In the past four months, nine companies joined Fair Wear Foundation, all of them as affiliates – companies with substantial influence on labour conditions on the factory floor.

In addition to the two jeans brands Nudie Jeans and J.C. Rags, there are two affiliates that produce promotional wear: the Belgian Cotton Group (joined November 2009) and the UK based Alteks.co.uk (joined the first of January 2010).

During the opening of FWF’s new office on 6 November 2009, the Dutch workwear firm Rivema, which produces Roughnecks with its partner, a production facility in China, signed the Code of Labour Practices. On the same date, Manderley, a Dutch private label company with its own production facility in Slowakia, also joined FWF.

On the first of March 2010 FWF was joined by Schijvens (see photo!), which designs and produces corporate wear in its own facility in The Netherlands as well as abroad.
During the annual FWF members’ day, finally, two more companies signed on: Araco, a firm for promotional and work wear, and Mayerline fashion.

This week, verification coordinator Henrik Lindholm was in Bulgaria, where he looked in on an audit.This is what he wrote:

In the Bulgarian Rhodope Mountains in the town of Kardzali lies a big factory from the communist era. During the high times of this factory more than 1000 persons worked here. Now the factory is privatised and the workforce has shrunk to around 270. But although the factory has deteriorated over the years, production for some well known luxury brands is being done here, as well as for one FWF affiliate.

It is not uncommon for people to ask online and at public events ‘How is Fair Wear Foundation different from Fair Trade?’ or ‘Is FWF the same thing as Fair Trade?’ While it is valuable to recognise the distinctions between these approaches, it is also important to recognise how much they have in common. In fact, it may be consumers’ recognition of the common goal we share at our core – i.e. fair treatment for the people who make the goods we use – that leads them to ask this question.

Our new verification coordinator, Margreet Vrieling, is joining her colleague Henrik Lindholm in Turkey during a factory audit. We’ve asked her to send us her impressions of her very first FWF audit.

In the past few months, two hip international brands for jeans and casual wear signed up for FWF’s verification programme. The Swedish brand Nudie Jeans, sold all over Europe and the USA, has grown explosively over the past years and decided to join FWF last November. They were followed by the Dutch J.C. Rags, which sells its denim in Europe, the US and the Middle East and signed the FWF Code of Labour Practices on 1 March 2010.

Yesterday and today, FWF participated in the second multi-stakeholder forum of FLO, the Fairtrade Labelling Organizations International, in Utrecht. The goal of this meeting was to discuss FLO’s approach to textiles and more specifically how Fairtrade can contribute to improving labour conditions in the textile industry. Through a number of pilot projects, FLO will investigate different options with a range of partners. One of these explores the question of third party verification: to what extend does it lead to measurably improved labour conditions along textile supply chains?

At the forum, FWF director Erica van Doorn in cooperation with Max Havelaar Switzerland presented the work of FWF as a third party verification initiative. Central themes in the discussion were worker empowerment, mature industrial relations, transparency and accountability and the quality of buyer-supplier relationships.

On 2 and 3 March, fashion students, teachers and organisations gathered in London for a conference organised by the FEI project. Fashioning an Ethical Industry is an EU-funded product by Labour Behind the Label, the British branch of Clean Clothes Campaign. During the conference, Sophie Koers from FWF took part in a panel and tried to answer the question 'How can ethical practices can be integrated into the design and business of fashion?'

Also on the panel were Anannya Bhattacharjee from the Asia Floor Wage Campaign, Alex Mcintosh (Centre for Sustainable Fashion) and Nieves 'snow' Ruiz Ramos, founder of the ethical fashion brand Bibico. FWF's presentation contained material from the latest FWF publication: the Fair Wear formula, which will come out later this month. Our images of a fashion supply chain, developed by consultant Anne Lally and the FWF team and designed by Ruben at buro RuSt, was a huge succes. So much so, that a renowned British writer asked to use it in her book, and a Dutch Fashion institute wants to use it as course material...

First, though, we're anxious to see the actual book. As soon as it's out, we'll let you know!