Thursday 25th April - India and Sustainability

In one sense, India can be seen as a poor country economically. It has a lot of poor starving people, but on the other hand it can be seen as being rich all at the same time. This is due to its rich colour, traditions and culture. I want to incorporate both these aspects into my work, so I am looking at sustainability and recycling. I was thinking of just at the start creating a sari that would have an original design, and in one way it would have been something new for me, but it has been done before and is being done all the time. I want to experiment and create something new that I suppose has a message, a meaning, which is not just to look pretty. 
I have been looking at using the sacks of rice and flour after they have fulfilled their initial purpose of transporting the rice. The sacks come sometimes with prints on them, showing the name of the brand and perhaps an image, and this is what I really want to get hold of, but it will be hard, as most places will have them full of rice, where I need them empty, so I can print onto them, experiment with them, see what I will and won't be able to do with them. If I can't get hold of anything at all, I work at an asian cash and carry, and they sell products that originally come from India and Pakistan, so I can photograph them and create a design to print. 
I will be reusing the sacks after they would have initially been thrown away. I have come across something I didn't think I would - ethical fashion. These days, most companies buy in bulk so they can get the cheapest price and make the maximum profit, and the crafts people who actually make the garments are paid in pennies. 
Sustainable fashion is part of the trend of sustainable design where a product is created and produced with consideration to the environmental and social impact it may have throughout it's total life span. 
One company that strives to achieve this is People Tree. People Tree Limited, recognised by consumers and the fashion industry media as a pioneer in Fair Trade and environmentally sustainable fashion, has been selling Fair Trade fashion in the UK since 2001. The business was founded by Safia and James Minney to provide customers with desirable fashion, whilst working to improve the lives and environment of the artisans and farmers in developing countries who work to make the products. It builds on the success of Fair Trade Company KK in Japan, also trading as People Tree, founded by them in 1991.

People Tree Mission

To support producer partners’ efforts towards economic independence and control over their environment and to challenge the power structures that undermine their rights to a livelihood.

To protect the environment and use natural resources sustainably throughout our trading and to promote environmentally responsible lifestyles and environmental initiatives to create new models to promote sustainability.

To supply customers with good quality products, with friendly and efficient service and build awareness to empower consumers and producers
to participate in Fair Trade and environmentally sustainable solutions.

To provide a supportive environment to all stakeholders and promote dialogue and understanding between them.

To set an example to business and the government of a Fair Trade model of business based on partnership, people-centered values and sustainability.

Before embarking on this journey of my FMP, I didn't even know that this was a problem and was happening. From now on, when I am buying fabric and clothes, I will make sure I find out where it has been sourced from. I want my pieces and experiments to be ethically sourced, so if I can do that, I will. 

There are another couple of companies who do the same, such as Sika Designs. Different companies have different reasons for doing this. Sika Designs works a lot with people in Africa, and by ethically sourcing their materials and paying the craftspeople correctly, they are able to raise money for charities in Africa, so the money that they make as profit is spent this way. 

After a chance meeting between Lance Clark (founder of Soul Of Africa) and Phyllis Taylor (MD and designer of ready to wear fashion label Sika) at London Fashion Week in February 2008, Lance commissioned Phyllis to design two styles of sandals exclusively for Soul of Africa's Spring/Summer 2008 collection. Taylor 's highly skilled manufacturing team in Ghana have produced these beautifully hand made sandals using only quality materials sourced in Ghana . The sandals have been suitably named Aya (which means 'not afraid') and Asaba (which means 'to come back again') which are traditional names taken from the Ghanaian dialect Twi. For every pair of Soul of Africa shoes sold, to date, raising over $1.5 million, all manufacturing profit goes directly to the upkeep and schooling of young orphans, themselves often not infected, who have lost their parents to AIDS.

LONDON FASHION WEEK 2008

In February 2008 Sika exhibited at London Fashion Week with the Ethical Fashion Forum as part of Estethica, London's sustainable fashion initiative (in association with Accessorize and Monsoon).

RUNWAY AFRICA

In September 2007 Sika exhibited at RUNWAY AFRICA, in Washington DC. Runway Africa is a stylish and elegant couture exhibit that provides an intimate look at Africa's creative fashion industry while spotlighting African influence in today's mainstream style and fashion. RUNWAY AFRICA was created to infuse, educate, and introduce to the world, the vibrancy of African inspired couture designs while giving back to Africa through a carefully chosen non-profit beneficiary. The beneficiary for 2007 was the 'Keep a child alive' foundation.

This adds meaning to fashion, and makes you want to create something that will benefit people, so it has a purpose which creates a drive, and I want to achieve this.