A blog written by our work experience volunteer. Anouk is currently volunteering with SFW as part of her Duke of Edinburgh award. She talks here about what her and her friends think about sustainable fashion.

The New York Fashion Sustainability and Social Accountability Act has made history in bridging the gap in accountability for the fashion industry.

As 2021 came to a close, Remake released their Fashion Accountability Report. Here we take a little look at the ins and outs of the results.

As COP26 comes to an end, we explore what was discussed in relation to fashion. The industry is responsible for 8% of global emissions, and is a significant area of opportunity for change in relation to mitigating climate change.

As Black History Month 2021 comes to an end, Amber from the SFW Steering Group shares some views on people of colour in the fashion industry.

We’ve all seen the gift cards stacked at the end of the aisles in supermarkets – everything from clothing and furniture to music and films. But there hasn’t been a truly sustainable, conscious gift card until now - The Charity Shop Gift Card works just like all the other multi-retailer gift cards but is only for use in charity shops.

The innovative app R Reflections is a sponsor of Sustainable Fashion Week. Have you had a go yet? The R Reflections founder, Rebecca, chats below about the app, how it works and how it helps reduce the problems inherent in fast fashion.

We’re so pleased to be supported by Ecozone as one of the sponsors of our non-profit event. Here we hear from their team about the care of clothing… a completely integral aspect of sustainability in fashion. Check out their tips for how to care for your precious items of clothing whilst keeping them clean…

We’re teaming up with the Students’ Union at UWE to co-deliver a creative, vision-led project for the students. SFW are inviting UWE students to create a unique garment that tells the story of your vision of an equitable and sustainable fashion industry – an industry that’s regenerative, benefits planet and communities, is representative and accessible to all.

SFW is proud to introduce another sponsor - Solarsense; an organisation supplying homes and businesses with clean energy solutions that deliver financial savings, carbon reductions and energy independence. Preventing thousands of tons of carbon emissions each year, Solarsense is actively supporting the UK towards a greener future.

We’ve partnered with Sharewear Clothing Scheme as the work they do in keeping preloved clothing out of landfill and redistributing it to those in economic crisis is right up our street. Here we hear from Louise Cooke, the Sharewear CEO about their #noweartorun campaign.

Most of us are somewhat aware of the damaging effect of fast fashion on the environment. But what about its effect on our own lives and happiness? Mental health and fast fashion is a mostly untouched topic, but this Mental Health Awareness Week it’s time to consider the harmful nature of the fashion industry on our minds and happiness.

Monday 10th May saw the launch of SFW’s latest partner, FIDA - an open-access online learning platform that empowers young people to learn in new ways, through innovative projects rooted in the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (UN SDGs).  It has been created to address three fundamental challenges – sustainability, equitable access to education, and the need for curricular reform.

Do you want to learn more about the true cost of fast fashion? Why not spend an evening watching a documentary with us? On the 12th May, we’re hosting the SFW Night In; an evening to come together and watch a Sustainable Fashion documentary. Whilst covid restrictions have meant our life events has been postponed, we want to bring everyone together (virtually) in an evening of relaxed education. In this blog post, Isabelle has listed some eye-opening documentaries available online.

One of our SFW ambassadors, Alice Revell, is also an ambassador for the Y7, the official youth engagement group for the G7. This week, a few of our ambassadors met on zoom and had a really engaging chat about the issues in the fashion industry and came up with solutions that Alice will be putting forward to the climate change delegate for consideration.

We’ve teamed up with students from the University of Bristol’s Engaged Learning team to run a survey about what barriers to participating in sustainable fashion people might experience. We’re keen to get a sense of what support people in the community might need to help them make positive changes in their fashion habits. We’re going to look at the team’s progress as they go along, but here’s a little introduction to the students and their backgrounds…

Earlier this week our Partnerships Lead, Amber Rochette, chatted with Alex Henden from Changes Bristol; a community-based mental health charity that provides free peer support groups and one-to-one befriending services to help improve people’s mental wellbeing. We are delighted that the organisation is also one of SFW’s latest partners.

With the beginning of spring and the approach of lockdown’s end, the UK feels on the brink of a new life. This week we look at the Christian practices of Lent and Easter, and what they can teach us about environmentalism and our quest towards a fairer, greener and happier planet.

Naomi Austin previously designed men’s & boys’ sportswear for a number of high-profile brands such as Reebok, Umbro and Marks & Spencer's. Now, alongside being a full-time senior lecturer in fashion design & promotion at the University of Sunderland, she is working towards a PHD. Her research has been focused on the potential for high street chains to use bast fibres (hemp, linen & ramie) as they have a much lower demand for water and energy. Here she answers a few Qs put to her by the SFW Team.

In 2015, the UN launched the 17 Sustainable Development Goals as a guide for Member States to achieve sustainability in their countries. At SFW, we work to incorporate each goal into our organisation but today we talk specifically about poverty, gender inequality, climate action, clean energy and responsible consumption.