PRESS RELEASE / ECA

Ethical brands take the lead at Australian Fashion Week

Ethical Clothing Australia is anticipating a wave of interest from forward-looking fashion brands as Rosemount Australian Fashion Week (RAFW) kicks off on May 3 with runway shows from two leading brands that recently completed the Ethical Clothing Australia accreditation process, according to a ECA release.

Ethical Clothing Australia, the not-for-profit initiative which aims to assist the local clothing and fashion industry to ensure that Australian workers receive fair wages and decent conditions, will also have a stall for the week in Emerge at the Overseas Passenger Terminal at Circular Quay to promote their accreditation and labeling system.

Lisa Ho and Ginger Smart, the two fashion brands whose runway shows will open proceedings at RAFW, have both recently completed the accreditation process that allows the brands to display the Ethical Clothing Australia label on their Australian-made garments.

The two brands join a growing list of leading Australian fashion brands, such as Collette Dinnigan, Jets, Cue and Veronika Maine, who are eligible to display the Ethical Clothing Australia label on their Australian-made garments.

PRESS RELEASE / TECHTEXTIL NORTH AMERICA 2010

Techtextil to Showcase Technologies for greener textiles

Technical textile companies from around the world will showcase their latest environmentally friendly products and advanced technologies in textiles, nonwovens and materials during Techtextil North America 2010 in Atlanta, Georgia.
Scheduled for May 18 - 20, 2010, the show represents all aspects of the technical textile industry from research and development, through to raw materials and production processes, to conversion, further treatment and recycling.

PRESS RELEASE / COTTON INCORPORATED

US Cotton Industry Launches Cotton Lifecycle Inventory & Analysis

To position itself for the 21st Century, the U.S. cotton industry is examining itself from field to fabric, according to a press release by Cotton Incorporated. 

US Industry, mobilizing under an initiative called “Vision 21,” are compiling a comprehensive cotton lifecycle inventory (LCI). That inventory’s data will serve as a foundation for global cotton lifecycle evaluations -- ultimately providing a credible foundation for sustainable textile operations.

The LCI/LCA project will use data from the top cotton-producing countries of India, China and the United States. Similarly, a sampling of key cotton textile-producing countries, including India, China, the United States, Turkey and Latin America, will be used for manufacturing benchmarking.

The U.S. cotton industry is confident that a transparent and well-documented cotton lifecycle inventory – one that easily can be integrated into both proprietary and open source LCA software – will benefit the industry. And, along with data set collection and tool creation, the ultimate goal is to make the information globally available.

The effort, expected to take about a year, involves The Cotton Foundation, the National Cotton Council (NCC), Cotton Council International (CCI) and Cotton Incorporated. The groups have tapped PE Americas, a recognized leader in the field of LCI collection and lifecycle analysis (LCA) tool development, to head up the project.

According to the release, lifecycle assessment is a recognized method of objectively and scientifically evaluating the resource requirements of a given product and the product’s potential environmental impact during its production, use and disposal.

J. Berrye Worsham, president and CEO of Cotton Incorporated, is quoted as saying, “The goal of the collection of this current, third-party and peer-reviewed data is that it will become a gold standard for manufacturers, brands and retailers interested in bettering their environmental bottom line and serve to further demonstrate the environmental gains the US cotton industry continues to make along every link of the supply chain.”

NEWS REPORTS / MESSE FRANKFURT

Messe Frankfurt acquires Ethical Fashion Show

Messe Frankfurt recently announced the acquisition of Paris-based Ethical Fashion Show, the six-year-old event which is one of the highlights of busy Paris Fashion Week. The absorption of Ethical Fashion Show by the world's third biggest trade fair firm with annual turnover of almost half a billion euros (671 million dollars) demonstrates the interest being generated in sustainable development globally.

While the market for ethical fashion is far more dynamic in Britain, where there is a fiercer emphasis on dressing different, Paris's Ethical Fashion Show is currently the world's largest event spotlighting eco and fair-trade fashion.

The Ethical Fashion Show was launched in 2004 by Isabelle Quéhé and now features more than 100 brands covering couture, accessories, ready-to-wear garments, sportswear and street wear. It focuses exclusively on ecological, socially responsible and environmentally friendly garment production.

Since its inception in 2004, Ethical Fashion Show strives to publicize the ethical fashion which includes economic, human and environmental aspects.

One of the focus areas for ethical fashion show is fashion that respects the environment through standards for raw material including cotton which represents 70% of the world’s textile production, accounting for only 4% of the cultivated land but 25% of the pesticides used.

For The Ethical Fashion Show, being part of Messe Frankfurt's portfolio of trade events will allow it to develop its international presence while for Messe Frankfurt, the acquisition means it now covers the entire value chain in the textile-fair sector.

In the world's fashion capital, the growing success of the Ethical show has acted as a catalyst, spurring a bevy of mainstream trade fairs to host eco and fair-trade corners of their own.

Likewise, Messe Frankfurt's own twice-yearly textile shows in Paris now feature eco-labelling -- giving the tens of thousands of buyers who pour into the city an instant look at who is offering organic cottons, or fabrics certified under fair trade practices. This year's event will take place September 25 to 28 at Paris' new Fashion and Design City at the Docks en Seine.

PRESS RELEASE / ORGANIC EXCHANGE

Organic Exchange Announces 5 year goals

Organic Exchange has announced a series of new initiatives that it hopes will advance the sustainable development of textiles across the global supply chain between now and 2015.

Organic Exchange Proposed Deliverables 2010-2015 include:

• Inform and inspire individuals and their organizations to integrate environmental and social considerations into the global textile business.
• Become the international institution where innovation and information around sustainability in the textile value chain is captured, validated, and disseminated.
• Promote the engagement of farmers, other fiber producers, and supply chain manufacturers within the textile value chain. Provide the tools and resources to advance their efforts to improve sustainability practices in raw materials.
• Help standardize textile product integrity by becoming the recognized authority on integrity within the textile industry.  As a leading authority, play a role as mentor and capacity-builder across the value chain. Research and provide access to information on relevant standards and practices that support organic and sustainable textile claims.
• Develop and implement chain-of-custody standards and systems to support sustainability claims. Create the one stop, sustainable textiles help desk for tracking issues and getting expert feedback quickly.
• Build a compelling regional partner portfolio and a network of sustainable design, development, production, and product experts.
• Create global forums, blogs, and other communications platforms around integrity and innovation in global sustainable textile issues.
• Maintain a database of companies offering innovation, best practices, and authenticity of sustainable textile products and processes.
• Gather, synthesize, and publish data on trends and issues that impact textile sustainability.
• Develop sustainable textile messaging material that brands can customize to influence and educate their employees, stakeholders, and consumers.
• Provide coaching, advising, and direct consulting services for development and validation of company sustainable textile strategy.
• Deliver an assessment tool that companies can use to evaluate the sustainability of textile products and processes and make informed decisions.
• Develop an industry-wide ‘Factory Environmental Performance Standard’ that can be used to evaluate individual factories and/or mills on environmental criteria (water, chemicals, energy, etc.).
• Connect funders and investors with the textile value chain and our accredited implementation partners.

PRESS RELEASE / H&M

H&M launches fully Sustainable Collection

Swedish Retailer H&M has launched its fully sustainable line, the Garden Collection.

The romantic garden collection is made using organic cotton and recycled materials. All the garments have been produced using sustainable materials or using recycled PET bottles or textile waste.

The collection includes a feminine chiffon dress made from recycled polyester with a colourful garden print, a pinafore dress in organic cotton with romantic roses and a smock dress in organic cotton with an ethnic floral pattern. An organic cotton top in a small floral design or a frilly chiffon top made from recycled polyester can be combined with cropped trousers or shorts in organic cotton and/or linen. A beige anorak can be worn over a floral jumpsuit, both of which come in tencel.

H&M's most important sustainable material right now is organic cotton. H&M has been selling clothes containing organic cotton since 2004, and are still continuing to invest in this initiative. The aim is to increase the use of organically grown cotton by 50% every year until 2013.

H&M’s Garden Collection—which features sustainable fibers throughout the line—hit stores on March 25. The Garden Collection aligns with H&M’s wider commitment to organic cotton and sustainable fashion plans for 2010, and prices for the new line remain consistent with other H&M products.

NEWS REPORT / ORGANIC EXCHANGE

India Tops Global Organic Cotton Production

India is the highest producer of organic cotton even as global organic cotton production rose by 20% in 2009 tipping the scales at 175,113 metric tons (802,599 bales) grown on 625,000 acres (253,000 hectares), according to a new report from Organic Exchange (OE).

“Organic cotton weathered the global economic storm during the 2008/09 farming season, albeit with challenges”, said the OE adding that “organic cotton now represents 0.76% of global cotton production.”

The fourth annual Organic Exchange Farm and Fiber Report 2009 shows that India, Turkey and Syria are the leading organic cotton producers out of the 22 countries and 220,000 farmers that grow organic cotton worldwide.

The top ten organic cotton producer countries in order of rank were India,Turkey, Syria, Tanzania, China, United States, Uganda, Peru, Egypt and Burkina Faso.

According to the Organic Exchange Organic Cotton Market Report 2009, global retail sales of organic cotton and home textile products topped US$3.2 billion U.S. dollars in 2008. Data from the 2009 market will be available soon.

PRESS RELEASE / SHOP FOR CHANGE

A Photographic Journey To Kutch Cotton Farmers

The popular Kala Ghoda Festival features a special photo exhibition by actor and photographer Parvin Dabas this year, according to a Shop For Change Press Release. The photos will be on display from the February 6th to 14th at the Army Navy Building, MG Road, Fort, Mumbai.

Here’s how the photo collection is described:  "Cotton is woven into the very fabric of India’s heritage.  For many of us this significance often fades to the background. But for farmers, cotton is not only a part of their heritage but vital part of their future.

In our new, urban Indian world, the faces of the farming families behind a cotton shirt or kurti are often reduced to facts and figures about commodity prices farmer suicides.  Sympathy is evoked, calls are heard for someone to intervene, and yet with the loss of connection to rural India few can relate to the individuals at the heart of our heritage.  Intrigued by the work of the NGO Shop for Change Fair Trade to reconnect consumers to farmers, actor and photographer Parvin Dabas visited Kutch’s small-scale cotton farmers to recapture the human element behind cotton."

The actor, who supports Shop for Change Fair Trade, visited farmers in Kutch to capture the human element behind cotton and understand how Shop for Change helps improve their lives. The photos seek to put faces on cotton farmers.

Shop for Change has launched fair trade certification, thus ensuring that cotton farmers receive a fair deal for their produce. The certification guarantees fair trade practices, which means that farmers who grew the cotton and their families are empowered to improve their lives and care for the environment, says the Press Release.

As part of a larger collection of photographs taken by Dabas during the 2009 cotton harvest, the first four photographs now on display capture a range of human experience that transcends the rural-urban divide: pride, smiles, concern and hard but honest work and the hope of earning a fair return.

Parvin Dabas, actor and active supporter of Shop for Change said, “In our urban Indian world, the faces of the farming families behind a new cotton shirt or kurti are often forgotten. Visiting Kutch to photograph their experiences gave me a new perspective on how we can connect. The opportunity that Shop for Change offers these farmers has the power to make a difference in their lives, empowering them to sell their product at a fair price. Having grown up in a farming community, the challenges facing Indian farmers are close to my heart. By choosing a Shop for Change certified product, the average consumer can make a meaningful contribution that helps farmers get more value for their hard work.”

Seth Petchers, CEO, Shop for Change Fair Trade said, “We strongly believe that India is ready to embrace the concept of fair trade. Shop for Change Fair Trade reconnects the consumer to farmers. Parvin’s photographs capture the essence of these cotton farmers’ lives and highlight the importance of our support to the cause.”

PRESS RELEASE /PEOPLE TREE

Emma Watson's New 100% Organic Cotton Line
Harry Potter star and Brown University student Emma Watson, in conjunction with Tree People, has unveiled her new Fair Trade 100% organic cotton clothing line.

The teenager-geared line features ‘easy and wearable’ cotton vests, T-shirt dresses, hoodies, scarves and various linen pieces. The T-shirts have witty eco-slogans including ‘I’m not toxic’ and ‘Please don’t panic, I’m organic’.

People Tree creates Fair Trade and organic clothing and accessories by forming lasting partnerships with Fair Trade, organic producers in developing countries.

NEWS REPORT / ECO TEXTILE NEWS

Debut Planet Textiles Event in Hong Kong
Representatives from some of the world’s leading clothing and textile companies will speak at the debut Planet Textiles event on March 18th, which runs alongside Interstoff Asia Essential in Hong Kong, reports EcoTextile News.

Planet Textiles is a new international event jointly organised by Ecotextile News, Messe Frankfurt and the Society of Dyers and Colourists. Dedicated to improving the environmental and social impact of the global textile and clothing supply chain, it is supported by leading industry organisations and international clothing retailers.

Planet Textiles runs alongside Interstoff Asia Essential (17–19 March 2010), the leading trade show for eco-textiles and functional fabrics in Asia. Delegates can listen to the presentations, join in the discussion, and see round 200 textile manufacturers, most of them offering ‘real’ sustainable textiles.

Following a key note address from Cara Chacon, Director of CSR, Patagonia, USA, who will discuss managing sustainable change in a major retail organisation and across the supply chain, the conference will hear executives from leading companies such as Adidas, Lenzing and KIK.

Also available at the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre will be an ‘Ask the Expert Dyeing and Finishing Clinic’ during which delegates can sign up for a free 20 minute consultancy from leading Huntsman experts in the textile dyeing and finishing field.

Lynn Ip, Adidas, Social and Environmental Affairs Department, Hong Kong will discuss a major brands’ own experience of managing change through the supply chain followed by Petra Katzenberger, Head of CSR at KIK, Germany’s largest discounter who will reveal a new carbon footprinting initiative. Geoff Collins, Lenzing, Austria will then discuss Sustainable Fibres.