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sustaInaBlE FashIon : a handBooK For Educators
Fashion Enterprise students on the University of the
Creative Arts (Epsom) BA (Hons) Fashion degree
relate theory to practice by working in partnership with
industry for the duration of their final year. The students
are on placement full-time for four weeks and then have a
series of lectures to support a two day a week placement.
They produce a final year company report based on their
placements and the lectures, in which they investigate
the changing balance of power in the retailer/supplier
relationship. The idea is that students are able to identify
closely with the brand identity, customer profile, sourcing
policy and retailing strategy of the business prior to designing
a collection for them, which they do in the next unit.
The objectives are for students to:
- comprehend business structures on a corporate and
departmental level; - understand the critical path from initial concept through
to customer; - demonstrate self-confidence and clear
communication skills; - critically evaluate company practices and markets
through research.
As well as using film and role play as teaching mechanisms,
guest speakers are invited in to talk to the students
and raise awareness of issues such as corporate social
responsibility. Fashioning an Ethical Industry (FEI) and the
Ethical Trading Initiative have both contributed to the
programme. Students found the FEI role play on buying
power^1 excellent as a way of highlighting the impact of
buying decisions on factory workers. The exercise also
proved effective in highlighting the complexity of the
issues and pressures that have resulted in the current
manufacturing climate.
Students discussed codes of conduct and corporate social
responsibility with their industry mentors directly. Many
mentors were unsure about their company’s stance on
these issues, about whether they even had a code of
conduct; or, in cases where the mentor did know of the
existence of a code of conduct, what the content of the
code actually was.Students were generally frustrated by their industry
mentors’ reluctance to discuss the issues of sustainability.
Many of them were brushed off by their mentors who
may have felt vulnerable being asked to confront some of
the questions raised. Smaller companies felt particularly
vulnerable as they were less likely to have the resources to
follow up on manufacturing practices or to have their own
corporate social responsibility team.All the students were concerned that there was no real
incentive for companies to apply stricter adherence to a
code of conduct. Because there is no certification system,
and no government incentive for companies to adhere to
a code of conduct, it remains a matter of choice; and in
today’s commercial world of fast fashion, many will
choose speed, turnover and profit over conscientious
ethical production.(^1) http://fashioninganethicalindustry.org/resources/teachingmaterials/buyingpower/