" THIS IS NOT CHARITY, THIS IS JUST WORK" - Vivienne Westwood

WHO: Vivienne Westwood in collaboration with the International Trade Center's Ethical Fashion Program (a joint body of the United Nations and the World Trade Organization), Yoox.com, and fashion photographer Juergen Teller.

WHAT: The creation of Westwood's new Autumn/Winter 2011/12 Ethical Fashion Africa collection, "a program which", according to Vogue.com UK, "has so far enlisted 7,000 local women to use their skills to produce bags for Westwood and earn a fair wage in return"(L. Milligan). Materials used: electrical wiring, aluminum, cotton canvas, plastic bags (all recycled).

**** "Ethical Fashion Africa = a social enterprise, based in Nairobi, that coordinates the work of community screen-printers, bead makers, tailors, metal-workers and weavers". 

(http://hotsecretz.blogspot.com/2011/06/vivienne-westwood-was-in-kenya-for.html)

WHERE: Nairobi, Kenya

WHEN: As of June 16, 2011 the collection of handbags and accessories has been available online at yoox.com  and at Vivenne Westwood stores.

WHY: Shifting supply-chain and manufacturing dynamics, conscious sourcing of goods and human capital, job creation in areas where opportunities are scarce, capacity building and the 'empowerment' of women in general...

Simone Cipriani, head of the International Trade Center contends that the project, "enables some of the world's poorest people to enter fashion's value chain as producers, while also allowing designers, who want to source ethically, to do so knowing their collaborators in the slums of Nairobi or impoverished rural areas are being paid a fair wage following the Code of Conduct stipulated by the Fair Labour Association." 

This isn't the first Vivienne Westwood Inc. advertising campaign to include this......and it certainly won't be the last but just to amplify the obvious text message:
 LEONARD PELTIER IS INNOCENT

"What I do, making bags, can make a difference. This project gives people control over their lives - charity doesn't give control, it does the opposite, it makes them dependant." (V. Westwood)