Ecouterre

It is clear that the actions of consumers have the potential to support both ethical and deplorable working conditions for those laboring in the fashion industry. Deeply moved by the Bangladesh garment factory collapse on May 24th of this year, Spanish artist Yolanda Dominguez created a public art installation entitled “Fashion Victims” to draw attention to the calamity. She placed various women underneath rubble on the streets of Madrid to send a disturbing and bold message to those living in the urban west.

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Muji has announced the development of an eco-friendly natural-dye plant in Cambodia as part of its commitment to the Business Call to Action, a global initiative to “accelerate progress” towards the United Nations’ Millennium Development Goals through sustainable business models. The Japanese clothing and lifestyle brand, known for its minimalist yet design-conscious wares, says it has committed to a 2,150-square-foot facility that will employ more than 300 local people by 2015. Muji is also planning to plant indigo—a flowering plant harvested for its dark-blue dye—around the premises, which it says could generate another 50 jobs, along with a potential new line of indigo-dyed products.

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Photo by Shutterstock

Nearly two months after a deadly building collapse claimed the lives of 1,127 garment workers outside the Bangladesh capital of Dhaka, the U.S. House of Representatives is taking action on the issue of safety in the beleaguered South Asian nation. Lawmakers in Washington, D.C., approved on Friday a defense authorization bill that requires all military-branded garments produced in Bangladesh and sold at Department of Defense-owned base retail stores, also known as “exchanges,” to comply with an enforceable fire and building safety accord that will improve conditions in the country’s ready-made garment factories and “uphold our nation’s core values.” The bill also requires military exchanges that sell their own Bangladesh-made branded garments to join or abide by the conditions of the Accord on Fire and Building Safety in Bangladesh.

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No need to worry about running down your cellphone battery this festival season. Vodafone’s “Power Pocket” promises to keep peripherals pumping on little more than body heat and movement. You won’t have to fret over missing a beat, either: Prototypes are available in the form of denim shorts and a sleeping bag, which means you can charge your gear while you walk, dance, or even nap. Debuting at the Isle of Wright Festival on Thursday, the Power Pocket is a collaboration between the British telecommunications company and the department of electronics and computer science at the University of Southampton. Each smart material contains thermoelectric modules that convert temperature differences—say between your sweaty, gyrating behind and the surrounding air—into electric voltage, a concept known in physics as the Seebeck effect.

PREVIOUSLY ON ECOUTERRE: T-Shirt Converts Rock Music Into Electricity at Glastonbury Festival

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Photos by Amanda Coen for Ecouterre

Adrienne Antonson of State designs clothing according to her own calendar. Turned off by the fast fashion cycle, Antonson takes a thoughtful and resourceful approach to life as much as to fashion. Her line features handmade organic cotton britches, smocks and silk tops reconstructed from tops that she has collected during her travels throughout the US. Ecouterre’s Amanda Coen had the chance to catch up with Antonson in her Brooklyn studio one morning to hear about her work process and State’s latest developments.

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You already knew that you could wear your heart on your sleeve, but what about your brain on your neck? Artists Varvara Guljajeva and Mar Canet have teamed up with researcher Sebastian Mealla to create NeuroKnitting, a project that explores the how brain signals interact with technology and textiles. Using Bach’s “Goldberg’s Variations” to invoke emotional responses, brainwaves are collected via an wearable EEG headset and transferred to the “Knitic” machine which assembles scarves into bicolor patterns reflecting the wearer’s moods.

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