable Fashion Awards sono organizzati dalla Camera Nazionale della Moda Italiana in collaborazione con la Ethical Fashion Initiative (EFI), il supporto del Ministero degli Affari Esteri e della Cooperazione Internazionale, dell’Agenzia ICE e del Comune di Milano. Si sono tenuti come da tradizione al Teatro La Scala, con la conduzione dell’artista e performer Rossy de Palma.

From Prada to Maison Valentino to Adut Akech, some of the most significant forces in fashion came together at the CNMI Sustainable Fashion Awards to discuss and honor fashion’s sustainability movement.

Camera Nazionale della Moda Italiana (CNMI), in collaboration with the Ethical Fashion Initiative (EFI) of the United Nations, and with the support of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, The ICE Agency, and the Municipality of Milan, organized the ceremony of the CNMI Sustainable Fashion Awards 2022 at the Teatro alla Scala in Milan.

Organizzati dalla Camera Nazionale della Moda Italiana in collaborazione con la Ethical Fashion Initiative (EFI) delle Nazioni Unite e con il supporto del Ministero degli Affari Esteri e della Cooperazione Internazionale, dell’Agenzia ICE e del Comune di Milano, i CNMI Sustainable Fashion Awards 2022 – in totale 14 premi – celebrano le personalità e le realtà virtuose che si sono distinte per l’impegno dedicato alla sostenibilità nella sua accezione più alta.

Sono stati consegnati i premi della Camera Nazionale della Moda Italiana Sustainable Fashion Awards, un riconoscimento per l’impegno dei brand nella sostenibilità

Si è svolta domenica 25 settembre la cerimonia di consegna dei CNMI Sustainable Fashion Awards 2022 presso il Teatro alla Scala di Milano. L’evento si è svolto in collaborazione con la Ethical Fashion Initiative (EFI) delle Nazioni Unite e con il supporto del Ministero degli Affari Esteri e della Cooperazione Internazionale, dell’Agenzia ICE e del Comune di Milano.

In chiusura della Settimana della Moda di Milano, che si concluderà ufficialmente oggi, la Camera Nazionale della Moda Italiana ha assegnato ieri sera i Sustainable Fashion Awards 2022. La cerimonia di premiazione si è tenuta nella cornice del Teatro alla Scala. I Sustainable Fashion Awards 2022 sono organizzati da CNMI in collaborazione con la Ethical Fashion Initiative delle Nazioni Unite.

La Camera nazionale della moda italiana (Cnmi), in collaborazione con la Ethical Fashion Initiative (Efi) delle Nazioni Unite, un programma dell’International Trade Center, e con il supporto del ministero degli Esteri, dell’Agenzia Ice e del Comune di Milano, ha organizzato la cerimonia di consegna dei Cnmi Sustainable Fashion Awards 2022.

Alla Scala di Milano, i premi della Camera Nazionale della moda italiana tributati a chi si sta impegnando per arrivare a un sistema moda realmente sostenibile. Gli ospiti e tutti i premiati

The event is organized by Camera Nazionale della Moda Italiana in collaboration with the United Nations Ethical Fashion Initiative, and with the support of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, the ITA- Agency and the Municipality of Milan.