I have finally joined the Ethical Fashion Forum, and can't believe that I haven't got round to becoming a member before now! The free to join social networking site has been set up as a not for profit organisation and focuses on environmental sustainability in the fashion industry.On the main website there are several informative areas to guide the conscientious follower of sustainable textile and fashion design, through the most recenet topics, events and the complex issues discussed on the Ethical Fashion Forum. This site covers many issues from fast fashion to fair trade, from recycling to real-life stories from the manufacturing process.
The Resource section is particularly useful as reports regarding the different stages of a garment's life from supply to buy have been compiled in easy to download PDF formats.
The Ethical Fashion Forum also conducts several events throughout the year. Places at the workshops and seminars, like the ones being held today on working with cooperatives and sourcing from Asia are limited and are like gold dust, so it's a good idea to register early! I unfortunatley, haven't registered early enough and so will miss the discussion tonight, but Clara has informed me that the EFF events she has attended previously have all been very stimulating, informative and interactive, so definitely worth penciling the next one in the diary now!
The social networking side to the forum site is somewhat new to me. I have joined facebook (so that my sister can send me photos) and I do read blogs on various design-led sites, but I have never really socially networked in an online environment before.....I love it! Already, I love it! There are lots of friendly, proactive members working in areas of fashion design, consumption and retail. Various discussions are set up to allow people with similar interests to interact on a professional yet informal level and lots of people seem keen to collaborate, share ideas and develop their projects with a little help from their forum. It is also a great place to integrate student desingers with professionals in the field, which is a hugely important initiative if you ask us at TED.
Image credit: Ruffle skirt £40 by Round London
