It's our Anniversary! From Dumfries House to Parliament, we share a week of disrupting the status-quo in fashion.
Image shows our CEO Tamara Cincik in a red dress in a panel discussion at Dumfries House. Image credits Eleanor Kelly @mastrelli.media
This week has been a whirlwind, and has seen our CEO, Tamara Cincik travel across the country – quite literally – from Manchester for a DCMS event with Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport – Lucy Frazer, and then on to Scotland and London.
In Scotland, Tamara attended Dumfries House and spoke at the King’s Foundation (formerly Prince’s Foundation) x the Fashion Council Germany conference entitled ‘Disruption’ which was this year supported by TENCEL™, eBay and The PVH Foundation. The King’s Foundation's Future Textiles initiative is designed to breathe new life into a renowned British textiles industry.
The high-profile speakers included TENCEL™ brand partner and designer Patrick McDowell, British Vogue’s Emily Chan, CEO of Fashion Roundtable Tamara Cincik, celebrated German fashion journalist Christiane Arp, Director of Centre for Sustainable Fashion Professor Dilys Williams and designer Alice Robinson.
Tamara spoke alongside Emily Chan as well as Ayan Yuruk on a panel discussing the role of change-makers within the fashion world. Tamara also delved into the hidden barriers and opportunities within the fashion sector along with Oyla Kuryshchuk.
On further panels our Board Member, Professor Dilys Williams, spoke of challenging the fast-fashion status quo and linear paradigm, as well as the need for fashion to place earth and equity at its core.
Image shows from left to right the speakers in the Jubilee Room in Parliament: Sam Ludlow-Taylor, Kate Hills, Patrick Grant, Mary Creagh CBE, John McNally MP, Tamara Cincik, Anna Bryher. Image source: Jeremy Fusco
Back to London, we then hosted one of our largest events on localism in Parliament, in our capacity as Secretariat of the Ethics and Sustainability All-Party Parliamentary Group. Speakers included:
Mary Creagh CBE | Chair of the Ethical Trading Initiative, Former MP and Chair of the Environmental Audit Committee
Patrick Grant | Founder of Community Clothing
Professor Dilys Williams | Fashion Roundtable Board Member and Director of Centre for Sustainable Fashion
Sam Ludlow-Taylor | Head of Human Rights at John Lewis
Kate Hills | Fashion Roundtable Board Member and Founder of Make It British
Anna Bryher | Policy Lead Labour Behind the Label
The key takeaways from the event were that:
Homegrown Homespun was an initiative which grew flax and indigo; processed by hand and built end to end production. Every stage of this production employs people and offers a more rounded system.
Supporting ‘Made in Britain’ can have the same economic value as procuring overseas. An example of the Covid pandemic was offered around PPE, where the government spent a huge amount of money. British made masks were more expensive than those made in China, however if billions of pounds is spent on masks in another country it adds to their economy. This procurement is worth far more to our economy and we should stop making purchasing practices that don’t add value in this way.
Localism requires a care-based relationship, people centric focus, and the wealth of ‘place’ to be seen. The great challenge is about moving power to local and there is a tension here.
There are advantages to making in the UK, such as quick access to market, quick reactions, resulting in niche high-end products and there is evidence that customers favour goods made in the UK. However, it is not always straightforward and ‘Made in the UK’ doesn’t necessarily mean that brands are meeting due-diligence requirements or indeed happy workers.
Localism increases the interconnected network of small businesses – fostering business and competitiveness. This needs strengthening in these 4 ways:
Legislate so that brands are forced to be transparent.
Encourage uptake of technology and data driven processes to increase best-practice transparency and accountability.
Tax Incentives for sustainable brands to aid in levelling the playing field.
Create training programmes to ensure sustainable jobs.
Policy asks discussed within the meeting included:
The need for a certainty of policy. The ‘Clicks versus Bricks’ concept which John McNally MP asked at recent PMQs is something that the government could incentivise straight away.
Better legislation around purchasing practices. One direct action might be the Garment Trade Adjudicator (which the EAC recommended) and over 60 MPs are already involved with.
The UK needs to work towards mandatory due diligence legislation for human rights and the environment. This is already in place in Europe and the UK must follow suit. Specific mention to Germany.
Functioning labour market bodies working with communities.
Factories need investment. We should look at how we can support suppliers on how to reform and in producing high quality products.
Our education system has let us down and the need for a STEAM education for all children.
More stringent procurement practices from government, e.g. procurement of police uniforms with locally—produced buttons and the need for an understanding of intersection between the environmental and social.
The full minutes will be shared here shortly.
Image shows: Patrick Grant sat down speaking, with John McNally MP, Anna Bryher, Mary Creagh and Tamara Cincik in the background.
University of the Arts London awarded highest UK honour for its pioneering work in environmental and social sustainability in fashion
Image shows our CEO Tamara Cincik in a red dress sat next to Professor Dilys Williams in a green jumper and shirt combination with burgundy bow-tie at Dumfries House
University of the Arts London (UAL) has been awarded a Queen’s Anniversary Prize for excellence in Higher and Further Education in recognition of its outstanding role in influencing perceptions and actions towards environmental and social sustainability across the global fashion system.
UAL’s Centre for Sustainable Fashion, based at London College of Fashion (LCF), has shaped the discourse in fashion and sustainability for over 15 years. It has created internationally acclaimed research with some of the world’s leading designers including Alexander McQueen and Gucci, set agendas in government including contributing to work around Human Trafficking and Modern Slavery, trained over 3000+ industry professionals, and has pioneered world relevant curriculum not only with students across UAL but also through open-source courses for thousands of people worldwide.
Professor Dilys Williams, who sits on our Board and is the Director of Centre for Sustainable Fashion said:
“Challenging fashion’s status quo is at the heart of the work we do at Centre for Sustainable Fashion. It is fantastic to be recognised for the important work that every person involved in the Centre is doing to create a fashion system that places earth and equity at its heart. Our guiding principle is to transform fashion from a sector where profit is gained through extraction and exploitation to one where wealth is recognised in environmental, social, cultural and economic terms.”
Our impact over the last 6 years
Fashion Roundtable was set up 6 years ago today by our CEO Tamara Cincik, who while working in Parliament, noticed a distinct gap between policy and the creative sector.
The last 2 years have seen a yearly 2.2bn media reach and a distinct need for Fashion Roundtable’s presence – both in its fearless advocacy for the sector, as well as being unafraid to have the challenging conservations required for systemic change.
Tamara Cincik said:
“I cannot believe that it is 6 years since I launched Fashion Roundtable.
“In some ways it feels like only yesterday. In others it’s clear that we need to engage with policy makers now more than ever, as we look missed climate, social justice and business targets in the face.
“The next year will see a General Election and in the countdown to that it will be good to hold all of the political parties to account and determine who is the most ambitious in their plans to create the best opportunities for our incredible industry.”
Mentorship opportunities with The Right Project
The Right Project has been working in the responsible fashion space for over two decades, with social and environmental justice at its core. As a collective of independent experts, practitioners and advisors, they have supported brands such as YOOX, Vivienne Westwood and NGO’s such as Fashion Revolution, offering a broad and unique skills base.
They offer 1-2-1 mentoring, bespoke consultancy, off-the-shelf cohort learning, as well as immersive sessions, to develop action plans and enable teams to navigate sustainability with clarity and confidence.
The Right Project is offering Fashion Roundtable newsletter subscribers, either:
15% off a mentoring session for an hour, which is usually £150.
Or a free discovery call for half an hour.
For more, contact co-founder Roxanne Houshmand-Howell – roxy@therightproject.org
Have you listened to our latest podcast episode #19 with Victoria Jenkins
This is an image of Victoria Jenkins, wearing a royal blue power suit, standing in the street, with a sparkly mobility aid. Credit: Deb Burrows.
Victoria Jenkins co-chairs our Representation and Inclusion Committee and is behind the sustainable adaptive fashion brand Unhidden. Victoria is listed as one of Vogue’s Top 25 Powerhouse Women, redefining Britain and co-presents and designs on Channel 4’s Unique Boutique. A must-watch where inclusive fashion lovers and designers create bespoke outfits for every-body in a custom-built shop.
Meg Pirie and Victoria talk about future plans for a not-for-profit arm of Unhidden. Victoria also shares her key policy asks to ultimately make fashion more inclusive.
Full transcript can be found here.
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