PPD4 ethical business practice

PPD 4

Ethical business practice

Brief

I am going to take an existing company and show how it could become ethically responsible. I will look in to changing everything about the company to make it eco-friendly. I will look at fashion designers such as Vivienne Westwood for inspiration as she is a big supporter in saving the world and its resources by expressing the concerns of our deteriorating planet through her collections. I will then take a popular, less eco-friendly designer and re-create the image to help save the planet.

I have chosen to re-create Alexander McQueen. The collections that are featured usually consist of a lot of prints and fabric. I chose McQueen because this designer isn’t known for any eco-friendly elements involved in their designs, and being one of the most famous brands I would like to change the appearance of McQueen for the better.

I started by looking in to the materials used in McQueen’s collection and what could be used instead. I researched eco-friendly materials and came across organic cotton.

What is "organic cotton?"
Organic cotton is grown using methods and materials that have a low impact on the environment. Organic production systems replenish and maintain soil fertility, reduce the use of toxic and persistent pesticides and fertilizers, and build biologically diverse agriculture. Third-party certification organizations verify that organic producers use only methods and materials allowed in organic production. Organic cotton is grown without the use of toxic and persistent pesticides and synthetic fertilizers.

I searched online for companies that sell organic cotton and I found this website, http://www.organiccotton.biz/store/ it is a U.K based website that sells organic cotton as well as a wide range of other organic, fair-trade materials. I was very impressed with the website as I didn’t know there was any kind of organic or fair-trade materials, never mind buying it so easily and at a reasonable price. If McQueen’s started using these organic materials it could encourage other designers to use them as well, as it is all about following the trends.

I then looked more in to McQueen’s collections, he is also known for the wild and eccentric prints that are usually featured in almost every collection. I looked online to see if there is any eco-friendly inks that could be used. I found a website that specializes in eco inks http://craftingagreenworld.com/2009/01/20/screen-print-your-own-eco-friendly-fabric/ permaset aqua are water based inks that do not contain PVC or phthalates unlike other inks that are used and are a lot more environmentally friendly. They can be used on baby clothes, swimwear and underwear and can even be printed on other materials such as wood and paper.

Those are the eco-materials I found that can be used in designs but it still doesn’t target the biggest environment problem that is recycling. I looked at Vivienne westwoods collections, westwood being a massive supporter of helping the environment being the best option to research. In one collection the main aspect was to recycle and re-use everything, so the collection consisted of re-creating old clothes you have instead of throwing them away. Fashion trends always reoccur so the most money saving method would be to keep all your clothes and re vamp them if you’re getting bored of them.

I think this is a good idea, to use some pieces from old collections for the new collections is a cheaper, easier and more eco-friendly way of re-creating designs, and for the people who had even bought the old collection can re-create it at home instead of buying an almost identical piece in the new collection.

Another idea is a voluntary design program, the aim is to re-design people’s old clothes they no longer desire in to something they want to wear all over again. The program could help potential designers build skills and knowledge of working with real life customers.

I will look in to visually changing the brand to show the new eco-friendly image.