The materials database contains media on our key topics of working conditions in the textile and clothing industry and the environmental impact of clothing. The types of media include studies, guidelines and reports, as well as films, podcasts and web tools.
An inspiring Weltspiegel report on new design strategies for used clothing:
She is working on a fashion revolution: Swedish designer and scientist Anna Lidström says the world doesn't need a single new piece of clothing anymore. It is committed to keeping existing garments alive for as long as possible.
At the School of Textiles in Borås in southern Sweden, Anna is developing methods for companies to bring unsold and sorted goods back into a commercial cycle.
Bangladesh is one of the largest textile exporters in the world. European companies also benefit from the low wages of local workers. Thilo Mischke wants to get to know the working conditions on site in a sewing factory and a tannery.
The report contains the Federal Government's 2017 Textile Action Plan, focusing on the political framework conditions, the support and development of the partner countries and public procurement.
Textiles made of synthetic fibres such as polyester can emit the smallest fragments during production and washing. This also affects sports textiles, from running shirts to outdoor jackets. The partners of the TextileMission research project have set themselves the task of better understanding this environmental impact and helping to minimise it. Here is an overview of objectives, involved organisations and key research activities:
In this factsheet, the SÜDWIND Institute publishes the results of a non-representative on-site research on Indian cotton fields to investigate the extent to which conditions on fairtrade cotton farms differ from conventional cotton farms. The investigation was conducted by SOUTHWIND together with the Indian partner Center for Labour Research and Action (CLRA) in the 2020/21 season. The survey of around 270 field workers in cotton farming in India showed that working conditions on Fairtrade-certified cotton farms hardly differed from those on conventional cotton farms: whether they are below minimum wages, child labour outside family work contexts, experience of discrimination or lack of medical care. Observed differences seem to be more related to different growing regions.
SÜDWIND calls on Fairtrade to improve the Fairtrade standard for contract production used in cotton cultivation.
