This week marks World Refugee Week and Australian fashion label The Social Outfit is setting out to make a difference, providing training and employment in the fashion industry to female humanitarian migrants.
The Newtown-based, ethically produced clothing label and social enterprise is run by a group of women of new migrant and refugee backgrounds, aiming to provide fair and dignified employment and community training programs in the fashion industry with a focus on manufacturing, retail, marketing and design.
To date, the label has either trained or employed over 400 people through their programs, which for most represents their first Australian job, a key stepping stone for successful integration.
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This June, The Social Outfit is asking participants to join them in celebrating fashion that is made ethically as well as being good for the planet in the hopes of raising $30,000 for their non-profit community programs (they've since raised more than their target). With many people still working from home during the pandemic, they are calling for participants to bring some colour and style to their daily Zoom calls during Refugee week, and join the #WearTheChange2020 style campaign.
“Our styling challenge #WearTheChange2020 is about raising awareness of the importance of choosing ethically made and sustainable fashion over fast fashion, whilst supporting women from refugee backgrounds with our training and employment pathways in the fashion industry,” says CEO Camilla Schippa.
Participants are asked to wear the same ethical or sustainable garment each day for a week, styled in different ways, with all funds raised going to the The Social Outfit’s community programs.
“With the fashion industry being one of the top global polluters and notorious for using forced labour, child labour and endangering workers through unsafe conditions in factories, we want to continue to educate buyers and shine a light on the importance of buying ethical and sustainable clothing over fast fashion”, Schippa added.
With sustainability at the forefront since launching in 2014, the label also implement small-scale production and innovatively uses dead stock materials from Australia’s best known fashion brands, including Bianca Spender, Cue, Carla Zampatti and Gary Bigeni, saving over 5.5 tonnes of fabric from landfill to date.
To get involved, visit here.
Main Image Credit: @diana.carolina.arbelaez
