Suggestions

[Spotlight on Sourcing]

Spotlight on India

Spotlight on Eastern Europe

Finding ethical fabrics

How to raise awareness to consumers

Up cycling

[Brenda Direen]

I would love to se more dialogue on up cycling.

[Spotlight on Sourcing]

Up cycling is something we haven't covered in the past, so its great to hear that this something you are interested in!

[Veganline.com]

Made in Shoreditch, Made in Leicester, or Made in UK: biker jackets and belts, or Made in UK: T shirts and underwear. The idea would be to invite speakers who can explain how a small UK belt factory such as Tarus belts round the corner from you likes to receive orders - what marks a customer out as one who won't waste time and will re-order; what their standard designs are, what parts they find it easy to get themselves rather than from the customer and what kinds of minimums they have. This could encourage the ethical practice of buying in the UK.

There's been a government-backed event like this a couple of years ago called Fashion Expo, which hired the business design centre for three days, paid for a catwalk of all things and probably won't be repeated, but you can see a video of someone called Junior explaining how to buy a batch of made-to-order handbags here:
http://www.fashioncapital.co.uk/component/option,com_zoom/Itemid,29...
or http://tinyurl.com/6cxzm4

There would be no harm in screening this video before something live from another speaker.

One question that came-up at the time is how to tell whether a UK factory is more-or-less up to standard on employment conditions, and that kind of question would be asked a lot more if Ethical Fashion Forum staged the event. The other difference would be a lot more emphasis on manufacturing. There were more questions than answers in the seminars at that event on where to get things made. I guess there are plenty of factory owners willing to talk for a few minutes, but events like Fashion Expo or London Fashion Week are run by fashion journalists of all people and tend not to allow those who make the clothes to speak.