Carry Somers Explained

Carry Somers
Birth Place:Seaton, Devon, England
Education:Colyton Grammar School, Westminster College Oxford, University of Southampton, University of Essex
Known For:Fashion Revolution, Pachacuti
Occupation:Fashion designer, campaigner

Carry Somers (born 1966) is a British fashion designer, social entrepreneur and campaigner. She is founder of Fashion Revolution and was previously founder and director of Pachacuti.

Background

Somers was born in Seaton, Devon in 1966 and attended Colyton Grammar School. She has a degree in Languages and European Studies from Southampton University, and a Masters in Native American Studies Studies from the University of Essex[1] which presented her with the alumnus of the year award in 2009.[2] [3] Somers set up fair trade fashion brand Pachacuti in 1992 and founded Fashion Revolution in 2013.[4] [5] [6] In July 2022, Somers was awarded an honorary doctorate by Keele University.[7]

Career

Fashion Revolution

Somers is founder of Fashion Revolution, a global movement which arose from the Rana Plaza garment factory disaster in Bangladesh on 24 April 2013.[8] [9] Fashion Revolution is the world's largest fashion activism movement campaigning for systemic reform of the fashion industry with a focus on supply chain transparency.[10]

Somers organised roundtable debates at the House of Commons and the House of Lords on ethics, sustainability and transparency in the fashion supply chain including Ethical Fashion 2020:a New Vision for Transparency [11] in June 2015 and Fashion Question Time annually from 2015 to 2018 in UK Parliament and in 2019 at the V&A.[12] Somers speaks nationally [13] [14] and internationally [15] [16] [17] [18] about transparency, human rights and environmental issues in the fashion supply chain.

In 2020, Somers sailed 2000 miles from the Galapagos Islands to Easter Island and the South Pacific Gyre with eXXpedition,[19] an all-female round-the-world sailing voyage carrying out scientific research into the impact of plastic and toxic pollution in the ocean.[18]

In February 2022, Somers was nominated for a billboard campaign during New York Fashion Week highlighting women-led social enterprises in the fashion industry which are driving social and environmental impact, appearing on the Nasdaq billboard in Times Square and outside the United Nations.[20]

Somers worked with garden designer Lottie Delamain on a Textile Garden for Fashion Revolution which won a silver gilt medal at the RHS Chelsea Flower Show in May 2022.[21]

Pachacuti

Somers founded fair trade hat brand Pachacuti in 1992.[22] Pachacuti was the first company to be verified under the World Fair Trade Organization Sustainable Fair Trade Management System,[23] [24] the first International certification of a fair trade, sustainable production process.[25] The WFTO Verification system guarantees practices, procedures and processes that demonstrate social, economic and environmental responsibility throughout the supply chain".[26] Pachacuti's products were labelled Verified Fair Trade by WFTO UK0001-2009 to 2012.[27] [28]

Pachacuti piloted the European Union Geo Fair Trade project from 2009–12[29] which traced products from the straw to the Panama hat weavers. 60 social, economic, geolocalisation and environmental indicators tracked annual changes. The pilot project mapped the GPS co-ordinates of Pachacuti's 154 weavers' houses in Ecuador, the parcels of land where the Carludovica Palmata grows, and the co-ordinates of the associations who harvest and process the straw.[30] [31]

At London Fashion Week in September 2013, People Tree Ltd. and Pachacuti were the first companies in the world to launch the WFTO Fair Trade Guarantee System label.[32]

Press

Somers appears regularly on television and radio in the UK and overseas.[33] [34] She has been a regular guest on BBC World Business News,[35] BBC Breakfast[36] and national and international radio.[37] [38] [39] Press articles and interviews include: Forbes How Two Entrepreneurs Became Unexpected Activists And Started A Fashion Revolution[40] Telegraph She Wears It well[41] El País[42] Vogue,[43] Newsweek How the Rana Plaza Disaster Changed Fashion Forever [44] and the Financial Times How to Spend It.[45]

Lectures and Presentations

Somers is a regular speaker at universities, events and conferences, both nationally [46] [31] [47] and internationally [48] [49] on Fashion Revolution, fair trade, entrepreneurship, sustainability and fashion. She has lectured on cruise ships in Latin America and the Caribbean on textiles, traditional dress, artisan handicrafts, indigenous peoples and fair trade.

Books

Somers wrote the introduction to "Fixing Fashion" which looks at the impacts of consumer culture's addiction to disposable fashion, published in 2015 by New Society.She is co-author of the book Working Ethically, which aims to help business owners find an ethical strategy which will benefit their suppliers, community and environment.[50] She contributed to the book, published in 2014, "Sustainable Luxury and Social Entrepreneurship".[51]

Business accomplishments

See also

External links

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Essex chancellor launches Women of the Future Appeal - Business Weekly - Technology News - Business news - Cambridge and the East of England. www.businessweekly.co.uk.
  2. Web site: Alumnus of the Year Award - Honorary Graduates - University of Essex. www.essex.ac.uk.
  3. Web site: Alumni list . alumni.essex.ac.uk.
  4. News: Fashion Revolution Week: Seven ways to get involved. The Guardian. 24 April 2018. Blanchard. Tamsin.
  5. Web site: Meet fashion's sustainable stars transforming the way we dress. 17 April 2019.
  6. Web site: Who Are the Women Leading Fashion's Sustainable Revolution?. 20 April 2020.
  7. Web site: Keele announces honorary graduates .
  8. News: People are wearing clothes inside out to mark Fashion Revolution Day - BBC Newsbeat. Amelia. Butterly. BBC News. 24 April 2015.
  9. News: Fashion Revolution Day: wear your clothes inside out and ask #whomademyclothes to support worker welfare . London . The Independent . Linda . Sharkey . 24 April 2015.
  10. Web site: Who Made My Clothes? Stand up for workers' rights with Fashion Revolution Week | Tamsin Blanchard. TheGuardian.com. 22 April 2019.
  11. Web site: Ethical Fashion 2020: a New Vision for Transparency - Total Politics. 1 July 2015.
  12. News: Labour MP Rushanara Ali: 'Rana Plaza was a man-made disaster'. The Guardian. 23 April 2018. Ferrier. Morwenna.
  13. Web site: University of Exeter. University of. Exeter. lifesciences.exeter.ac.uk.
  14. Web site: The Future of Sustainable Fashion. talks.ox.ac.uk. 14 July 2022.
  15. Web site: Ireland gives two thumbs up for development as The European Year for Development Launch Ceremony in Dublin Castle scoops two awards - Dochas. www.dochas.ie.
  16. Web site: Trade show preview: Bangladesh Denim Expo plugs transparency for its next edition. www.the-spin-off.com. 14 July 2022.
  17. Web site: Carry Somers at the Bilbao Bizkaia DWeek 2017 - British Council. www.britishcouncil.es.
  18. Web site: Carry Somers: 'Las mujeres están liderando el cambio en la industria de la moda'.
  19. Web site: eXXpedition - All-women voyages exploring the impact of plastics in our ocean.. eXXpedition. 14 July 2022.
  20. Web site: Meet the Conscious Fashion Campaign: New York 2021 Honorees . 22 November 2021 .
  21. News: What does it really cost to make your clothes? . Financial Times . 7 June 2022 .
  22. 3p Contributor on Tuesday --> . Interview: Carry Somers of Pachacuti on the Fashion Revolution . www.triplepundit.com . 2014-01-14 . 2018-06-25.
  23. Web site: Archived copy . 12 July 2015 . https://web.archive.org/web/20150713052232/http://search.standardsmap.org/assets/media/SustainableFairTradeManagementSystem/English/AtAGlance_EN.pdf . 13 July 2015 . dead . dmy-all .
  24. Web site: Archived copy . 2015-07-31 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20160305105624/http://ec.europa.eu/environment/emas/pdf/newsletter/newsletter_09_3.pdf . 5 March 2016 . dmy .
  25. Web site: About fair trade. 2011 . www.fairtrade.net.
  26. Web site: The WFTO Way « WFTO Europe. wfto-europe.org. 9 August 2013.
  27. Web site: Pachacuti: a fair-trade fashion pioneer. Rachel. Holmes. 14 December 2009. The Guardian.
  28. Web site: Pachacuti – Sustainable Fair Trade Management System - Magazine - Global Partner Network: Corporate Social Responsibility. Jennifer. Todd. www.csr360gpn.org.
  29. Web site: GeoFairTrade - Geotraceability for fair trade - FP7 . 2013-11-14 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20131106104614/http://www.geofairtrade.eu/ . 6 November 2013 . dmy .
  30. Web site: Transparency - Who made your hat? - Pachacuti . 12 July 2015 . https://web.archive.org/web/20150711050457/http://www.panamas.co.uk/fairtrade/transparency-and-geo-fair-trade . 11 July 2015 . dead . dmy-all .
  31. Web site: Hollings: The Big Issue - Manchester Metropolitan University . www.hollings.mmu.ac.uk.
  32. Web site: World Fair Trade Organization. World Fair Trade Organization.
  33. Web site: UK aiming to clamp down on fashion waste. www.newstalkzb.co.nz. 14 July 2022.
  34. Web site: Carry Somers TV interview. Plan Textil, Argentina. 14 July 2022. www.youtube.com.
  35. Web site: Carry Somers on BBC World News 24 April 2017. 14 July 2022. www.youtube.com.
  36. Web site: YouTube. www.youtube.com. 14 July 2022.
  37. Web site: BBC Radio 4 - Radio 4 in Four - Swapping, second-hand and sustainability: Mary Portas on the future of fashion.
  38. News: Fashion industry 'needs to be more transparent'. BBC News. 24 April 2019.
  39. Web site: The Environmental Cost Of Fashion. www.wbur.org. 14 July 2022.
  40. News: How Two Entrepreneurs Became Unexpected Activists And Started A Fashion Revolution. Susan. Price. Forbes. 14 July 2022.
  41. News: She Wears It Well: Fashion Revolution co-founder Carry Somers offers her tips for creating a sustainable wardrobe. Olivia Buxton. Smith. The Telegraph . 24 April 2017. 14 July 2022. www.telegraph.co.uk.
  42. News: Pregunta quién hace tu ropa y salvarás vidas. Spanish. El País. 16 January 2018. Makazaga. Iñaki.
  43. Web site: 5 Years On From The Rana Plaza Collapse, How Much Has Actually Changed?. 23 April 2018. British Vogue. 14 July 2022.
  44. News: On World Environment Day, we remember the Rana Plaza Disaster and see how it changed fashion forever. Newsweek. 5 June 2018.
  45. News: What does it really cost to make your clothes?. Financial Times. 7 June 2022.
  46. Web site: After Essex: In Conversation with Carry Somers | University of Essex.
  47. Web site: University of Exeter. University of. Exeter. geography.exeter.ac.uk.
  48. Web site: Más que una moda, una revolución Carry Somers y Frank Zambrelli Centro . www3.centro.edu.mx . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20200629065621/https://www3.centro.edu.mx/Noticias/mas-que-una-moda/ . 2020-06-29.
  49. https://www.candafoundation.org/latest/news/2018/11/sustainability-and-social-responsibility-priority-issues-at-the-latin-american-fashion-summit Latin American Fashion Summit retrieved 6 March 2019
  50. Web site: A & C BLACK : Working ethically . https://archive.today/20120716235846/http://www.acblack.com/Working-ethically/no_author/books/details/9780713675481. 2012-07-16. dead. 14 July 2022.
  51. https://gre.presswarehouse.com/books/BookDetail.aspx?productID=395400
  52. Web site: Conscious Fashion Campaign: New York Announces 10 Women-led Honoree Organizations . 16 November 2021 .
  53. Web site: 2020 Winners – LUXURY LAW SUMMIT.
  54. Web site: Sustainable and Ethical Fashion 2019. 12 February 2019.
  55. Web site: The Progress 1000: Equality Champions. 7 September 2016.
  56. Web site: Source Awards 2013 . The Source . 13 July 2015 .
  57. Web site: Past Editions / 2011 Awards . IE . 13 July 2015 . https://web.archive.org/web/20150712081945/http://www.ie.edu/ie-luxury-awards/past-editions/ . 12 July 2015 . dead . dmy-all .
  58. News: Observer Ethical awards Winners 2011 . The Guardian . 13 July 2015 .
  59. News: Awards for Excellence 2011, Big Ticks . 7 June 2011 . Financial Times . 13 July 2015.
  60. Web site: Hatty Award. www.hatlife.com. 31 July 2015. https://web.archive.org/web/20180625213501/https://www.hatlife.com/hatty_awards08/carry_somers.php. 25 June 2018. dead. dmy-all.
  61. Web site: BBC - Radio 4 Woman's Hour -Carry Somers. BBC. www.bbc.co.uk.
  62. News: Carry defies gunmen to scoop top award . Ashbourne News Telegraph . 12 July 2006 . 13 July 2015.

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