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The Ethical Fashion Initiative Designer Academy has begun accepting applications from young fashion brands who want to learn about the business of sustainable and ethical fashion as well as take their business to the next level.

The two-year program is open to fashion brands in Benin, Burkina Faso, Ivory Coast, Eritrea, Kenya, Mali and Uganda who have been in operation for at least 2 years ranging from RTW, Accessories, Jewellery and/or Footwear with sustainable practices.

The latest episode of the Ethical Fashion Podcast aired on, May 6th. ‘Meet Uganda’s Top Model Agent’ is the Ethical Fashion Podcast’s seventh episode in its Africa-centred series.
This show features a key personality in the Ugandan fashion industry, who is also one of the three judges on the national Opportunities Are Here Project X.

In 2020, Opportunities Are Here Project X premiered in Uganda, presented by the Ethical Fashion Initiative and the EU. A fully digital, televised talent competition, OAH Project X was the continuation of a nationwide call for young entrepreneurs in Africa. Undoubtedly the EFI’s most entertaining endeavor, the show also had a greater mission in mind: to build economic opportunity within the country.

In 2020 The Opportunities Are Here Project X arrived in Uganda, presented by the Ethical Fashion Initiative and the EU.

Surely the EFI’s most fun project to date, this televised talent competition followed a nationwide call for young creative entrepreneurs in Africa. But there’s also serious agenda – building economic opportunity.
The show’s three judges included Joram Muzira Job, Uganda’s top model agent, and in this fabulous interview Joram shares his career story and advice for the next generation coming through.

Mr. Mdingi gained experience in fashion media, retail, styling and art direction before realizing his heart was set on fashion design and, in 2015, starting his own label. Working with local patternmakers and the knitting communities in the Eastern Cape, Mr. Mdingi designs knitwear that bridges the gap between artisanal and modern design.

“Our growth has been like zero to two, not zero to 100, but I am happy with that,” he said. “Our roots are in human hands and what we have at our disposal in this country.”

“I discovered EFI through a friend who was doing some work with them. They had a call for designers back in 2013-2014 that I responded to and got accepted… What they were trying to do was connect the dots and help build a local fashion industry but also build a product, and at the same time build the market. It was really consistent with what I was trying to do: work with marginalized communities.” says Erwiah.

This episode is guest hosted by American stylist and creative director Alexander-Julian Gibbson.

In this vibrant conversation with Abrima Erwiah, co-founder and president of fashion social enterprise Studio 189, you’ll hear all about creating, running and building a fashion business with purpose in Accra and New York.

Simone is also an officer of the United Nations who is a passionate advocate for fair trade, equal employment, and the promotion of creative micro-enterprises as a vehicle out of poverty.

Led by Simone, EFI has been instrumental in boosting a new generation of rising fashion talent in Africa, showcasing the initiative at several international trade fairs including the EFI Accelerator Programme, the ‘Africa to Rome’ showcase that promoted the works of African designers including Christie Brown and Kiki Clothing,

Alexander-Julian Gibbson is a Houston-based stylist and content creator known for his directional shoots for magazines (think GQ, Vogue and Flaunt) and musicians like Patoranking.

This week, Simone and Clare meet the Nigerian-American creative force to discuss Lagos style, why the world is looking to African fashion right now, and career pathways for emerging Black creatives.

+Three°°° collabora con EFI – Ethical Fashion Initiative, il programma di moda etica dell’ONU (di un’agenzia congiunta ONU-WTO, che dal nome International Trade Centre). EFI crea e gestisce filiere di lavoro etiche per artigiane che si trovano a vivere in condizioni di estrema marginalità in paesi in via di sviluppo o affetti da conflitto. Le artigiane di EFI forniscono alcuni fra i maggiori marchi e distributori mondiali di moda. EFI gestisce anche un acceleratore per marchi di moda emergenti in Africa e presiede la UN Alliance for Sustainable Fashion.

Elle a ajouté que cette célébration est aussi une occasion pour eux de rappeler l’importance de l’artisanat tout en évoquant les conditions dans lesquelles ils vivent. « Le pop pop de cette édition, par les expositions et les troupes traditionnelles, nous voulons rappeler l’importance de l’artisanat dans le monde et surtout au Burkina Faso. Il faut que nous mettions en lumière leur savoir-faire. Les accompagnements dans ce sens sont rares. Il faut trouver un moyen de les booster pour le Bien-être de nos artisans », a-t-elle déclaré.

Pour information, CABES-GIE est une initiative logée dans le projet Ethical Fashion Initiative qui est un projet initié par des agences conjointes de l’organisation des Nations Unies. Il a été initié pour mettre en relation les communautés défavorisées d’artisanats dans le monde. Les éditions précédentes elle a bénéficié de l’accompagnement de l’Union Européenne. Cependant, à cette édition, CABES-GIE a fonctionné sur fonds propres, selon Judith Sawadogo.

Proprio in occasione dell’Earth Day viene presentata la nuova label +Three°°°.Il nome nasce da un allarmante rapporto dell’UNEP (United Nation Environment Program) che delinea uno scenario in cui entro il 2050 il riscaldamento globale supererà i tre gradi centigradi, innescando alterazioni irreversibili dell’ecosistema globale quali la desertificazione di alcune aree e i fenomeni di gravi eventi atmo- sferici, oltre a colossali migrazioni. +Three°°° collabora con EFI – Ethical Fashion Initiative, il programma di moda etica dell’ONU (di un’agenzia congiunta ONU-WTO, che dal nome International Trade Centre). EFI crea e gestisce filiere di lavoro etiche per artigiane che si trovano a vivere in condizioni di estrema marginalità in paesi in via di sviluppo o affetti da conflitto. Le artigiane di EFI forniscono alcuni fra i maggiori marchi e distributori mondiali di moda. EFI gesti- sce anche un acceleratore per marchi di moda emergenti in Africa e presiede la UN Alliance for Sustainable Fashion. EFI applica rigorosamente un codice comportamentale incentrato sul rispetto dei diritti umani, delle condizioni di lavoro come definite nelle convenzioni dell’ILO, sull’applicazione del living wage e su un attenta gestione dell’impatto sia sociale che ambientale.

+Three°°° collabora con EFI – Ethical Fashion Initiative, il programma di moda etica dell’ONU (di un’agenzia congiunta ONU-WTO, che dal nome International Trade Centre). EFI crea e gestisce filiere di lavoro etiche per artigiane che si trovano a vivere in condizioni di estrema marginalità in paesi in via di sviluppo o affetti da conflitto. Le artigiane di EFI forniscono alcuni fra i maggiori marchi e distributori mondiali di moda. EFI gestisce anche un acceleratore per marchi di moda emergenti in Africa e presiede la UN Alliance for Sustainable Fashion. EFI applica rigorosamente un codice comportamentale incentrato sul rispetto dei diritti umani, delle condizioni di lavoro come definite nelle convenzioni dell’ILO, sull’applicazione del living wage e su un attenta gestione dell’impatto sia sociale che ambientale.

The episode is all about ethically-produced fashion and art, but primarily touches on Burundi and the emerging opportunities within its borders.

The designer explains the challenges in finding artisans who are skilled in traditional techniques, how she’s found it possible to succeed at both motherhood and entrepreneurship through “passion, love and perseverance” and how Burundi will learn to appreciate art once more.

Simone Cipriani (Founder and Head of the Ethical Fashion Initiative (“EFI”) and Clare Press (Sustainable Journalist and Writer), return to host the second series of the Ethical Fashion podcast, first launched in June 2020 to champion the power of discussion and explore the issues driving the ethical fashion conversation.

+Three°°° collabora infatti con EFI – Ethical Fashion Initiative, il programma di moda etica dell’ONU, la quale crea e gestisce filiere di lavoro etiche per artigiane che si trovano a vivere in condizioni di estrema marginalità in Paesi in via di sviluppo o affetti da conflitto. Un successo quello di EFI, tanto che le sue artigiane forniscono alcuni fra i maggiori marchi e distributori mondiali di moda. EFI gestisce anche un acceleratore per marchi fashion emergenti in Africa e presiede la UN Alliance for Sustainable Fashion.

The Ethical Fashion Initiative’s Ethical Fashion Podcast aired the third episode, ‘New African Designers To Know’, of its second series dedicated solely to African stories, on April 8th.

Hosts Simone Cipriani and Clare Press guide the conversation alongside two designers from the Ethical Fashion Initiative’s inaugural Accelerator Programme for African Designers, Jennifer Mulli of Kenyan brand Jiamini, and Lukhanyo Mdingi, founder of South African brand with the same name. Jiamini, known for its extravagant beaded handiwork, and Lukhanyo Mdingi, a locally-manufactured fashion brand globally recognized for its sophisticated collections, both form a part of a new wave of emerging designers that are promoting the future of slow fashion.

“The current business model of the industry – the one only based on shareholder value, which is to say a very short term view – is not sustainable”.

“We work in many areas with extreme poverty and we see the need for people to have more in many of these places. These conversations on circulatory, on reducing production, must not hide the most important conversation. In this global conversation on the new business model, there must also be a conversation about equity and justice.” says Cipriani

Geneva, 1st April 2021: ‘Women & Tech. Doing Business in Africa’, the second episode in the newly premiered Ethical Fashion Podcast’s second series, airs today featuring two prominent female business leaders in Ghana and their trajectory towards a career in tech in the region.

The booming creative economy and continuous growing access to technology in the continent offer exciting opportunities for the new generation. But with young adults making up an incredible 60% of Africa’s unemployed population, the secret to getting ahead remains unclear. Guest hosted by Roberta Annan, Ghanaian entrepreneur and founder of African Fashion Foundation, in conversation with Vodafone Ghana’s CEO Patricia Obo-Nai, this second episode seeks to explore the career challenges the young population is facing today and how digital connectivity and mentoring of the new generation might be the solutions to professional success.

‘Women & Tech. Doing Business in Africa’, the second episode in the newly premiered Ethical Fashion Podcast’s second series, aired on Thursday.

It featuring two prominent female business leaders in Ghana and their trajectory towards a career in tech in the region.

The booming creative economy and continuous growing access to technology in the continent offer exciting opportunities for the new generation. But with young adults making up an incredible 60% of Africa’s unemployed population, the secret to getting ahead remains unclear.

“These are complex issues that cannot be addressed in an isolated way. We just speak about climate change, we just speak about decarbonisation, we just speak about reducing production. They’re all part of the same vision, they’re all part of the business model,” says Simone Cipriani, officer of the United Nations and head of the Ethical Fashion Initiative.

The Ethical Fashion Initiative launched the second series of its podcast dedicated to African stories on March 25th, with an exclusive interview featuring world-renowned designer of Ghanian descent, Virgil Abloh, who openly speaks on his experience of racism, his attempts to democratize luxury fashion, and his thoughts on social media.

Abloh, who is Louis Vuitton Men’s Artistic Director as well as the founder of Milan-based label Off-White, offers a radical vision of all forms of creative expression being equal. “An Instagram post is as much of an artwork as a 300-look fashion collection,” he says. “Something I made 20 years ago as a student – like my thesis [on] architecture … is just as valid as a new Nike shoe. There is no hierarchy.”

Virgil Abloh is one of the most interesting designers in the global fashion industry today. He is the artistic director of menswear at Louis Vuitton, as well as the creative force behind his own brand, Off-White. A true polymath, he is a multimedia artist who moves culture forwards and describes his creative process across multiple platforms as “taking an idea and dreaming it aloud”.

In the first episode of Series 2 of the Ethical Fashion Podcast, Simone and Clare sit down with Abloh to discuss diversity and inclusion, his latest projects, what he calls “mentoring by existence” and his personal creative journey. It’s a rollercoaster ride conversation, swooping from Andy Warhol to Miles Davis and James Baldwin to Caravaggio, fashion students, Abloh’s aims and inspirations, and the role of a designer today.

The Ethical Fashion Initiative will launch the second series of its podcast dedicated to African stories, today March 25th, with an exclusive interview featuring world-renowned designer of Ghanian descent, Virgil Abloh, who openly speaks on his experience of racism, his attempts to democratise luxury fashion and his thoughts on social media.

Abloh, who is Louis Vuitton Men’s Artistic Director as well as founder of Milan-based label Off-White, offers a radical vision of all forms of creative expression being equal. “An Instagram post is as much of an artwork as a 300-look fashion collection,” he says. “Something I made 20 years ago as a student – like my thesis [on] architecture … is just as valid as a new Nike shoe. There is no hierarchy.” This makes sense, given his recent opening up of Off-White’s platform to emerging creatives via Imaginary TV. Abloh is smashing down the barriers to entry.

Louis Vuitton Homme and Off-White designer Virgil Abloh has joined the Ethical Fashion Podcast Series as its first guest for its second season.

Hosted by Simone Cipriani and Clare Press, the podcast series explores African entrepreneurship, ethical fashion, diversity, female empowerment, inclusivity, and the future of sustainable fashion.

The episode titled, Fashion, Art, and Mentoring by Existence with Virgil Abloh, explores the designer’s rise in the global fashion industry. He describes his creative process as “taking an idea and dreaming it aloud.”

Virgil Abloh is dipping into the sustainability podcast niche.

As part of the United Nation’s Ethical Fashion Initiative, the Louis Vuitton men’s creative lead and Off-White founder will be joining the “Ethical Fashion” podcast for its second season as the inaugural guest.

“​An Instagram post is as much of an artwork as a 300-look fashion collection,​” Abloh said in the episode. “​Something I made 20 years ago as a student — like my thesis [on] architecture…is just as valid as a new Nike shoe. There is no hierarchy.​”

While the first season spotlighted global artisans, hosts Simone Cipriani and Clare Press are devoting season two to sustainability, diversity, design and female empowerment with an aim to spotlight African creatives and entrepreneurs.

Virgil Abloh is dipping into the sustainability podcast niche.

As part of the United Nation’s Ethical Fashion Initiative, the Louis Vuitton men’s creative lead and Off-White founder will be joining the “Ethical Fashion” podcast for its second season as the inaugural guest.

“​An Instagram post is as much of an artwork as a 300-look fashion collection,​” Abloh said in the episode. “​Something I made 20 years ago as a student — like my thesis [on] architecture…is just as valid as a new Nike shoe. There is no hierarchy.​”

While the first season spotlighted global artisans, hosts Simone Cipriani and Clare Press are devoting season two to sustainability, diversity, design and female empowerment with an aim to spotlight African creatives and entrepreneurs.

The collection features designs with high quality fabrics produced locally. The large hand-woven scarves were inspired by Nicholas Coutts’ style inculcating a mix of rich shades and textures. Key elements of the duo’s aesthetic and also a blend of handcrafted garments and minimalist classic pieces, tricot garments with abstract designs in bold, but warm colors.

The Ethical Fashion Initiative accelerator programme sees the launch of the most interesting emerging talents of the African creative scene and also provides designers with e-commerce entry and a global audience.

Lukhanyo Mdingi, il designer del brand omonimo fondato nel 2015 con sede a Città del Capo, in Sudafrica, è stato selezionato per partecipare a Pitti Uomo 99 durante alla prima edizione di Ethical Fashion Initiative, il nuovo acceleratore che vede il lancio dei talenti emergenti più interessanti della scena creativa africana.

La nuova collezione conferma la vocazione del brand a creare capi senza tempo e dalla fattura squisita che sono il simbolo dell’autenticità e dell’integrità del brand. Ma questa volta sono anche un’ode all’amicizia e all’amore. Al centro della collezione c’è una toccante lettera a un altro giovane designer sudafricano, suo collaboratore e caro amico, Nicholas Coutts, scomparso prematuramente nel maggio 2019.

Since November 2016, the International Trade Centre Ethical Fashion Initiative has been working in Afghanistan to reinvigorate its economy through a EU-funded project. I spoke to Simone Cipriani, Founder and Head of the ITC’s Ethical Fashion Initiative which seeks to connect farmers and artisans to the global market for luxury goods in a way that nourishes local communities and the environment. He told me how EFI has been supporting silk producers in the region: “until we started working with local farmers and artisans, cocoons were exported in bulk to Iran. Value was added elsewhere, and farmers were paid nothing. In collaboration with a local social enterprise and a team of formidable Afghan experts and technicians, we focused on creating a whole value chain.”

Por ejemplo, el Made by Women impulsado por la ONG Internacional Care (del que, hasta 2019, se beneficiaron más de 3,5 millones de mujeres) o proyectos más recientes como la Ethical Fashion Initiative, que al amparo de la ONU y la Agencia Internacional de Comercio forma y emplea a mujeres de comunidades marginadas de África. Bajo el lema “Trabajo, no caridad”, Vivienne Westwood, Stella McCartney o la española Camper colaboran con ella, dando visibilidad a las artesanas subsaharianas, de la misma manera que la diseñadora Gabriela Hearst lo hace con las integrantes de la cooperativa Manos de Uruguay en su país natal. “El hecho de que se les dé una oportunidad, les da la fuerza para continuar. Pero más importante todavía que enseñarles un oficio, es acompañarlas durante todo ese proceso”, explica Núria Sardá.

Das Berliner Label Zazi Vintage hat gemeinsam mit Samina Ansari und Farzana Wahidy die neue Kollektion in Afghanistan inszeniert

Seidenkleider aus Usbekistan oder Baumwollhosen made in Tadschikistan: Mit ihrem in Berlin gegründeten Label Zazi Vintage beweist Jeanne de Kroon ihr Gespür für großartige Handwerkskunst aus den entlegensten Ecken der Welt. Anstatt die Herkunft ihrer Produkte zu verschleiern oder sich mit fremdem Wissen zu schmücken – im Englischen heißt der Vorwurf „Cultural Appropriation“ und bezieht sich auf Menschen, die sich ungeniert der Gebräuche, Ideen und Trachten anderer Kulturen bedienen –, legt die Niederländerin Wert darauf, ihre Geschichten zu erzählen. Am liebsten überlässt sie das jenen, die sich damit wirklich auskennen.