How well do you know your geography when it comes to Africa? Unfortunately, many of us need to study up.…
When attempting to better understand any issue, there are two very important questions to consider: 1. Why does…
Social Alterations is a learning hub for responsible fashion. In the lab you’ll find lesson plans, activities, workshops, games, etc.,…
Welcome to the #GET Station, the 1st stop along the SAGE journey! Here, we fly into Uzbekistan to gain insight…
Connect… Without a doubt, a key component of our SAGE module is the Key Players Map, by Maughan Pearce… There…
On April 24th 2013, the Rana Plaza building collapsed in Bangladesh. Over 1,130 workers were killed and thousands more were left injured. These workers were producing garments for consumers in Europe and North America. We have now marked the two year anniversary of the collapse, yet the ILO trust fund established to support victims and their…
Need guidance to support human rights in your workplace? Check out the UN Guiding Principles Reporting Framework and implementation guide—a free downloadable resource, licensed through the Creative Commons. The UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights came into play in 2011, but the Reporting Framework hopes to steps things up. According to John Ruggie: “This…
Will you be in Scotland later this month? There’s a free public lecture with Katharine Hamnett taking place at the University of Dundee! When: Thursday 19th March 12.30pm Where: Dalhousie Building, University of Dundee There will be a Q&A after the talk, so have your questions ready! Click here for more details, and to register…
Check out this great info-graphic from Dr Andrew Brooks & Katelyn Toth-Fejel. There’s even a Prezi! The Journey of Jeans covers stages of jean production, consumption and disposal, using research from a new book by Dr Andrew Brooks: Clothing Poverty: The Hidden World of Fast Fashion and Second-hand Clothes. Such great resources: we’ve added both…
A three year project that began in 2013, WellMade provides free online resources designed to help brands better support labour rights in their supply chains. The Fair Wear Foundation (FWF) is lead partner on the initiative, working collaboratively with other partners and associates. There are currently four specific case studies to assist brands: (1)…
This past weekend, I headed to the Scottish National Portrait Gallery in Edinburgh to check out the exhibit Beauty by Design: Fashioning the Renaissance. I’m so glad I did. The show challenges current assumptions of beauty by exploring how perceptions of body image have changed over time: “The theme of body image is central: the…
The International Labour Organization (ILO) has just released their 2014/2015 Global Wage Report. While the report is not specifically focused on garment worker wages in fashion and apparel systems, it does overview global trends and highlights wage gaps, and I think it’s a good one to read through and bookmark to keep on hand.…
Textiles Environment Design (TED) has launched The TEN in a series of short animations. The TEN is all about practiced-based action research: They are not a check-list, but rather they are a framework for creative thinking and action. As ideas emerge, The TEN can be used to develop layers of strategic innovation – a chance…
(Update: The video embedded below is seemingly no longer available to view online. The video depicted a number of children working in India, sewing clothing for the H&M and Alexander Wang collection at machines in a factory. At the end of the video, one boy declared how happy he was to work on this line.…
WEAR 2014 hits Toronto, Canada, November 3rd and 4th, 2014 (updated dates). The event, presented by Canada’s Fashion Takes Action, offers keynote presentations and panel discussions from industry stakeholders on the following themes (updated themes): Creating Shared Value & Profitability Through Sustainable Business Practices The Evolution of Social Standards & Systems; Navigating Change Make Fair,…
We first caught wind of the epic collection that is Women in Clothes via Facebook from Zoe Welch, who contributed to the project. Most wonderfully, you can read through participant survey answers online! Although the book is now published, the project survey itself is still online, which we think would make an awesome classroom activity! Edited by…
Canada’s QUEEN of fashion, Jeanne Beker, is guest curator for an upcoming exhibit at The Design Exchange on the intersection of politics and fashion! The exhibit covers political fashion from 1960 to the present including a paper dress covered with Pierre Trudeau’s face during the Trudeaumania days, fur coats splattered by PETA, skinhead fashion, and a…
Yes, yes, we know it’s not even August yet, but September is just around the corner, and, in any case, maybe you’re looking for some summer reading? With this in mind, we’ve added more resources to our reading list, including a free ebook on sustainable fashion from Aalto University (thanks to Timo Rissanen for sharing…
Friends, two new tracts from the Current State of Fashion are out: Tractatus Fashionablo-Politicus: The Political Philosophy of The Current State of Fashion and The Mark of Cain: The Aesthetic Superiority of the Fashionable. In the Current State of Fashion, Otto von Busch asks, “What if fashion was a state? What kind of state would it be? Probably…
Fashion Theory, a premier journal in the academic study of fashion, seeks articles for a special issue on Brazilian Fashion. The issue will be guest edited by Dr. Rita M. Andrade (Universidade Federal de Goiás, Brazil) and Dr. Regina A. Root (The College of William and Mary, USA). About the journal: “Fashion Theory takes as its starting point a…
