Sustainable Fashion: A Handbook for Educators

59

and distribution channels of the global textile and apparel
industries from both current and historical perspectives.
This involves an evaluation of the cultural, economic
and political factors impacting on sourcing decisions, in
addition to the implications of various global alliances for
trade policies and regulations. Upon completion of this
activity, students should recognise various factors that
impact on compliance with labour laws, standards of social
responsibility and the treatment of workers in textile and
apparel production. The assignment challenges students’
critical thinking skills and supports further development of
their written and verbal abilities.

In small groups, students take on the roles of CEO, designer,
buyer, factory owner and factory worker, and consider
how the priorities and challenges facing each of these roles
impacts workers in Fashioning an Ethical Industry’s Buying
Power role Play: How Decision-making in the Fashion
Industry Impacts on Working Conditions.

Case Studies to Address Impacts of Purchasing Practices
on Working Conditions by the Ethical Trading Initiative,
UK, were developed as a result of a meeting involving UK
brands and retailers that explored how business decisions
affect labour standards. Questions to enable students to
fully explore the case studies are included.

In What Price a Fairly Traded T-shirt? by Doug Miller of
University of Northumbria, UK, students consider how
garments are costed at the factory level and how a living
wage might be achieved in global apparel supply chains.
The activity is based on actual industry wage figures as
at October 2006 and production line balancing figures
provided by corporate social responsibility/sourcing

managers from a major multinational retailer.

Four ideas for students are suggested in Ideas for Business

related Assignments. Chloe Mason from the London

College of Fashion shares how students can develop

two capsule collections: one of ‘sustainable’ dresses for a

high street chain and the second of fairly traded clothes.

Jacqueline Shorrocks at Nottingham Trent University, UK,

asks students to debate the importance and practicalities

of a fashion retailer acting in an ethical, environmental

or corporately responsible manner within their supply

chains; and, secondly, to compare two companies, one that

appears to be operating in a sustainable way and one that

appears not to be.

Social responsibility in the Global Apparel Industry is a

new book, by Marsha A. Dickson, University of Delaware,

Suzanne Loker, Cornell University, and Molly Eckman,

Colorado State University, USA. The book illustrates how

leading apparel and footwear manufacturers and retailers

approach and attempt to maintain social responsibility in

the design, production and sourcing of their products and

in their business operations. Ideas for using the book are

presented.

BusInEss