Ethical Fashion

Mwayiwathu simply means "blessings" in Chiyao, the language of the Yao people in Malawi.  This is the name that the HIV support group in Ndiwasa Village near Domasi (map) chose for their group when they started working for Dsenyo.  

HIV Positive Living Groups are quite numerous in Malawi because of the high HIV infection rate.  The purpose of these groups is to provide a safe place for people to share their struggles, council each other and encourage others in the community to live openly with the disease.  There is still a huge stigma associated with HIV, which is evident especially among men.  The majority of these groups are comprised by women, many of whom are widowed, and only decided to get tested for HIV after seeing their husbands die too young and suspecting AIDS was the cause.

Mwayiwathu is a group of 20+ women who chose this name for their group because they see the work from Dsenyo as a blessing and a solution to some of the challenges they face.  They use their wages to pay for transport to the hospital to get their ARVs (anti-retro virals), buy food, pay school fees for their children and purchase fertilizer for growing crops. 

On our recent trip to Malawi this August we interviewed each member of the group asking, "Has your quality of life improved through working with Dsenyo?"  Esinara Kwalamasa (photo left) said that it really has because she has learned new skills, she enjoys working together with the other women sharing her problems and ideas with them.  She also said that now she has money to cover basic necessities like food and soap which were a struggle before.

The Mwayiwathu HIV Support Group makes the following items for Dsenyo...everything is hand-stitched, no machines: Flowers (hair clips, ornaments, magnets, etc) and Little Friends (lion, monkey, elephant, bunny stuffed animals).

Click here to share this fair trade story...

By Ellen Arkfeld, guest blogger, who is interning with Dsenyo this summer.

Fair trade can seem like something beyond our reach, a word thrown around and printed on labels that we know is good but don’t fully understand.  But fair trade is pretty simple:  pay produc

The folks at EthicalOcean asked me the other day, "How far away is the fashion industry from becoming 100% fair trade?"  My first response was..."Unfortunately, pretty darn far from it." 

The fashion industry as a whole won't be able to go fully fair trade until consumers as a whole start demanding fair trade with their actions.  You can vote with your dollars every day to make this kind of change.  By choosing to only wear a wardrobe that's been made under fair labor conditions, labels producing in sweatshops will have to start listening.  It's hard to resist those big sales at department stores in the malls, but if we all keep buying items without knowing where or how they were made, we aren't going to see much change. 

So this got me thinking...what actions have I started taking personally to build a resposible wardrobe?  How do I choose to vote with my dollars when it comes to fashion and filling my closet?  Now, you have to understand that like most of us, I'm on a tight budget.  I don't take a salary from Dsenyo yet so I don't have much of a dispensable income.  Therefore, with this in mind, I recommend the following simple strategy for building a socially conscious wardrobe. 

How to build a Responsible Wardrobe:
When you are buying a new item make sure it can fulfill at lease ONE of the following criteria:

1. Is it Fair Trade?  Do you see the GreenAmerica or FTF logos or credible information on the hangtag about who made it and where it came from?
2. Is it at least partially made of sustainable fibers? (ex- hemp, organic cotton, tencel, bamboo, recylce polyester, etc)
3. Is it recycled, upcycled or used?  (consignment shops and thrift stores are a great place to get items of clothing that you can't find fair trade or in a sustainable fiber)

That's it!  Keep it simple and start today!

Last year Dsenyo became a Green America approved business for people and planet.  So what exactly does this mean?

Green America (formerly Co-op America) is a great non-profit organization based in the USA working to promote sustainability in business both from the social and environmental perspective.  They are an excellent resource for information on organic, fair trade and sustainability in general.  Sustainability meaning that the "Earth is preserved for all the generations to come."

In order to become an approved business as part of Geen America's Business Network, Dsenyo had to go through a throrough application process and review of our business.  We like Green America because they balance both the impact on people and the environment which is right up our alley at Dsenyo. 

According to Green America a "Green Business" is on that fits the following principles:

• Green businesses operate in ways that solve, rather than cause, both environmental and social problems. 
• These businesses adopt principles, policies, and practices that improve the quality of life for their customers, their employees, communities, and the environment.

You can find a list of Green businesses in Green America’s National Green Pages™ .  All of these business, like Dsenyo, have passed a screening process that qualifies them for membership in the Green Business Network™. 

Dsenyo joined the Etsy Earth Team back in November of 2009. Once a month, the Etsy Earth Team blog features and interview with a team member.  Dsenyo is the featured member this January, 2010.  Check out the interview here.

The Etsy Earth Team is focused on earth-friendly handmade goods. Each team member is committed to sustainability, aware of current eco-issues, taking responsibility for making the best, well-balanced choices for their shops with the safety and quality of their products in mind.

The group is part of Etsy's Teams a feature which allows sellers to band together to network, share skills, and promote their shops and Etsy together.  According to Etsy, "Teams are Etsy’s biggest and most creative grassroots engine for support, networking and marketing – for each team member’s shop, for the Teams themselves, and for Etsy as a whole"

You can read more about the Etsy Earth Team's mission and membership standards.

While politicians gather in the Bella Center for the UN Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen, the Nordic fashion industry gathers at The Opera House in Copenhagen to participate in this year's most important fashion event – the Fashion Summit – part of the NICE project.

The Guardian

• A British daily newspaper, maintains an Ethical Fashion section of the publication on their website.
• Life & Style >> Fashion >> Ethical Fashion
• http://www.guardian.co.uk/lifeandstyle/ethicalfashion