H&M
New Benchmarks, Empowerment Program Aim to Eradicate Worker Exploitation in Apparel Supply Chains
6 years ago - Growing concerns over the environmental and social impacts of the footwear and apparel industry have kickstarted efforts to create more transparent and ethical supply chains and practices, but there is still a significant amount of work to be done, according to a new benchmarking system launched today by KnowTheChain (KTC), a resource for businesses and investors who need to understand and address forced labor abuse
Not Buying It: Fast Fashion, Lies & Sustainability
6 years ago - Fast fashion has followed a trend similar to the fast food chains that inspired its name - explosive growth, massive popularity, and then consumer skepticism. Turns out that having access to clothes en masse mere days after the latest runway shows requires production practices that aren’t healthy for societies or our planet. Just like factory farming and consuming Whoppers and fries consistently isn’t healthy or sustainable, inexpensive clothing meant to be worn once or twice and constantly replaced isn’t much better for us.
H&M Solidifies Workers’ Rights Framework, Debuts Upcycled Clothes at London Fashion Week
6 years ago - In the past, H&M has faced criticism for labor issues in its supply chain and its “fast fashion” business model that relies on high rates of consumption.
H&M, WWF Launch Kids Collection to Raise Funds for Endangered Species
6 years ago - H&M and WWF have joined forces on a children’s collection featuring realistic prints of iconic animals at risk. For every item sold, 10 percent of the sales price will be donated to support WWF’s work in conserving endangered species.
H&M Partners to Develop More Textile Recycling Technologies
6 years ago - Recycling single-fibre fabrics – such as denim jeans and wool sweaters – is mechanically possible, but garments are often made from a blend of different fibres, which has historically caused a host of challenges for recycling them. Even for many of the most popular blends such as cotton and polyester, commercially viable separation, sorting and recycling technologies are not yet available. As a result, used apparel of blended or unknown materials are typically discarded in landfills or down-cycled into insulation, carpeting or other low-value applications.
Design Awards Seek Cradle to Cradle Products, Circular Fashion Innovations
6 years ago - Two design challenges are back and accepting new entries for products designed to help enable a sustainable future. The non-profit H&M Foundation is accepting applications for the second edition of its Global Change Award through October 31st, 2016. The competition is seeking early stage ideas that present new circular approaches for the fashion industry – whether by changing the way garments are designed, produced, shipped, bought, used, or recycled – by adding disruptive technology or using a new business model.
How to Ground Your Brand Purpose in Reality
6 years ago - When you set out on your purpose journey, what steps can you take to ensure that your purpose will be genuinely transformational for your business? In the ten years that we’ve been championing purpose and helping organisations to craft purpose-led visions, we’ve learned lessons about how to ensure that purpose sticks. Above all, we’ve seen how vital it is for purpose to be grounded in reality. Right from the start, you must root your purpose in the political, economic, social and technological context in which you operate. We call this the ‘dig’ phase: a period of intensive research and analysis of the current environment and future trends that affect your business.
Greenpeace Reveals Brands Stumbling on the Catwalk to Toxin-Free Fashion
6 years ago - Since the “Detox My Fashion” campaign launched in 2011, 76 fashion brands, retailers and suppliers have committed to remove toxic chemicals from their supply chains by 2020, accounting for a combined 15 percent of global textile production.
Of Top Cotton Users, Over 75% ‘Appear to Do Virtually Nothing’ on Cotton Sustainability
6 years ago - More sustainable cotton has become more widely available thanks to collaborations such as the Better Cotton Initiative (BCI) and other programs focused on minimizing the use of highly hazardous pesticides, improving working conditions, addressing biodiversity issues, and reducing water consumption in cotton agriculture.
3rd Fashion Revolution Will See Activists in 84 Countries Asking Brands #WhoMadeMyClothes
7 years ago - This year, Fashion Revolution’s annual campaign has expanded into a week-long series of events featuring hundreds of activities, stunts and social experiments across 84 countries worldwide. Throughout Fashion Revolution Week, April 18th to 24th, consumers will demand transparency and raise awareness of exploitation in the fashion supply chain by posting on social media using the hashtag #WhoMadeMyClothes.
H&M, M.I.A. Aiming to Rally 1,000 Tonnes of Garment Donations for World Recycle Week
7 years ago - To celebrate the first World Recycle Week April 18th to 24th, fashion retailer H&M is partnering with artist and singer M.I.A. on an ambitious global garment collection campaign. H&M aims to collect 1,000 tonnes of unwanted or worn out clothing items across its over 3,600 worldwide stores. To raise awareness, an exclusive M.I.A. music video will debut on April 11th at hm.com.
How the World's Best Companies Demonstrate Their Sense of Purpose
7 years ago - How do you communicate your company's sense of purpose — what you stand for in simple terms — in a way that is authentic, transparent and honest? Increasingly, the answer for many of the world's biggest companies is to highlight their sustainability work. Why sustainability? Well, sustainability, after all, is rooted in doing business in a transparent and authentic way. And, in today’s always-on, smarter-than-before society, pledging to be a better company just won’t cut it. You have to demonstrate how your company’s purpose is creating a tangibly better experience.
Vote to Allocate Part of €1M Global Change Award to Your Favorite Circular Textile Innovation
7 years ago - According to the Environmental Protection Agency, the US alone generates an estimated 24 billion pounds of post-consumer textile waste (PCTW), which ends up in landfills each year — the equivalent of about 70 pounds of textiles per person.
‘Unfree and Unfair’ Report Prompts Brand Commitments to Improve Labor Conditions
7 years ago - Labor conditions in the apparel industry are an ongoing struggle even for brands with substantial purchasing power.
Trending: European Brands, Initiatives Pushing Linear Textile Production Out of Fashion
7 years ago - While the circular economy package adopted by the European Union earlier this month was bashed by critics as being too weak, Europe seems to be hitting the ground running with its efforts to follow through: The following week, the European Commission put its money where its mouth is and opened up €24 billion (~US$26.4B) in funding for businesses looking to transition to a circular economy model. And a variety of smaller-scale efforts from both the public and private sector are continuing the momentum – here, we highlight a few specific to textiles.
COP21: 114 Companies Commit to Set Science-Based Emissions-Reduction Targets, Surpassing Goal
7 years ago - The Science-Based Targets initiative announced Tuesday that 114 companies have now committed to set emissions-reduction targets in line with what scientists say is necessary to keep global warming below the dangerous threshold of 2 degrees Celsius. The announcement was made at the LPAA Business focus event hosted by Caring for Climate at COP21 in Paris.
H&M Becomes Ellen MacArthur Foundation's Latest Global Partner
7 years ago - The Ellen MacArthur Foundation announced today that H&M has become its latest Global Partner accelerating the transition to the circular economy.
World's Leading Apparel Brands, Industry Groups Join Forces to Transform Global Labor Conditions
7 years ago - Today, a group of some of the world’s biggest brands, retailers, NGOs and industry groups launch a Social and Labor Convergence Project, with the aim of improving working conditions in apparel manufacturing across the world.The group says the project seeks to achieve real, sustainable change through the collective development of an industry-wide, standardized methodology for social and labor performance assessment in apparel and footwear supply chains. Through this, the industry believes that it will be able to significantly reduce the amount of money that it spends on duplicated auditing and invest the money saved in improving social welfare for millions of people employed in apparel manufacturing around the world.
H&M Accused of Dragging Feet on Worker Safety in Bangladesh
7 years ago - Earlier this month, H&M was accused of being “dramatically behind schedule” in meeting the requirements of the Accord on Fire and Building Safety in Bangladesh in a joint report from the Clean Clothes Campaign, International Labor Rights Forum, Maquila Solidarity Network, and Worker Rights Consortium.
Why a Circular Economy Is Key to Sustainable Development (and Why Business Must Lead the Way)
7 years ago - This post is part of a series produced by The Huffington Post, "What's Working: Sustainable Development Goals," in conjunction with the United Nations' Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The proposed set of goals will be the subject of discussion at the UN General Assembly meeting on Sept. 25-27, 2015 in New York; they cover 17 key areas of development — including poverty, hunger, health, education, and gender equality, among many others.