Ethical Fashion Podcast

Many brands have joined the UNFCC Fashion Industry Charter for Climate Action, and made commitments in line with the Paris agreement, but there’s a lot of work to do to reduce emissions. Textiles play a key role. What are ‘preferred fibres’? How sustainable is cotton? Is recycled polyester the answer? What about the new innovations? And how can brands and consumers make the best choices, and avoid greenwashing? Textile Exchange is a global non-profit that seeks to positively impact climate through accelerating the use of preferred fibres across the global textile industry. They aim to get the industry to reduce emissions from fibre and material production by 35 - 45%. Can we do it? What will it take? In this info-rich interview, Simone and Clare ask the expert – Claire Bergkamp, Textile Exchange’s COO. This podcast is brought to you by the Ethical Fashion Initiative. Find out more at https://ethicalfashioninitiative.org/ Our music is from the original production From Kabul to Bamako, music directed by Saïd Assadi. This podcast was produced with the financial support of the European Union. Its contents are the sole responsibility of ITC Ethical Fashion Initiative and do not necessarily reflect the views of the European Union.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Independent fashion brands are changing the sustainability conversation globally, but how can they step up their impact? Often it's smaller brands that are leading innovation, but the bigger ones get the attention. Emerging African designers are well-placed to lead the way on authentic sustainability storytelling, but they need to excite investors from the Continent, as well as the global playing field. How can they amplify their message? Who should be listening? What is the role of fashion education and accelerator programmes on moving this forward? In this lively discussion with Nisha Kanabar, CEO and founder of curated African fashion platform Industrie Africa, Simone and Clare discuss the necessity of accurate, effective and persuasive communications around sustainability in for fashion SMEs. This podcast is brought to you by the Ethical Fashion Initiative. Find out more at https://ethicalfashioninitiative.org/ Our music is from the original production From Kabul to Bamako, music directed by Saïd Assadi. This podcast was produced with the financial support of the European Union. Its contents are the sole responsibility of ITC Ethical Fashion Initiative and do not necessarily reflect the views of the European Union. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

There is no sustainability without dignified working conditions and respect for human rights, yet fashion’s supply chains are notorious for their failings on this front. This week, Simone and Clare talk with international labour rights expert Auret van Heerden about what can be done. A TED talker, with a background at the ILO, Auret is the man Bill Clinton tasked to lead a team to get to the bottom of child labour issues in the US, and he’s advised everyone from Apple and Nike to the Ethical Fashion Initiative. What’s the first question he asks brands who are serious about ESG? Find out in this information-rich, emotional discussion about what really matters – people. This podcast is brought to you by the Ethical Fashion Initiative. Find out more at https://ethicalfashioninitiative.org/ Our music is from the original production From Kabul to Bamako, music directed by Saïd Assadi. This podcast was produced with the financial support of the European Union. Its contents are the sole responsibility of ITC Ethical Fashion Initiative and do not necessarily reflect the views of the European Union.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

We are excited to be back for a third series of the Ethical Fashion Podcast, this time addressing ESG and how the fashion industry can be more sustainable. Explore the issues driving the biggest topic in fashion conversation today with your hosts UN officer Simone Cipriani and sustainable fashion journalist Clare Press. Hit Subscribe or Follow in your favourite podcast app to make sure you get all the new episodes. Follow is on Instagram @ethicalfashion The Ethical Fashion Initiative is a programme of the International Trade Centre,a joint agency of the United Nations and the World Trade Organisation. Our music is from the original production From Kabul to Bamako, music directed by Saïd Assadi. This podcast was produced with the financial support of the European Union. Its contents are the sole responsibility of ITC Ethical Fashion Initiative and do not necessarily reflect the views of the European Union. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This week we’re focused on contemporary African art. Your host is the Nigerian writer and journalist Ayodeji Rotinwa, who welcomes the renowned Ethiopian gallerist and self-taught art historian and Mesai Haileleul to be interviewed. Mr. Haileleul opened the first gallery representing Ethiopian artists in Los Angeles in the 1990s and now, with Rakeb Sile, co-runs Addis Fine Art - a leading contemporary gallery specialising in art from the Horn of Africa and its diaspora with venues in London and Addis Ababa. This is a podcast about how the African contemporary art market is booming internationally, and what’s driving that interest. But it’s also about the importance and opportunities of focusing on home. Full of fascinating insights on the everything from the history of the art scene in Addis Ababa, to the challenges of building arts infrastructure when building roads and schools takes priority, ultimately it's a conversation about the business of culture and how to support it.  This podcast is brought to you by the Ethical Fashion Initiative. Find out more at https://ethicalfashioninitiative.org/ Our music is from the original production From Kabul to Bamako, music directed by Saïd Assadi. This podcast was produced with the financial support of the European Union. Its contents are the sole responsibility of ITC Ethical Fashion Initiative and do not necessarily reflect the views of the European Union.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This week's podcast is guest hosted by American stylist and creative director Alexander-Julian (AJ) Gibbson. In a vibrant conversation with Abrima Erwiah, co-founder and president of fashion social enterprise Studio 189, you'll hear all about creating, running and building a fashion business with purpose in Accra. Studio 189 is an award-winning fashion label based in Ghana and the United States. Its goal is to promote African and African-inspired fashion. Abrima and AJ explore the challenges and benefits of local production, the human aspect of slow fashion and to the beauty of knowing the stories of the people behind the process. Find out more at https://ethicalfashioninitiative.org/ Our music is from the original production From Kabul to Bamako, music directed by Saïd Assadi. This podcast series was produced with the financial support of the European Union. Its contents are the sole responsibility of ITC Ethical Fashion Initiative and do not necessarily reflect the views of the European Union.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This episode is about fashion and art, healing and opportunities in Burrundi. Today a creative scene is blossoming in Bujumbura with artists, musicians, photographers and designers using the power of self-expression and the beauty of creativity to connect, and foster new economic opportunities. Margaux Wong designer Margaux Rusita is one such creative. She designs sustainable and ethically produced jewellery, hand-crafted from cow horn and brass, and was part of the Ethical Fashion Initiative’s inaugural Accelerator Programme for African Designers. An artistic spirit with beautiful energy, she is also mother to five children, and passionate about female empowerment. Find out more at https://ethicalfashioninitiative.org/ Our music is from the original production From Kabul to Bamako, music directed by Saïd Assadi. This podcast was produced with the financial support of the European Union. Its contents are the sole responsibility of ITC Ethical Fashion Initiative and do not necessarily reflect the views of the European Union.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Access to technology is changing the game for a new generation of young African entrepreneurs, and the creative economy provides exciting opportunities on the continent. But with young people making up 60% of Africa’s unemployed, how can they overcome career challenges and harness digital connectivity to get ahead? And what skills and qualities are companies looking for in potential young employees today? Welcome to the second episode in our new series focused on Africa. Our guest host this week is Roberta Annan, impact investor and founder of Africa Fashion Fund. She is in conversation with Patricia Obo-Nai, Chief Executive Officer of Vodafone Ghana. They discuss mentoring new talent, the importance of digital and financial literacy, women in leadership, their own career paths to becoming prominent female business leaders in Ghana, and strategies for emerging creative entrepreneurs across Africa in the digital era. This podcast is brought to you by the Ethical Fashion Initiative. Find out more at https://ethicalfashioninitiative.org/ Our music is from the original production From Kabul to Bamako, music directed by Saïd Assadi. This podcast was produced with the financial support of the European Union. Its contents are the sole responsibility of ITC Ethical Fashion Initiative and do not necessarily reflect the views of the European Union.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In the final episode of Series 1, Simone and Clare talk with Jeanne De Kroon, the founder of Zazi Vintage - a high-end fashion social enterprise that celebrates upcycled fabrics and artisan techniques. Zazi works with the EFI in Afghanistan. Jeanne is a free spirit who says her mission is to create: "a narrative that connects and weaves cultures together through cloth, that works with women storytellers all over the world."  This vibrant conversation is really good fun, but, like fashion, it also engages with serious, complex issues.We discuss the deep questions shaping the sustainability discourse today: who profits and who pays the true cost, transparency, finding purpose, and seeking ways to bridge different cultures. Find out more at https://ethicalfashioninitiative.org/ Our music is from the original production From Kabul to Bamako, music directed by Saïd Assadi. This podcast was produced with the financial support of the European Union. Its contents are the sole responsibility of ITC Ethical Fashion Initiative and do not necessarily reflect the views of the European Union.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

From a lack of transparency to a business model that squeezes those at the bottom, fashion's supply chains can be a sustainability nightmare. There's a disconnect between the consumers who buy clothes, the retailers who sell them, the designers who conceive of them and all the different suppliers further down the chain, who cut and sew them, produce the textiles and the raw materials. And while the fashion industry has been very effective in optimising shareholder wealth, it has been less so when it comes to creating wealth for other stakeholders – in particular suppliers and workers. The current system favours ‘buy cheap, sell high’, compressing the cost of production. Suppliers find themselves competing on price and are often forced to compromise on employment standards to stay in business. So what's the alternative? In this Episode we ask, how can we create positive sum relationships, rather than zero sum transactions in the fashion supply chain? What happens when we start to view suppliers and workers as true stakeholders rather than simple as costs? Simone sits down with Sergio Tamborini, CEO of Italian luxury textiles leader Ratti Spa. Clare discusses transparency with Remake Our World's Ayesha Barenblat, and profit sharing with Rituraj Dewan, cofounder of the Indian social enterprise 7 Weaves Silk. Find out more at https://ethicalfashioninitiative.org/ Our music is from the original production From Kabul to Bamako, music directed by Saïd Assadi. This podcast was produced with the financial support of the European Union. Its contents are the sole responsibility of ITC Ethical Fashion Initiative and do not necessarily reflect the views of the European Union.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

You've probably heard Simone say, "It's a very serious business, fashion." Done right, the business of fashion can provide pathways for fair work and hope in places where they've been lacking. But how do our institutions put this into practice in areas afflicted by conflict and humanitarian disaster?  In this Episode, Clare talks the European Commission's Raffaella Iodice to find out how it all works, and learn how the Ethical Fashion Initiative began its projects in Afghanistan. And to discover Raffaella's personal story too - this is a conversation about finding purpose and following your dreams. At the time of recording, Raffaella was head of unit (Middle East/Gulf, South Asia and Central Asia) at DEVCO - the Directorate-General for International Cooperation and Development. Today, she is head of unit at ECHO - the Directorate-General for European Civil Protection & Humanitarian Aid Operations. In all her roles, she has brought compassion, integrity and a life-long passion for fashion.  Find out more at https://ethicalfashioninitiative.org/ Our music is from the original production From Kabul to Bamako, music directed by Saïd Assadi. This podcast was produced with the financial support of the European Union. Its contents are the sole responsibility of ITC Ethical Fashion Initiative and do not necessarily reflect the views of the European Union.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The Ethical Fashion Initiative Accelerator is programme for African designers supports young fashion talent to become investment ready, expand their supply chains, scale up their production, and build their fashion businesses. In this episode, your hosts Simone Cipriani and Clare Press catch up with one of the mentors, Nigerian actor Dakore Egbuson Akande. Dakore is Nollywood royalty. She has appeared in more than 50 films, including the romantic comedy Isoken, for which she won an African Academy Movie Award for Best Actress in 2018. She started out a TV presenter, she also sings and today does important humanitarian work. This conversation explores the power of creativity and the opportunities for economic advancement as well as cultural celebration and exchange, provided by the arts. You can find out about the 6 designers selected on https://ethicalfashioninitiative.org/ Our music is from the original production From Kabul to Bamako, music directed by Saïd Assadi. This podcast was produced with the financial support of the European Union. Its contents are the sole responsibility of ITC Ethical Fashion Initiative and do not necessarily reflect the views of the European Union.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Where next? In this episode, your hosts Simone Cipriani and Clare Press are in Paris to talk with the great Dutch trend forecaster Lidewij Edelkoort and hear her insights on where fashion - and culture - is headed.  "We will change possibly everything we do now. It's going to be a radical moment of change," says Li, who once described her work as "archeology of the future".   Li's company Trend Union puts out riveting forecasts and reports predicting what’s next. You’ve no doubt heard of her famous Anti-Fashion Manifesto published in 2014. And you probably read recently about her ideas on how coronavirus has led us into a quarantine of consumption from which we might, if we’re smart, choose to press reset button. This interview recorded before that, but it is, unsurprisingly prescient. From slowing down and doing more with less to new economic models. From reconnecting with storytelling to the tactility of textiles and the importance of local communities - all these things are on tomorrow's agenda. Follow us on Instagram @ethicalfashion www.ethicalfashioninitiative.org Our music is from the original production From Kabul to Bamako, music directed by Saïd Assadi. This podcast was produced with the financial support of the European Union. Its contents are the sole responsibility of ITC Ethical Fashion Initiative and do not necessarily reflect the views of the European Union.  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.