Directly Impact Clothing Makers with Kiva.org

"If you look at Kiva.org, people with a very modest amount of money can make a huge positive impact all around the world"  

- President Bill Clinton

One of the major themes of Fashion Revolution Day has been the disconnect between consumers and makers of fashion. The more we reconnect the links, the closer we come to a fairer future. That's why I was excited to hear from Brianna who works at Kiva - the world's largest micro-lending platform. Micro-finance is a term used to describe financial services to low-income individuals or to those who do not have access to typical banking services. It's also the idea that low-income individuals are capable of lifting themselves out of poverty if given access to financial services. Importantly, Kiva is a nonprofit organization and makes no money from the loans they facilitate.

Brianna explained to me that Kiva believes in ethical and eco-friendly business practices, greater transparency and fairer working conditions in the fashion industry. You can read about their own involvement in Fashion Revolution Day here. 

Having discovered Kindness by Design, Brianna realised that my passionate reader's would surely be interested in a simple yet powerful way to impact the makers of fashion. I agreed!

The way it works is pretty simple:

100% of every dollar you lend on Kiva goes directly towards funding loans; Kiva does not take a cut and does not charge interest to their Field Partners, who administer the loans. Click here to read about the lending process in more depth. 

So what kinds of positive change are you enabling through your loan? Let me introduce you to Pamela. 

Pamela is one of Kiva’s artisan borrowers from Kibera, Nairobi. When the single mother of four found out she was HIV positive, she started treatment for HIV and founded a support group for recently diagnosed women called the Kibera HIV/AIDS Support Initiative Program. She also taught herself to bead and now owns her own jewelry shop, which donates 50% of its profits back to newly diagnosed women in the group.   

With a loan from Kiva, Pamela was able to expand the types of goods she offers in her shop. In 2012, the average annual income per capita in Kenya was less than $950. Pamela now makes an average of $2,100 per year.  Pamela is a shining example of how a Kiva loan, partnered with hard work, dedication and belief in a better future, can empower artisans around the world. When I searched under the category 'clothing' today on Kiva, I found 300 loans available!

There are a number of other ways to support Kiva's vision of connecting people and alleviating poverty. You can join with other lenders to achieve larger goals, ask your wedding or birthday guests to donate funds, become a Kiva Fellow abroad and much more. 

You can connect with Kiva via Facebook and Twitter.  

Have you had experience with a Kiva loan or other micro-lending program? I'd love to hear about it in the comments below :-)
Disclaimer: This is not a paid post. Reviews cannot be purchased and submitting a product/service does not guarantee a favourable review. The opinions are 100% the author's own. 

Are You A Fashion Revolutionary?

The older I get, the more connections I see in the world around me. We live in a vast interconnected universe where seemingly disparate topics are in fact intimately linked on some level. Social justice, the multibillion dollar fashion industry, environmental conservation and animal welfare - all of these things come into play each time we decide to purchase an item of clothing. 

Source: Fairtrade Australia

It's kind of a scary thought isn't it? How we can unwittingly impact on the world around us without fully comprehending the consequences. 

When frightened, we have a tendency to bury our heads in the sand - an ancient survival mechanism perhaps? Creating a better, fairer world is hard. I can't tell you that if you do x y and z everything will be fine and all fashion supply chains will become transparent and equitable. Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying we can't create positive change, which will lead to a socially and environmentally bright future. I know that we can do this! I just also know that it won't be easy and it won't be simple.  

Fashion Revolution Day is a great way to begin. It isn't about a quick fix, it's about starting the journey and sparking the hard yet vital conversations. 

On April 24 2013, 1133 garment workers were killed when the Rana Plaza complex collapsed in Dhaka, Bangladesh. Over 2500 were injured. Today, people all around the world are still suffering as a direct result of our fashion supply chain. This year you have the opportunity to join people in over 60 countries participating in Fashion Revolution Day as a way of saying enough is enough! 

On the 24th of April you're invited to:

1. Turn a garment inside out

2. Reveal the swing tag or label

3. Take a selfie

4. Upload to your social media of choice

5. Then tag the brand you're wearing & use the hashtags 

#WhoMadeMyClothes? and #FashRev

Be persistent! Keep asking until you receive a satisfactory answer. We want as many people as possible to question who made their clothes, to imagine the thread linking the garment to the machinists who sewed it, all the way down to the farmer who grew the cotton.  

Other ways to get involved include:

• Downloading#FashRev graphics, images, quotes, photos and posters available from the Resources page
  
• Rallying everyone in your company to turn an item of clothing inside out on the day- from the staff behind the tills to the CEO - and as much as possible share these images through social networks. Businesses around the world gearing up for their group selfies!
  
• Are you in a book club? Why not incorporate an ‘ethical fashion’ book into your group's reading list? Here's some titles to get you started
  
• Finding an ethical brand or designer and boost their profile with a feature on your blog! Celebrate the story of one of their pieces

Want to do more? Connect with your local Fashion Revolution Day team! I'm honoured to be on the Australia/New Zealand board and we would love to hear from local brands, retailers and bloggers.

Inequality is Never in Style!

In 2007 Blog Action Day was created as vehicle for bloggers worldwide to come together each year to discuss one important global issue. This year's topic is Inequality. There are so many forms of inequality at various levels, for example between species, countries, genders, cultures, and it can feel very overwhelming.

The Paraisópolis favela borders the affluent district of Morumbi in São Paulo, Brazil. Photo: Tuca Vieira

I want to take this opportunity to briefly highlight some of the examples of inequality within the fashion industry and showcase a few examples of those who are working hard to create a level playing field for everyone. In particular I believe there's massive inequality when it comes to the makers (most of whom are women) and the consumers of mainstream fashion. 

Earlier this year I had the honour of interviewing Aafreen Hasnain, an inspiring young woman working with and researching the artisans living in Uttar Pradesh, India. She told me that her research found that more than 60% of the artisans in the region are women, less than 10% of whom are educated beyond Grade 5 and due to a strict Caste System, a section of these women are given a lower wage than the others. According to not-for-profit Labour Behind the Label, "...the scandalous truth is that the majority of workers in the global fashion industry cannot afford to live with dignity, and earn no more than £5 a day in an industry worth over £28 billion across Europe". How is this not madness? 

Europe's Clean Clothes Campaign works extensively to try and close this gap. In Cambodia for instance, they've found that women are not being paid a living wage, meaning that they're constantly battling with the spectre of malnourishment, which in recent years has led to a spate of mass faintings due to overwork. The Clean Clothes Campaign educates and mobilises consumers, lobbies companies and governments, and offers direct solidarity support to workers in the garment industry. 

Greenola's Creative Director, Teresa Kuruvilla once told me that - "By paying workers a fair living wage, and creating a direct relationship built on mutual respect between the business and its producers, Fair Trade allows communities to develop sustainably and ultimately create a long-term, profitable, and ethical relationship between businesses, producers, and consumers". 

April 24th this year marked the first anniversary of the Rana Plaza garment factory collapse in Bangladesh, where 1133 people were killed and over 2500 were injured. This was a terrible example of extreme inequality taking and ruining lives. In response to this tragedy, and others like it within the fashion industry, a global board of industry leaders, campaigners, press and academics from within the sector and beyond have come together to create Fashion Revolution Day.

The driving force behind Fashion Revolution Day has been a desire to use the power of fashion to catalyse change and reconnect the broken links in the supply chain. Our lack of knowledge can mean that our purchasing decisions can lead us to become unwitting accomplices to human rights violations and environmental degradation. I would argue that ethical fashion is everyone's business! 

What do you think? I'd love to hear your comments! 

After Fashion Revolution Day - The Beginning of a New Fashion Future

The first ever Fashion Revolution Day (FRD) has now come and gone, but the fight for a fairer future for fashion has only just begun! The driving force behind FRD has been a desire to use the power of fashion to catalyse change and reconnect the broken links in the supply chain. As with any type of purchase, whether it's food, fashion or furniture - it can be difficult to feel a sense of that item's full history and the imprint its creation has had on both people and planet. Our lack of knowledge can mean that our purchasing decisions can lead us to become unwitting accomplices to human rights violations and environmental degradation. 

The great thing about FRD is that it was never about making us as consumers feel guilty and helpless but to empower us all to take control of our choices, to be curious, find out more and take simple but effective action. To kickstart this process the world was asked to make a statement by wearing an item of clothing inside-out and asking the brand on the label - who made your clothes? 

As a member of the FRD working committee for Australia and New Zealand I was delighted by the amazing response we received leading up to and on the day itself. People from a wide variety of backgrounds and of vastly different ages joined FRD in saying 'enough is enough' - it's time to face up to the consequences of fast and unethical fashion. It was so inspiring to see people showing a true desire to follow the thread linking the garment to the machinists who sewed it, all the way down to the farmer who grew the cotton. 

Rather than slowing down after the actual FRD on 24th April, it feels like momentum is continuing to build on the topic of making fashion fair for all. Last Friday our amazing Country Coordinator for FRD in Australia and New Zealand, Mel Tually, joined a panel discussion on cheap and dirty fashion hosted by Oxfam's 3 Things Project.  The panel also included Simon McRae from Ethical Clothing Australia, Lisa Heinze of Clean Cut Fashion and Nishan David from Bloodless. 

The key messages I gained from this insightful discussion were: if you care, be persistent when asking brands for information about their supply chain; never assume anything, for instance if a brand has a charitable foundation that's great but it doesn't necessarily mean they pay their workers a living wage; and when in doubt, the best thing you can do is buy less and cherish what you already have!

So what now? For starters I'll be continuing to bring you the latest developments in fair fashion here on Kindness by Design. In the meantime you can also take one or more of these simple actions:

1. Invest in the future of Fashion Revolution Day by supporting their campaign here on Indigogo and nab yourself some stunning ethical fashion perks at the same time! Talk about win-win :)

2. Purchase an official Who Made Your Clothes tee designed by Michael Stars and produced by Under the Canopy with 65% of the proceeds going to the Rana Plaza Donors Trust Fund. These limited edition tees were made in a geothermal/solar powered factory, using certified organic cotton and patented chemical-free, seaweed-based dyes. You can grab yours here.

3.  The FRD site has a wealth of fantastic resources and links to connect you to more information about ethical and sustainable fashion. Check them out here. 

4. If you're in Australia or New Zealand you can follow all the FRD news and events on Facebook and Twitter. From somewhere else? No worries! Find your local groups here.

 Photo credit: Matt Hoggett