Stella McCartney: Change Agent LONDON, United Kingdom — In a nondescript building tucked away on a quiet street in West London, Stella McCartney and her team are comparing the properties of a real leather shoe to the various non-leather swatches being considered for her brand’s Winter 2015 shoe collection. McCartney is wearing a cream blouse, open at the neck, with faded blue jeans and non-leather boots. Pinned up against the wall are boards labeled: “Heels,” “Mules,” and “Cutouts.” A large white table is scattered with moulds, lasts and uppers – as well as scissors, ID cards, empty glasses and a partially-eaten package of organic dark chocolate. Women of differing ages, ethnicities and body types come in and out of the room with a constant flow of new ideas and creative references while McCartney acts as a kind of real-time editor, deciding what colours, materials and shapes feel right for the upcoming season. Stella's Sustainability Commitments | Source: BoF At this point, McCartney turns to me, a fly on the wall.
The 'Chilling' Moment This Father Realized Where His Kids' Clothes Come From | Huffington Post 35 Fair Trade & Ethical Clothing Brands Betting Against Fast Fashion Based In | Hawaii, USAEthics | Handmade in small batches, donates excess fabric, gives backBest For | Responsibly-made dressesProduct Range | Women’s tops, dresses, rompers, playsuitsPrice Range | $$–$$$ No matter the season, YIREH has us dreaming of sunny summer days. Their floral vintage-inspired dresses and rompers are handcrafted by artisans in Bali, where they are paid fair wages, receive one-month paid vacation, religious holidays off, sick leave, and medical insurance. Shop YIREH
Russian mink farms where thousands are slaughtered and left to rot to make $1m coats These disturbing pictures expose the macabre truth about the fur farms in Russia and China which supply the fashion market in the world's leading cities, including London, Paris and New York. Across ten time zones, the images show the reality of mink and sable gulags - many set up during the harsh Communist past - where prized animals are bred for slaughter, bringing in millions of pounds to the Russian economy every single year. An investigation by MailOnline also reveals the appalling conditions in which wild animals, including different types of fox, are captured and killed, from being skinned alive to being poisoned by the faeces in the air, and reveals the heartless farm owners who can't see beyond their profits. And there are certainly profits to be made: a sable 'blanket' sold for a record-breaking $900,000 to a royal just a few years ago, while a coat at last year's Fendi show was rumoured to have a price tag of $1.2million. Animals forced to suffer and starve in Russian fur farm
The Best Ethical Fashion Brands What: Fat Face has a company-wide Code of Conduct where all factories that produce their goods must abide by as well as working with suppliers and other organizations to make sure their workers are treated fairly. What: Your new one-stop shop for ethically made wedding wear, Minna describes itself as an ‘Eco Luxe’ brand. With wedding dresses, veils and bridesmaid dresses made from sustainable, organic, recycled and locally produced textiles, you can dress your whole wedding party without feeling guilty. What: Worn by Kate Middleton, Mirabelle makes handmade fair trade jewellery as well as a British Made collection. Wear: Hammered pendant, £69 What: Committed to ethical trading, Monsoon’s ethical compliance team regularly checks that their factories are abiding by its Code of Conduct which sets out minimum requirements on working conditions, pay and employment rights. Wear: Betty Embroidered Dress, £89 Wear: New Balance 811 Training Shoe, £65 Wear: Woven Chukka Boots, £115 Wear: Dress, £34.99
Is Fashion a Credible Platform for Protest? LONDON, United Kingdom — Last week in Paris, Chanel appropriated the visual signifiers of feminist protest for its seasonal runway show. In a finale led by Karl Lagerfeld, a bevy of supermodels took to a catwalk christened “Boulevard Chanel” holding signs with slogans such as “History is Her Story,” “Make Fashion Not War,” and “Tweed Is Better Than Tweet.” On the same day in Hong Kong, a genuine protest was underway. Playing out against this backdrop, the “faux-test” staged on Boulevard Chanel rang especially hollow, repackaging political riot as a light-hearted, Instagram-savvy performance. We think it can. Over the course of a career spanning more than three decades, Jean Paul Gaultier has used the fashion show format to address the socially and politially charged issues of female empowerment and beauty. Vivienne Westwood is living proof of fashion’s ability to carry and convey a political agenda. Sometimes, the brands that support real causes are the ones that don’t shout about it.
How Sustainable Brands Are Turning Their Backs on Fast Fashion Trend Every fall, fashionistas and students heading back to school rid themselves of their old, worn garments to gear up for the newest trends. And that mantra — out with the old, in with the new — is reinforced in the constant cycle of trends that make their appearances on the runway each season, and some clothing on the store racks made so inexpensively it almost feels disposable. Fashion is a $1.2 trillion global industry, and more than $250 billion of that is spent annually in the U.S. alone, according to a 2015 Joint Economic Committee Congressional report. Fast fashion is a business model that moves designs from the runway to the store quickly to capture current trends and typically can include inexpensive, poorly constructed garments that can be ruined after a couple of trips through the washing machine. The Dirty Fashion Industry The concept of pollution usually evokes images of coal power plants, oil spills, barren rain forests and plastic bottles clogging up the world's oceans.
Social Goods | Throwaway Clothing Culture, Ivanka Trump vs Working Moms | Soc... "Pressure Mounts on Retailers to Reform Throwaway Clothing Culture" (The Guardian) "Americans dispose of about 12.8m tons of textiles annually. But a growing number of environmentalists and clothing retailers say it’s time to begin making new clothes out of old items on a large scale, reports Yale Environment 360." "Ivanka Trump Champions Working Moms — Except the Ones Who Design Her Clothes" (The Washington Post) "The company that designs her clothing line, including the $157 sheath she wore during her convention speech, does not offer workers a single day of paid maternity leave." "Indian Apparel Makers Try on Ethical Supply Chains for Size" (Reuters) "Handloom attire was once regarded as fit only for politicians and villagers — now it's seeing a revival, with demand growing for ethical fashion, even as mass-market clothing still dominates."
How To Buy Vintage Clothing: The Retro Fashion Bloggers' Insider Guide | Huffington Post Urban Outfitters Bares All The main corridor in Building 18, Anthropologie’s headquarters | Photograph by Christopher Leaman America’s original naval shipyard is in Philadelphia, at the southern tip of the city, where the Schuylkill River meets the Delaware — 900 acres that were once a literal island, a teardrop of land floating at the bottom of the city like a dot on an exclamation point. Even after construction crews filled the back channel to glue the dot to the mainland, the Navy Yard remained an island in spirit and function, a city unto itself. Warships were built there. The old buildings still stand today, and there are still thousands of workers inside. A dog lounges next to a Free People employee | Photograph by Christopher Leaman The Navy Yard has been transformed by one of Philadelphia’s largest and most iconic companies, Urban Outfitters, Inc., the retailer that started here in 1970 with a single store and is now a $3.4 billion global empire, a family of lifestyle brands that ring the world.
Celebrities Champion Sustainable Fashion At The 2016 Met Gala