Casadei launched a sustainable collection
CASADEI showcased a brand new Artisanal collection, developed with the Ethical Fashion Initiative (EFI), which includes four styles using fabrics woven by women in Burkina Faso – one of the biggest producers of African cotton and the shoes feature a variety of textures, fabrics and colour.
Casadei made a strong statement about ethical fashion today at its Milan Fashion Week presentation.
The Italian label unveiled a capsule collection of nine styles for spring ’20 that use fabrics woven by women in Burkina Faso, Africa — an area known for its artisinal weaving and one of the biggest producers of African cotton.
The capsule was developed with the Ethical Fashion Initiative (EFI),which promotes sustainable fashion and the work of communities from developing countries by connecting big fashion names with local entities. EFI is a program of the International Trade Center, a joint agency of the United Nations and World Trade Organization. It has worked with companies big and small, from Adidas to luxury designer Aurora James.
TOKYO (09 Sept. 2019)
Awa’Tori, along with sponsors and partners, UNITED ARROWS LTD., and ITC Ethical Fashion Initiative announce the FACE.A-J 2019 selection of designers; Thebe Magugu (South Africa), Kenneth Ize (Nigeria), Anyango Mpinga (Kenya), COYOTE (Japan), Wataru Tominaga (Japan) and Sulvam (Japan) .
The designers participating in ‘Fashion & Culture Exchange Africa-Japan’ (FACE.A-J), to be held during the Rakuten Fashion Week in Tokyo have been confirmed. On Wednesday, October 16th 2019, six emerging designers from Africa (Thebe Magugu the most recent LVMH Prize winner, Kenneth Ize and Anyango Mpinga) and Japan (COYOTE, Wataru Tominaga and Sulvam) will be showcasing their designs at the STARRISE Tower Studio. This unique fashion presentation will include an installation by Nigerian artist Kadara Enyeasi, followed by a panel discussion on October 18th (information available soon).The following week in Lagos, the group will be presenting their work during Lagos Fashion Week at ALARA, the leader of high-end luxury multi label retail store on the African continent.
Nel 2016 è arrivato via mare in Italia, più precisamente in Sicilia, è stato trasferito nell’hub regionale di Bologna e infine accolto dalla cooperativa sociale “Lai-momo”, a Lama di Reno, frazione del comune di Marzabotto. Poi il colpo di fortuna. Nel 2017 la cooperativa, in collaborazione con il programma “Ethical fashion initiative” dell’Onu e dell’Organizzazione mondiale del commercio, fonda una piccola start-up: la Cartiera, con sede nella casa dell’amministratore della vecchia cartiera di Marzabotto. L’obiettivo è produrre accessori di alto artigianato in pelle, favorendo l’inserimento lavorativo di richiedenti asilo, migranti e disoccupati.
This mythic landscape that set the scene for cult films like The Talented Mr. Ripley and Scandal in Sorrento is where two pixie-haired women have chosen to unveil a new right, and discover the Goooders universe, one of two pop-ups this summer (the other is in Paris at The Bristol Hotel) that aims to help people look good by doing good. Co-founder and co-CEO Caterina Occhio is inside the pop-up while her partner Eva Geraldine holds court on the terrace. The similarities don’t stop at their short crop. Both have romance in their eyes and some French cancan in their legs, as proven by spontaneous dancing later that evening. Moreover, they are both fiercely determined to fill today’s shopping bags with a dose of 21st century, UN-approved values.
Goodee has partnered with the Ethical Fashion Initiative (EFI), whose network of artisans in conflict-torn countries such as Mali and Burkina Faso are producing fabrics designed by Byron and Dexter Peart, to be featured as products on the site. “We regenerate the social capital of workers from very marginalised communities [by making them] permanent suppliers of international fashion and lifestyle brands,” says Simone Cipriani, UN officer, founder and head of the EFI. This, in turn, allows for environmental regeneration, such as the instalment of solar panels to heat water for the natural dyeing process carried out in Mali.
The launch of Goodee comes at a time when sustainability and ethical transparency are a growing concern among consumers yet a relatively untapped market in the luxury lifestyle space. According to sustainability consultancy Futerra, the market for ethical products and services in the UK alone is worth £81.3 billion (about $104.9 billion), growing over £40 billion since 2008. “Sustainable living for beginners” as a search term on Pinterest went up by 265% last year.
Sustainability is also a timely matter for policy and industry-wide action, with the UN Alliance For Sustainable Fashion launching in March 2019 in a bid to tackle the social and environmental harm of fashion, of which the EFI is a member agency.
Tout est passé au crible du code d’éthique (et d’esthétique) Goodee. La certification B-Corp, accordée aux sociétés commerciales répondant à des exigences sociétales, environnementales, de gouvernance et de transparence, est imminente. L’entreprise travaille également en collaboration avec l’Ethical Fashion Initiative, un programme lié à l’ONU. Ils mettent au point une gamme de matières textiles et d’objets pour la maison qui permettra aux artisans membres d’avoir un meilleur accès au marché mondial.
Hierfür arbeitet Jeanne mit Frauen in ländlichen Regionen in Indien, Usbekistan und Afghanistan zusammen und verwendet für ihre Kollektionen (die keine Kollektionen im klassischen Sinne sind, da sie keinem festen Turnus folgen), ausschließlich ausgesuchte Vintage-Stoffe aus den Regionen. Produziert wird dann eben soviel, wie der Stoff hergibt und mit Respekt vor der Umwelt und (und hier können sich so einige große Modehäuser eine Scheibe abschneiden) unter Einbeziehung der Frauen aus den Kulturen, von denen sich Jeanne für ihre Zazi Vintage Kollektionen inspirieren lässt. Heißt: Jede*r bekommt ein faires Stück vom Kuchen ab.
Für ihre neue Resort Collection 2019 hat Jeanne erstmal mit der Ethical Fashion Initiative der Vereinten Nationen zusammengearbeitet und gemeinsam mit Handwerkstätten in Afghanistan eine traumhafte Kollektion gefertigt, die auf den Spuren der legendären und sagenumwobenen Seidenstraße wandelt. Fair, nachhaltig und wegweisend. Logisch, dass wir bei diesem unterstützenswerten Konzept neugierig geworden sind und genauer bei Jeanne nachgefragt haben.
從消費者的角度來看，究竟什麼是更道德、更永續性的購物方式呢？這兩個詞彙絕對於當下最熱門的關鍵字，而其定義也密切關聯。「這兩者該被視為同義詞，」聯合國道德時尚協會負責人Simone Cipriani 這麼説。「道德必須兼顧永續性，無論在社會或環境層面。」 What exactly does it mean to buy more ethically and sustainably, from a consumer perspective? The two terms are definitely buzz keywords at the moment, and their definitions closely interlinked. “They should be considered synonymous,” says Simone Cipriani, the head of the UN’s Ethical Fashion Initiative. “Ethical has to [mean] sustainable, socially and environmentally.”
Jeanne de Kroon (wir hatten sie bereits in einem Closet Diary und einer Homestory vorgestellt) hat aus ihrer Ambition, benachteiligten Frauen zu helfen, ihr Modelabel Zazi Vintage aufgebaut. Seitdem ist sie ständig auf der Suche nach Projekten, die eine Brücke zwischen Mode und den Traditionen der Welt schlagen und dabei ökologische und soziale Probleme der Industrie überwinden.
Ihr jüngstes Projekt bringt sie nach Afghanistan, wo sie auf den geschichtsträchtigen Pfaden der Seidenstraße, die seit jeher Osten und Westen miteinander verbinden, beschreitet. Gemeinsam mit der Ethical Fashion Initiative, eine Organisation der der Europäischen Union, und Kunsthandwerkern aus Afghanistan ist eine Kollektion entstanden, in der sich Konsumenten und Produzenten näher kommen.
Das Ziel ist es, bis Ende 2020 neue Arbeitsplätze und nachhaltige Lebensgrundlagen für über 2.000 Rückkehrer, Binnenvertriebene, potenzielle Migranten, Bauern und marginalisierte Handwerker aus Afghanistan zu schaffen.
Die Kollektion ist ab sofort online erhältlich. Und schaut euch bitte diese tollen Bilder an!
Nach jahrzehntelangen Kriegen und Konflikten scheint es heute wichtiger denn je, das Erbe der Seidenstraße weiterzuführen. Ein Erbe, das für so vieles steht: Für Tradition und Geschichte, für wichtige Handelsrouten, die Verbindung und Verknüpfung von Ost und West und nicht zuletzt für den Dialog der Kulturen. Mit „The Silk Road“ tritt Jeanne de Kroon für Zazi Vintage erstmals in den Dialog mit der Ethical Fashion Initiative – einem von der Europäischen Union initiiertem Programm – um das erste gemeinsame Kapitel in Afghanistan zu schreiben, im Zentrum der Seidenstraße.
Die Seidenstraße in Afghanistan ist bekannt für ihren Reichtum und ihr kulturelles Erbe. Sie ist umgeben von Geschichte und Kultur, die den Westen und den Osten wie ein Netzwerk einer Handelsroute miteinander verknüpft. Ausgetauscht wurden hier neben Religionen, Philosophien und Technologien auch Seide, die bereits damals zu einem sehr wertvollem Exportgut galt. Durch jahrzehntelange Kriege, ist diese wichtige Verbindung der Gemeinschaft leider angegriffen worden, deswegen ist es mehr denn je an der Zeit, die Tradition in der Seidenstraße wieder aufleben zu lassen. ,,The Silk Road’’ heißt das Programm, das von Jeanne de Kroon in Kooperation mit der Ethical Fashion Initiative (EFI), einer von der Europäischen Union gegründeten Initiative, geleitet wird.
Die Designerin Jeanne de Kroon hat in der Ethical Fashion Initiative einen Partner gefunden, der ihre Vision, ein besseres Verständnis zwischen unterschiedlichsten Kulturen und Traditionen zu fördern, gemeinsam in die Tat umsetzt.
Die Ethical Fashion Initiative – kurz EFI – ist 2009 mit der Mission an den Start gegangen, marginalisierte Handwerker mit ethisch orientierten Konsumenten zu verbinden. Simone Cipriani, Gründer und Leiter von EFI besuchte damals den Korogocho Slum in Nairobi und erkannte sofort, wieviel Potenzial im traditionellen Handwerk dieser Region für die Modebranche steckt. Von der Verknüpfung beider Welten sollten alle profitieren. Mittlerweile macht sich die Organisation auch mit Projekten in Burkina Faso, Mali, Ghana, Haiti, Äthiopien, Nepal, Kambodscha und zuletzt auch in Afghanistan, Tadschikistan, Usbekistan und an der Elfenbeinküste für ein faires Miteinander und besseres Verständnis stark.
Antes del muro de Trump, ya existía una barrera comercial, que ha dividido históricamente el mundo por la mitad. El hemisferio sur ha sido siempre el gran marginado. Sus artesanos son desterrados de la cadena de producción del mercado del lujo, condenados a trabajar en condiciones pésimas. Vivienne Westwood empezó en 2010 a colaborar con Iniciativa Moda Ética (EFI por sus siglas en inglés) del Centro de Comercio Internacional (ITC), organismo conjunto de la Conferencia de las Naciones Unidas sobre Comercio y Desarrollo (Unctad) y la Organización Mundial del Comercio (OMC). «Nuestro trabajo con el Centro de Comercio Internacional da a las personas oportunidad y sostenibilidad», señala Carlo. «Estamos hablando de trabajo», hace hincapié Simone Cipriani, director de EFI. Su lema siempre ha sido: «Es trabajo, no caridad». Para D’Amario, es un intercambio: «Compartimos técnicas y transmitimos nuestra experiencia a su artesanía. Soft Power». En castellano, ‘poder blando’ –término acuñado en los noventa que hace referencia a la influencia que tiene un Estado en el extranjero al margen de su acción diplomática, actividad directa económica o capacidad militar–. Para Carlo, la acepción moderna (más positiva) se centra en el poder de la sociedad de intercambiar ideas.
This latest collection was produced in partnership with the Ethical Fashion Initiative, a programme launched by the ebullient Simone Cipriani in 2009 as part of the output of the International Trade Center (a joint agency of the UN and the World Trade Organisation) and funded by European Aid, which aims to connect artisans from developing countries with leading fashion designers. Cipriani was instrumental in introducing de Kroon to artisanal communities and an NGO in Afghanistan called Zarif, which employs 50 Afghan artisans creating traditional fabrics in Kabul.
ZAZI honours the rich cultural heritage of the silk road with its latest collection, in collaboration with the Ethical Fashion Initiative.
The silk road was the ancient trade network that connected the East with the West, where silk goods and cultures were exchanged. It was a journey that has always been intertwined with luxury, travelling from the savoir-faire and well-kept secrets of of Asian artisans to the royal courts of Europe. Today ZAZI honours the rich cultural heritage of the silk road with its latest collection, in collaboration with the Ethical Fashion Initiative. With this venture the Berlin-based label does not only take inspiration from the route’s vibrancy and craft, at its core this collection empowers and supports women and communities in Afghanistan, the heart of the silk road.
De Kroon works with artisans across Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, and India, but her latest project brought her back to Afghanistan for a special collaboration with the United Nations Ethical Fashion Initiative. Last year, de Kroon met Simone Cipriani, the head of EFI, at Nest’s summit on the handworker economy at the U.N. “I was wearing one of my coats and Simone asked me about it, and when I told him it was made in Afghanistan, he said we had to work together,” she says on a recent call (from Berlin, not the jungle!). The EFI had several ongoing initiatives in Afghanistan in collaboration with its social enterprise partner, Zarif Design, a “slow production” workshop in Kabul founded by Zolaykha Sherzad, who employs 52 local artisans to create garments using traditional fabrics, embroideries, and natural dyes. In doing so, she is keeping those crafts alive and providing safe, fair trade employment.
The object of Cipriani’s work is to replace “pity purchasing” – when visitors to a country might buy things just to be kind to their makers – with fine workmanship at a high level.
It’s about “empowering women by generating work and making them into micro entrepreneurs,” says Cipriani, who concentrates on city slums and rural areas in countries such as Burkina Faso, Ghana, and Kenya.
On the 10th anniversary of the EFI, Simone Cipriani discusses his mission to make fashion truly sustainable
Abrima Erwiah, who was raised in New York and worked in marketing and communications at Bottega Veneta, co-founded Studio 189, an artisan-produced fashion brand that is headquartered in Ghana, West Africa and New York. It currently operates a store in New York and Accra (Ghana), an e-commerce site, a manufacturing facility in Accra, and supports various community-led projects in Africa and in the US. It works with artisanal communities that specialize in various traditional craftsmanship techniques including natural plant-based dye indigo and hand-batik. Studio 189 partners with the United Nations ITC Ethical Fashion Initiative, NYU Stern School of Business and has collaborated with brands including EDUN, which was part of LVMH, and the retailer Yoox Net-A-Porter.
Simone Cipriani, Head and founder, Ethical Fashion Initiative at the ITC, spoke about what luxury is today and his work investment in social capital.
After years of various groups trying to promote the importance of sustainability as best they can, the United Nations Alliance on Sustainable Fashion plans to take the lead.
Fashion in Africa has consecutively gotten better with every year, and 2018 was no different. The prospects are becoming more visible and based off this, we at Haute Fashion Africa are debuting our “Fashion Ahead” list, a curation of brands who from the last quarter of the previous year are already showing trends for remarkable next year to come, thus putting them Fashion Ahead.
Williams and Adidas will release a limited-edition range of reworked track jackets with the Ethical Fashion Initiative, an organization that links artisans from developing countries to fashion’s international value chain.
The fund seeks to create an investment potential to cover the gap between public intervention and business reality in the creative and fashion sectors of Sub-Saharan Africa.
The United Nations through, its ethical fashion initiative also helped the co-founders develop a factory for its clothing. While its mission may be philanthropic, Dawson said it doesn’t come at the expense of high fashion.
“If you don’t even care about sustainability you don’t have to lose out on anything. It doesn’t have to feel like charity. It shouldn’t feel like charity. This is about really recognizing people’s work and coming to the table and recognizing everybody along the supply chain and the consumer is just as important as the farmer,” Dawson said.
Previously underestimated in terms of its impact on the environment, the record of the $2.5 trillion-dollar fashion industry is now coming increasingly under scrutiny. Not only is it the second highest user of water worldwide, producing 20 per cent of global water waste, and responsible for 10 per cent of global carbon emissions, but beyond the environmental impact the industry is also closely linked to labor, gender and poverty issues. And while significant today, it is likely that such concerns will only increase further in the coming decades, which has prompted the UN to call for delegates attending its upcoming High Level Political Forum on Sustainable Development to debate plans to launch a Partnership for Sustainable Fashion.
For the past eight years, she’s been producing her Ethical Fashion Initiative bags in collaboration with the Ethical Fashion Initiative of the International Trade Centre — a joint organization of the United Nations and the World Trade Organization — which supports the work of women micro-producers of marginalized African communities. Westwood was one many European designers to oppose Brexit, too. There’s much, much more to be learned from Westwood — and you’ll be surprised to realize just how many trends (those material and immaterial) she started. In the clip below — one of our favorites from the documentary — the designer narrates her start in the fashion industry, including her relationship with McLaren. Like most great woman designers of our business, she outran him.
it reflects how they help communities grow through fashion: by providing them the tools for a continuous empowerment.