Exclusive projection of #TheTrueCost in Bocconi University

You are all invited to participate to the exclusive projection of the documentary film "The True Cost" by Andrew Morgan in Bocconi University, via Sarfatti 25, room Maggiore h5.30-7.30pm. 

Explore the other side of fashion!

Fair trade w-e in Milano!

A great fair trade w-e has just ended in Milano!

We all started with a forum on responsible fashion during Fair & Ethical Fashion Show at World Fair Trade Week - Milano 2015.

Then we continued with the first show of the movie "The true cost" directed by Andrew Morgan.

On Sunday Bio-Fashion spent some nice time with Safia Minney, CEO People Tree and some of her producers at Particelle Complementari, the coolest eco&vintage concept store in Milan.

Looking forward to meet her again in London!

My Responsibility Manifesto

For haikure traceability means to wear the story of a producy, to know and find out its origins, to give value to all the details (www.haikure.com)

MILAN, Italy — Several innovative business models are nowadays reshaping the fashion & luxury industry. This reading is meant to instill some ideas on how to update traditional business models to achieve a sustainable, competitive advantage and create a shared value for a wide range of stakeholders: including the environment, society, workers, consumers, art, culture, territory, media and institutions.

The Responsibility Manifesto, written by Francesca Romana Rinaldi, with a decalogue of activities could be considered an initial guide for new entrepreneurs that are willing to create a new venture or experienced entrepreneurs that have decided to change the direction of their businesses.

You can read the complete article on FG Magazine:
http://www.thefashionglobe.com/responsibility-manifesto

The FG Magazine is a digital publication where perception and appreciation meet inspiration, knowledge, sophistication, dedication and the desire to go beyond what is ‘à la mode’. It is a platform where design is self-expression, style is an attitude and talent is a personal passion. The FG Magazine delivers unique insights into emerging talents and established brands from across the globe, looking past today’s headline trends to the creative roots of taste, fashion and lifestyle.

Events: "The Responsible Fashion Company" official book launch!

We are getting ready for the big event!

The Responsible Fashion Company

Book Launch

Thursday 30th October 6.00 - 8.30pm

People Tree, 5 Huguenot Place, 17a Heneage Street, London, E1 5LN

Program

h6-6.30pm Registration & Networking

h6.30-8pm Book presentation & debate

Francesca Romana Rinaldi, book co-author

The Responsible Fashion Company: integrating ethics & aesthetics in the value chain

Safia Minney, MBE, People Tree founder and CEO

Craft & sustainability light the path for Change

Simone Cipriani, Head Ethical Fashion initiative of The International Trade Centre (ITC)
Post-Luxury: people, responsibility and fashion

Orsola De Castro, Creative director at From Somewhere and Reclaim To Wear, co-founder and co-curator of Estethica at LFW
Rubbish and Revolution

Q&A

h8-8.30pm Toast  & Networking

RSVP

RSVP Neil Walker by 27th October 

neil.walker@Greenleaf-publishing.com

How to get to the event?

The Responsible Fashion Company...now in English!!

After more than 1 year of intense work for the update and the translation of the contents, we are finally glad to announce that "L'impresa moda responsabile" is now available in English. "The Responsible Fashion Company" is about to be launched!!

I would like to thank Greenleaf Publishing for the incredible work done together.

http://www.greenleaf-publishing.com/productdetail.kmod?productid=3985

Here are some great praises from the managers and opinion leaders that have already read the book. Thank you all!

“We are at the point of an economic revolution, and consumers are increasingly moved by the injustice of trade and the human and environmental costs of big corporate profits. Francesca Romana Rinaldi and her colleagues' book 'the Responsible Fashion Company' goes a long way to pulling together existing research on sustainable fashion and is full of positive examples of better practice in luxury fashion. An inspiring read for new economists, intellectuals, fashion people and consumers, alike.”

Safia Minney, MBE, People Tree founder and CEO

“Today, themes such as ethics and moral values are getting to the heart of society. Not only as an individual approach but also from a corporation’s perspective. This coincides with the will of driving change in the social environment. Companies in particular play a key role in this, and it is essentials for managers, professionals, researchers and students to have access to in-depth data ... I love this book because it provides a clear framework of how the fashion industry is moving, business and managerial models, and rich case studies.”

Rossella Ravagli,

Head of Sustainability Gucci

"Full of inspiring ideas and concrete case studies, this book is for anyone who wants to know how ethics and fashion can work together to define a new social agreement.  It is actually possible to go beyond the capital/labour dichotomy and reconcile environmental conservation and personal dignity, without renouncing either to profit or beauty."

Sara Tommasiello,

Finance, HR & CSR Manager Monnalisa Group

"All the ideas and cases shown in this book highlight how aesthetic is linked to ethics.  In a world where natural resources are getting close to an end each day more, it doesn't make any sense to think about fashion as a linear economic activity, despising its social, cultural and environmental aspects . More than ever it's necessary to see that the fashion industry - if well oriented- can work as a contemporary tool towards the development of an awareness trough which sustainability is central. And this book represents a breaking point against false dichotomies that , many times, lead to shallow analysis about what is fashion and its potential. Thanks to it, we can see how is possible to conciliate one of the most important activity in the world - that generates more 30 million jobs - with best practices."

Oskar Metsavaht,

Founder and Creative Director of Osklen and Instituto-E

“This book fills a gap in the market for students and employees of fashion that want to understand the industry's current cultural context and the role sustainability now plays within this. It also provides a good overview of sustainability models and initiatives that are relevant to fashion, as well as a breadth of brand case studies which help underline that strong ethics and environmental considerations now underpin the success of leading commercial companies.”

Allanna McAspurn,

CEO MADE-BY

"Nudie Jeans started as a dream about not having to compromise, making the jeans we want at the same time as bringing a consideration for the environment and human rights into every aspect of products. This book describes many good examples of how this is happening in our industry."

Henrik Lindholm,

CSR Manager Nudie Jeans

“As part of an industry which leaves a massive footprint on people and planet, the growing challenge we face is balancing the fast moving demands of the fashion world with the realities of a production system which struggles to keep pace. The book is a refreshing and relevant overview of the facts, bringing to life the dilemmas and challenges underlined by examples of how businesses can drive positive change whilst using it to their competitive advantage.”    

Rachel Hearson,

Account Manager Fairtrade Foundation UK

“Integrating ethics & aestethics in the value chain. This book provides everything you need to know about how to manage responsibility in the fashion industry.”

Diana Verde Nieto,

Co-Founder and CEO Positive Luxury

“Rinaldi’s and Testa’s book adresses a fundamental but neglected issue inherent in the fashion sustainability debate: the fragile and apparently impossible balance between beauty, values, and the economic imperative; the model it proposes merits plause. The book is a must read for managers  and academia determined to contribute to a better world through responsible fashion business practices and education.”

                                                                                             Michela Ornati, Program Director, Fashion & Luxury Sustainability Summer School, University of Applied Sciences and Arts of Southern Switzerland (SUPSI)

“The two authors place sustainable fashion in the wider context of responsible business practice, taking the debate beyond the exclusive construct of the fashion or luxury product, intelligently structuring a  snapshot of where we are now in the evolution of this complex discussion. They include a clear dissemination of the language and tools of sustainable fashion and CSR, and a comprehensive overview of the fashion industry's diverse approaches to ethics, environment, the branding of ethics, and the business case for sustainable business in fashion, with case studies, industry comment, and theory bringing the wider CSR context to the crux of business and sustainability in the  fashion and luxury industries. The Responsible Fashion Company is a book academics and CSR professionals in the sphere of fashion and business have been waiting for.”

Mo Tomaney

Subject Leader, Post Graduate Fashion & Business

University for the Creative Arts

Epsom UK

"An essential read to understand what went wrong in the fashion industry and how to make it right, this book highlights positive examples and clear steps towards a real, effective change. 

I would recommend it to all who are interested in fashion, from students to young designers to established businesses wanting to combine ethics and aesthetics for a more sustainable future, as well as the public looking to understand how positive buying choices can affect our environment. "

Orsola de Castro, creative manager

of From Somewhere and Reclaim To Wear, co-founder and curator of

Estethica LFW

"The Responsible Fashion Company offers a comprehensive picture of the challenges and opportunities of sustainability in the global fashion industry.

The discussion about the role of the neo-consumer, the "LOHAS" practitioners is particularly inspiring. Across industries,  enterprises have seen their sustainability initiatives fail or only develop into  a symbolic action because of a lack of consumer buy-in. The Responsible Fashion Company gives useful examples of how sustainable business models mat by created in the so necessary dialogue with consumers. Read, learn from others and develop your own innovative way of doing business the right way."

Mads Øvlisen, Chairman of the UN Global Compact’s Advisory Group on Supply Chain Sustainability

"As the fashion industry continues to hit the headlines due to its negative impact on both the environment and the people working to make our clothes, this book provides a focused and in depth overview of the challenges affecting the sector.   From cradle-to-cradle processing and triple bottom line strategy to maintaining brand integrity, the authors effectively illustrate the way businesses can address these challenges and move towards a responsible and commercial value chain."

Victoria Waugh, part of Ethical Fashion Forum and Director, SOURCE Consultancy

For those of you who are interested, you can pre-order the book using the promotional banner on the side of this post.

Enjoy your reading!!

Unforgettable experience @ People Tree!

As some of you may know, this Summer I decided to keep me busy and stay in London for a project on the market potential of EU countries. I carried our a study for People Tree, a responsible fashion company and I had the pleasure to work with very competent managers and the successful and multi-award winning entrepreneur Safia Minney (see photo above).

Once in a while People Tree organizes a sample sale and events in its BrickLane showroom to discuss about sustainable fashion. I had the chance to participate to one of them about the relationship between aesthetics, women and sustainability.

It was interesting to notice that one of the main topics arising from the audience was the importance of the NARRATION OF STORIES and TRACEABILITY: another evidence that the fashion consumer is really changing!

Thanks everyone @ People Tree for this wonderful experience! ;)

Incredible day @ People Tree: my interview with Safia Minney!

During my last visit in London I had the chance to meet Safia Minney, founder and CEO of People Tree. At first sight I understood why she has received so many international awards as best social entrepreneur!
We talked about the first years of People Tree which started as Global Village, an environmental campaigning NGO, founded in 1991 in Japan by Safia and then launched in Uk in 2001.

FRR: Why People Tree can be considered as a “responsible fashion company”?
SM: “People Tree was founded 20 years ago in Japan as a 100% Fair Trade company with the aim of improving conditions in factories with the objective of maximizing the employment of the people involved in the activity. People Tree uses organic cotton, a better fabric both for the environment and the farmers. As a social company People Tree takes all the decisions using the triple bottom line approach: the social principle requires that everyone be treated fairly and equitably. The economic principle requires the adequate production of resources so that society can maintain a reasonable standard of living, and the environmental principle asserts that society protects its environmental resources.”


FRR: Could you briefly describe the production process?
SM: “At People Tree we have 2 main collections: manufacturing takes about 4-5 months. About 4000 artisans are involved in the production of hand woven, hand knitted and hand embroidered fabrics.”

As written in the website hand weaving uses nine times more labour than material produced on a power loom. That's nine times more people provided with an income they can use to feed their families and send their kids to school. People Tree's partner Artisan Hut in Bangladesh works with 250 producers. They earn up to double what they would earn in the conventional garment sector – allowing them to escape poverty. What's more, hand looms don't use electric power – which keeps running costs down -and they don't suffer from power cuts, so they can be sited in small towns and villages, where the weavers' families live. So they can stay together rather than move to overcrowded cities to work alone. Knitting is also a powerful tool for economic change: at People Tree, they use it to provide underprivileged people all over the world with the income to escape from poverty. In Nepal and Peru and India People Tree works with over 1500 artisans. They hand knit and crochet natural fibres such as merino, alpaca, cotton and wool. In Peru, the knitters hand spin and hand knit organic alpaca, and pass these skills down to their children. And, Kumbeshwar Technical School (KTS) provides training and employment opportunities to disadvantaged people in Nepal, at the same time as using the profits from Fair trade to run a school for 260 kids. Artisans in India and Bangladesh have passed embroidery skills down through generations. People Tree uses this rare talent to produce beautiful garments like the anya dress and shirt dress (which use a traditional embroidery style called nakshi kantha, a technique use originally to stitch together old saris into quilt).

FRR: Where can we find People Tree products?
SM: “People Tree can be found in more than 300 stockists in Uk and more than 50 in Europe.”
In Italy for example People Tree can be found at Particelle Complementari in Spazio Frida.
The two “flagship stores” are online: one in Japan, the other in Europe. All the collections can be bought directly online.

FRR: Which are the tools you use to communicate the sustainability to the customers?
SM: “People Tree promotes the products in the stores using POS material, leaflets, displays and 3 times per year through a catalogue. In the last years we started to communicate also through emotional videos such as the one of Bombolulu Workshops showing the artisans work and the final fashion show in the Bombolulu cultural center of Mombasa, Kenya.
Collaborations with celebrities are important for us: until now People Tree has worked with designers such as Zakee Shariff, Orla Kiely, Karen Nicol, Vivienne Westwood. We also created a successful collection with Emma Watson for Spring Summer 2011.
We proved that Fairtrade can be also high-fashion: in 2007 People Tree had a wonderful article on Vogue Japan.

Interacting with the government and the industry trying to stimulate consumer awareness is important as well: we try to do it through study meetings both in Japan and Uk.”

FRR: What about social media?
SM: “Having a direct relationship with the people that like People Tree is key: this is why People Tree has a Facebook page where all the interviews to People Tree, interesting links and events are published.”
For example you will find a post on the article published on The Ecologist on “how to give your wardrobe a green-over”!
“Then we have a You Tube page where all the videos are published
I also write posts on my blog and write tweets on Twitter: you can follow me @SafiaMinney.”

FRR: What are the main challenges of your social business?
SM: “In a social business you need to face the challenges of growing while being able to finance orders to producers in advance (usually 50%). The Fair Trade way of thinking and behaving gives priorities to the people and planet stakeholders (i.e. triple bottom line approach): investing in training to the workers, infrastructure developments are day-by-day issues to manage.
When thinking about external investors that want to become shareholders we want to be careful and accept only shareholders that share the same values. In order to help the cash-flow we issued bonds both in Uk and Japan: we have received about 700.000 pounds from individuals that want to help People Tree making beautiful garment and beautiful change happening somewhere in the world!”

After the talk I had the lucky chance to visit their London offices and feel the spirit of working for a cause in People Tree.

Watch the videos:
A talk with Safia...


...and finally a tour in the London offices of People Tree!


Here I am in the People Tree showroom with Beniamino, PR manager