CAROLINE TUNG

FRIDAY 12 SEPTEMBER, 2014

Social enterprises in the creative industries are championing global change and

exploring upcoming innovations in ethical design.

Sewing Mamas employed by SEW Tanzania show off their creations. Image: http://www.

dumbofeather.com/diy/sew-tanzania/ (http://www.dumbofeather.com/diy/sew-tanzania/)

Ten years ago, Happy W, a single mother from Arusha, Tanzania, was desperate

for an income after testing positive to HIV AIDS.

Left with three sons to feed and clothe, the odds were against her.

In Africa, the chance of finding a job once infected with the disease is almost

impossible due to stigma.

Australian creative businesses take on world stage

Happy’s life turned around in 2009 when she joined SEW Tanzania

(http://www.sewtanzania.com/pages/about-us), a social enterprise founded by

Melbourne lawyer Jessie Smith that employs HIV positive women

(http://www.smh.com.au/national/sewing-for-selfsufficiency-in-tanzania-

20130430-2ir2k.html) to create bags at a factory in Arusha, Tanzania.

From its beginnings at a refugee camp in Ghana and following a shift into

Tanzania, the SEW Group is now a part of a surge in social enterprises, with

businesses from Australia’s fashion and design industry taking unprecedented

measures to develop global connections. Profits from SEW merchandise sales

offer women a path to independence while providing sustained funding for

current and future development.

A model that is gaining global attention

(http://www.parracity.nsw.gov.au/work/doing_business_in_parra/social_enterprise),

social enterprises generate profit or surplus to further business activities guided

by a social, environmental or cultural purpose, or a combination of such causes.

‘Social enterprise is often a win-win model,’ said Virginia Bruce, CEO

(http://au.linkedin.com/in/virginiabruce) of REAL Group

(http://au.linkedin.com/in/virginiabruce), which promotes social, ethical and

sustainable design and living. ‘There is a consensus amongst many global

leaders that our future needs to harness the entrepreneurial spirit and skills

that have been the foundation of the developed world.’

‘The UK and US have definitely been leading this space, however Australia is

catching on,’ she said.

With a 25-year history in successful international brand development

implementing strategies for brands such as Warner Bros and Mattel, Bruce

believes social considerations will be crucial to the effectiveness of any business

in the future.

‘The next generation of creative thinkers, particularly the Millennial Generation,

feel that social imperatives should naturally be integrated into what they do,’ she

says. ‘In 10 years this will just be the normal practice.’

The REAL Group currently owns four social enterprises: the SEAT Project

(http://www.seatproject.org/), Hands That Shape Humanity

(http://www.handsthatshape.com/about/) (a business promoting positive social

change through a travelling multimedia exhibition and designer range of

fashion, jewellery and home wares), the REAL Store

(http://therealstore.com.au/about) and the REAL Collective brand and business

consultancy.

The REAL Store in Woolloomoolo, Sydney. Image: supplied/courtesy of Virginia Bruce

Each business stems from the ideas and vision of a creative individual. Although

the enterprises are respectively unique, they share an underpinning notion that

to be truly sustainable, the designs sourced from international artisan

communities and individuals must be deemed ‘superior’ – something that

consumers ‘truly want to buy’ – in order to provide a financially sustainable

business model.

Part of Bruce’s creative vision is realised through the REAL Store, a gallery and

showroom exhibiting products that reflect social, ethical and sustainable design

and living.

Following a presentation in Sydney by esteemed fashion commentator Marion

Hume (http://www.marionhume.com/?page_id=254) about a social enterprise

model initiated by the UN (joined by International fashion forces such as Vivien

Westwood and Stella McCartney in mentoring African artisan communities), a

collaboration between the REAL Group, MYER department chain and the UN

Ethical Fashion Initiative emerged.

Five top Australian designers including Jayson Brunsdon, Fleur Wood and

Manning Cartell designed tote bags produced by an artisan community in

Nairobi. Proceeds go towards the ongoing development of the REAL Foundation’s

Arts mentoring program, which is part of a partnership with the University of

New South Wales Art and Design.

The development of mentoring programs has helped to form lasting connections

between artistic communities and advocates of social wellbeing, as well as

benefiting marginalised social groups.

SEW Australia Mentor Nicki Lees spent almost a year working with women in the

city of Arusha, Tanzania. One of the main ways SEW supports women is by

employing them to produce Fair Trade Conference Bags made of recycled

materials.

‘Basically, it’s for conferences who want an ethical element to their business,’

Lees says. ‘[The bags] are all made out of recycled products, and the [local

Tanzanian] Kitenge material around the side [of the bag] is what the women

wear.’

A recent partnership was born when SEW founder Jessie Smith

(http://www.abc.net.au/radionational/programs/drive/passport3a-jessie-smith2c-

criminal-lawyer-and-social-entrepre/5015094) approached designer Zoe Weir

(the designer behind high-end Melbourne label Zoe Elizabeth

(http://www.zoeelizabeth.com.au/)) with the idea of starting a collaboration.

The first collection was a sell-out. Developed in 2013, the range has evolved over

the past two years, with a line-up of new accessories and garments in 2014

including pouches, pillows and bags.

The second collection was recently showcased at Melbourne Spring Fashion

Week’s World Designer Runway alongside Weir’s Spring/Summer 2014 collection

of signature Liberty of London cotton bikinis, vintage-inspired dresses, crotchet

cardigans, hair garlands and espadrilles.

‘Accessories are a great way to use up the excess fabric from when I

manufactured,’ Weir says. ‘We don’t want any wastage.’

Textile Beat founder Jane Milburn wears a sustainable 'history skirt', one of her

upcycled creations. Image: Patria Jannides/courtesy of Jane Milburn

Brisbane-based founder of Textile Beat (http://textilebeat.com/about/) Jane

Milburn is working on her own way of reducing textile waste.

The upcycler has sold garments, hosted workshops and recently showcased

upcycled work (http://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/queensland/textile-beat-to-

promote-sustainable-fashion-at-green-heart-fair-20140509-zr7fw.html) at the

Green Heart Fair (http://www.citysmart.com.au/greenheartfair), teaching people

how to ‘chop and change’ old clothes into stylish and sustainable pieces.

According to Milburn, the global consumption of textiles and fibre apparel has

increased at three times the rate of the population increase. She aims to spread

the concept of ‘slow fashion’, contradicting commercial mainstream fashion.

‘The way things have gone in the fashion and clothing industry is that we have a

high turnover,’ Milburn says. ‘We are always seeking something new, and when

it doesn’t work, we just move on to the next thing.’

A trained agricultural scientist hailing from a rural background, Milburn uses

sustainability as a guiding philosophy to educate others about ethical fashion.

‘To me, it’s about natural resource use and how we can reduce the waste of

fibres,’ she said. ‘ They’re perfectly good, but because of the junk, it gets a hole in

it and ends up going into landfill. I am looking at ways to change that.’

Unlike recycling (the process of breaking down consumer materials that are

remade into lesser quality products), upcycling adds value to waste products by

remaking it into an item for a better purpose. Upcycles can take the form of

garments that suit a person’s current taste and needs.

‘My model for doing things differently is to engage our own skills and creativity

to change clothing suit our needs,’ Milburn says.

Her online campaign (http://www.sewitagain.com/about/) sewitagain.com, where

she posts daily upcycled pieces created from her home studio, aims to inspire

upcycling of pre-loved natural fibre garments and revive the art of home sewing.

Fashion for the environment and fashion for the home unite under Melbourne-

based brand Feliz (http://felizhome.com.au/), which produces a handmade range

of ‘quirky and fun’ bedlinen and cushions. Their products are made using

certified 100% organic cotton which is either screen printed and constructed in

Melbourne, or woodblock printed by Bagru Textiles

(http://www.bagrutextiles.com/page/43) in India, a social enterprise that is

committed to improving artisan wages, and assisting a Bagru community fund in

areas such as education, environment and entrepreneurship.

‘We feel so excited by the opportunity to create ethically and sustainably

produced items and even more excited that so much of this can be achieved

locally,’ designers Mel and Jane said in a statement on their website

(http://felizhome.com.au/about/).

For Milburn, sustainable fashion is about teaching others how to ‘utilise clothing’

rather than ‘racing out to buy the next thing’, while Bruce believes ‘harnessing

the creativity of [the arts] industry as the visceral force for positive social change

can be extremely inspiring.’

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Caroline Tung is a second-year student at Monash University.