Ethical Fashion Forum

As a nice follow-on from my visit to London Fashion Weekend, on Wednesday 13th October 2010 I met with Tamsin Lejeune, Head of the Ethical Fashion Forum (EFF), to speak about her crucial work. I actually heard Tamsin talk at an industry event at RichMix last year while I was completing my dissertation in Environmentalism in Fashion. This time, I was very lucky to catch her at all; the whirlwind of London Fashion Week 2010 has subsided, yet life has not slowed for this ethical fashionista.

I will let the EFF missions speak for itself:

The mission of the Ethical Fashion Forum is to SUPPORT and PROMOTE sustainable practices, facilitate COLLABORATION, raise AWARENESS and provide the TOOLS AND RESOURCES needed to reduce poverty, reduce environmental damage and raise standards in the fashion industry.

…and that takes a lot of time and effort! EFF began in 2004 and within a decade has become the official industry body for ethical fashion. Here are just some of the things that Tamsin and the EFF gang have been doing: at the policy level, the ethos behind the Refashion Awards is now taking shape as a manifesto promoting key ‘helping hands’ like tax breaks for sustainable fashion. This manifesto will set out agreed goals and targets for fashion businesses to work towards related to sustainability- and will create a platform for the launch of a consumer campaign.

At the business level, design houses and retailers who subscribe to the Ethical Fashion Forum are taking a step towards their supply chain becoming a shade greener. The annual Source Expo, the industry trade show for ethical sourcing, was held in London on the 6th October and was a great success.

EFF is a not-for-profit organisation, with a consultancy arm whose profits go back into EFF. The EFF consultancy is run by a board of executives and runs training in communication, motivation, sourcing and many other topics related to helping the fashion industry become more ethical. I was reminded that ethical practices involve taking consideration of both social and environmental issues as the consultancy has undertaken much project work with the Bangladesh-British Chamber of Commerce, collaborations with the International Trade Centre to open doors to market for African-based businesses and community initiatives, as well as providing an advisory service for the Ecologist’s fashion pages. Lest not forget that EFF does fantastic work in the UK as well, for example with the Make Your Mark campaign, helping young people develop the confidence and skills to be entrepreneurial within the beautiful, complex and exciting world of ethical fashion.

In summary, from field to factory to finished product, Tamsin is making waves in the fashion industry. There is more and more work to be done, but more and more are taking notice of the inclusive and progressive EFF.