M&S ethical advertising is a boost for all ethical clothing

An update on the excellent Ethical Fashion Twitter feed alerted us to a big development at M&S to push ethical fashions to the forefront with a new £200m ad campaign.

You can read more at a Guardian story where you can also see some ad copy which pushes Plan A as "Doing the Right Thing" making the point "For some retailers, green went out of fashion as soon as it came in".

Our initial thought is that this 'pop' at its competitors might signal that for many retailers ethical clothing was 'in' in the good times, and now we are embarking on a age of austerity it's quietly being forgotten about. And that is indeed the point which M&S are making. Steve Sharp, executive director of marketing at M&S is quoted as saying "Without being specific there are plenty of companies that have jumped on the bandwagon but have not really committed or are [not] delivering".

The Guardian states M&S as having so far achieved achieved 39 of the 100 commitments outlined in Plan A, a five year plan launched in 2007 to transform M&S's ethical credentials. M&S itself in its 2010 annual report says it's met 62 of the original 100 ethical and green commitments and added another 80! The 'Grauniad' seems to be counting backwards - make sense of the figures and the efficacy of the commitments for yourself here.

We think it's great that ethical issues in clothing are going to be out there in a big way in adverts everyone will see over the coming weeks. Whether for your own back or for a promotional campaign (that's where we come in!) making ethical clothing as part of the choice is going to be there for everyone to think about.

Ethical clothing from strength to strength

As we head into the teenies (and the decade hopefully will not turn out to be known by that name!) it's useful to look around the market place to see further sign of the market for ethical clothing developing, and for pointers on whether abuses in the clothing industry are on the way out.

The promotional clothing market itself is likely to follow trends rather than set them. To see where the future heading it's the likes of independent fashion clothing brands that are likely to be setting the pace.

For example, Fashion United reports the trade fair for independent brands, Margin, in London attracting major international retailers alongside the leading independents you would expect to see. Major stores attending Margin included House of Fraser, Harvey Nichols, Liberty, Top Shop, Next and Fenwick, as well as online retailers such as ASOS and Coggles. The article particularly highlights an increase in these visiting stores interested in fair-trade and organic clothing with correspondingly more ethical fashion labels such as Frank & Faith showcasing their products.

In fact Frank & Faith said "we may be an Eco fashion brand but we want our ethics to be the norm not the exception.... .....we were opened up to great boutiques, buyers and press who just loved us because we are a great indie fashion brand with soul".

We think that's a great quote because there's a danger with ethical stances that it's just the marketing man speaking. Pier 32 likes people with soul....

The main London fair specialising in ethical clothing is Pure, that's some way off yet but their main sponsor, the Ethical fashion Forum is busy around the year and on Twitter they provide a constant steam of titbits (my preferred name for tweets) highlighting the progress being made in the industry.

Something that caught my eye was the reference to a blog article by Jamie Burdett reporting on the DEFRA Sustainable Clothing Roadmap conference and shown there, a new machine in production soon to new machine to separate waste textile and create new thread even from short fibre denim, apparently prompting "the man from Tesco to say, 'we'll buy that from you tomorrow!'".

Unfortunately there are some who do not seem to get the point with the minister from Defra quoted as saying, 'lovely to see so many brands here today, although one is clearly missing, Primark'.

Yesterday's news alert from Business Trading Ethically unfortunately finds it necessary to highlight the other end of the spectrum, referring a new report by the Environmental Justice Foundation labelling Uzbekistan a "Slave Nation" - the government there "continues to lie to the international community while routinely compelling hundreds of thousands of children as labourers in the country's annual cotton harvest". We reported on the situation in Uzbekistan two years ago - it seems that little has changed.

On the theme that every News Alert should have a silver lining, BTE also reported that Ben & Jerry's would be 100% sourced from fair trade certified products by the end of 2013. Can't wait!

T-shirt printing for music festivals

We've been pushing forward with our contacts in the music industry recently - the conciousness over ethical t-shirt printing decisions is as big here as anywhere and we want to be at the forefront of people's thoughts when it comes to purchasing decisions because, putting it simply, we think that our t-shirt printing provides the best combination of value with ethics in the business.

This is the new look of our sister site tshirtprinters.uk.com - aimed squarely at this market.



Already, in the middle of this wet winter, the music airwaves are buzzing with news of who's going to be appearing at which music festival this summer. One thing you can be sure of is that Pier 32 are going to be there in the mix. For example, last year our client Hotbox Events ran volunteer teams of people of between 450-500 at the Reading and Leeds festivals, and 250 at the Latitude festival in Suffolk. Every volunteer was given a Pier 32 crew t-shirt, and each member of staff a Pier 32 t-shirt and fleece.

Hotbox Events works with Festival Republic recruiting and managing staff and volunteers for festivals pulling together Campsite Assistance Teams (CATs) and Helpful Arena Teams (HATs) at the Reading, Leeds and Latitude Music Festivals since 2003.

The CATs and HATs work in the campsites and arena, helping the festival goers to get the best out of their weekend by providing directions, helping to carry belongings and putting up tents, reporting back regarding any problems and working with fire safety, medical and security teams as required.

In 2009 Hotbox was looking for a new supplier to print the t-shirts and embroider the fleeces. Hotbox wanted to go ethical with both material and production, although they also needed to stick as close to the 2008 budget as possible. This was not on the face of it an easy task but they made the right decision in contacting Pier 32 and our broad range of ethical t-shirt options fitted the bill precisely.

Mark Hatchard from Hotbox Events said:

"Pier 32 worked tirelessly with us in 2009 - it wasn't an easy task for them as we needed numerous logos in specific colours and shirts and fleeces in batches of very specific sizes. Pier 32 managed to produce the orders to budget, and the shirts and fleeces arrived on time and looked great! We really appreciate the effort and will be back for more in 2010!"

You can find out more about Hotbox Events (including how to apply to work at a festival!) through their website: www.HotboxEvents.com. Here's an image of the teams in action...



Hotbox Events is a trading name of Hotbox Studios Ltd.

All the best for the Christmas season and the New Year!

Not to mention new decade.....


There's not a lovingly printed t-shirt in sight in this image but we like it, captured earlier this year in our village base of Thames Ditton by yours truly!

Envision - The Truth about Youth

Envision is a national education charity that provides hands on support to young people in schools and colleges in the Uk on issues such as citizenship, sustainable development and help for their local communities. They do this through organising practical projects that will have a positive impact on these young people, their schools and communities.

We were asked by Envision to produce t-shirts for the launch event of their Truth About Youth campaign, itself entitled The Kick Off because it was held at Villa Park, the home of Aston Villa in Birmingham.

Over 300 volunteers attended the event, representing a larger network of 800 young people in Birmingham who are giving up an hour a week for the nine months to develop their own youth-led community action projects. These will tackle issues ranging from youth stereotypes to climate change - the former issue giving rise to the Truth About Youth title.

There was an important networking element to the event - all about encouraging young people and adults to actively engage with each other on important issues such as sustainability, community cohesion, social justice and climate change. The Kick Off was just the first of many other events, activities and programmes that will give a voice to the views and opinions of the young people of Birmingham. Over the course of the 2 year campaign the Truth About Youth will aim to support over 700 young people to deal positively with the challenge of growing up in an environment where there is all too often a mistrust of youth.

In the photo participants had just received our t-shirts and look well pleased with what they've got (we did not set this shot up, honest!). The ethics that go into out t-shirt printing from source to the environmentally friendly printing processes mean that the t-shirts match the principles of the campaign.

Find out more about Envision at their website.

Great Gorillas! 2009 update....

It was about a year ago when we first featured one of our more quirky clients, the Gorilla Organization who promote the annual Great Gorilla Run through the streets of London.

No client buys as many oversized T-shirts as the Gorilla Organisation does. This is where the XXL size comes into its own, having to fit over a gorilla costume worn by a participant who is often lean - and definitely fit - to complete a 7km run and entertain bemused and amused passers by on the streets of the City of London.

Last year we focussed on the race itself, but the race itself has to be promoted throughout the year to ensure that as many participants as possible run to raise sponsorship. This means that gorilla volunteers are out in their gorilla suits and our Great Gorilla Run T-shirts earlier in the year signing up new runners.

The most successful promotion of the run centred on the 4th plinth at Trafalgar Square. Yes, a supporter of the Gorilla Organisation commandeered the fourth plinth for an hour as part of Anthony Gormley's 100 day living monument "One and Other". The race participant Martin Payne took to the plinth in gorilla costume and Tshirt while dozens of gorilla suited supporters did a silent disco around the plinth, all wearing the Great Gorilla Run T. The organisers not only raised the profile of the event through the video coverage (see here) but also sold many Tshirts on the day to onlookers at Trafalgar Square, many of whom joined in the disco.

This year over 600 participants turned out for the Great Gorilla Run on 26 September. Many had been inspired by Martin's performance and the silent gorilla disco dancers of Trafalgar Square.

A new look at TShirtPrinters.UK.com

Many familiar with the Pier 32 site will not necessarily be aware of our separate TShirt printing site at TShirtPrinters.UK.com. That site gets a mention in our blog because it has just undergone a design revamp aimed at bringing our ethical options on promotional clothing to the attention of a generally younger audience involved in the music and events industries, and the student audience in general.

Whether involved in the promotion of bands, organisation of an event or festival, running a campaign or simply promoting a student society, young people are acutely aware of ethical issues in the clothing industry but also face financial constraints. The new site will communicate with these people and present the options that Pier32 has available in a punchy youth targetted design.

The site will carry some youth oriented lines not available at the Pier 32 site. So if you are looking to promote your band or event, check out the new TShirtPrinters.UK.com.

Looking forward to Autumn

It's been a while since our last blog update - the summer holiday period and other diversions (related to this business I should add!) have meant that the blog had taken second place to these other activities. But here we are at the keyboard again and what we want to do now is update you of some exciting developments that are around the corner....

We've been looking at new ranges of clothing to offer to expand our offerings to more specific industries and groups. In particular we have been impressed with the new customisable clothing that Kustom Kit have in their new ranges and we will shortly be presenting three new collections aimed at:

The Hospitality Industry - a range of clothing aimed at bars, restaurants, hotels and the catering sector. Christened 'Bargear', comfortable and stylish tailoring to ensure that your staff remain presentable, looking smart and cool in the hot house atmoshere that can often arise in these industries.

Sports Clubs - here Kustom Kit bring 'Gamegear'. Whether you run a health club or a sports team this is a new range of clothing in 'Cooltex' which looks to bring style, comfort and value into this market.

Corporate Wear - from more formal shirts to 'smart casual' the new Corporate wear collection is aimed at teams operating in public facing roles in a host of industries, with 'non-iron' cotton among the options on offer.

As you might expect from a company whose range Pier 32 chooses to promote, Kustom Kit operate under a comprehensive Ethical Code.

We are also looking forward to putting on line the new catalogue of clothing from Starworld, our Egyptian based supplier of ethical promotional clothing with WRAP certification and a great value organic range too. Starworld continues to be the best value out there for organisations whose buying considerations include price, quality and the welfare of the worker along the supply chain.

Finally, we are looking to carry out a revamp of our website. We've been listening to comments that, for example, t-shirts can be found under no less than 3 headings in our drop down menus. What we aim to do is have easy links for t-shirts, sweatshirts, hoodies, kids wear, Hi Viz gear and many other items as well as the new kustom Kit ranges. Behind these links you will find our most popular lines of promotional clothing, whether the source is Starworld, the Continental fashion range or the many other options in our 'Clothing Catalogue'. There will also be Ethical pen pictures of the suppliers to hand with further links to our Ethical Brand Profiles in this blog. The aim, together with our fast, responsive "Quick Quote" service, always backed up with our friendly telephone advice, is to make the whole process of buying custom promotional clothing - ethically - as easy as possible for our customers.

Tomorrow is Earth Day - and a great idea from WRAP

WRAP (Worldwide Responsible Accredited Production) - a very important organisation to Pier 32 in our efforts to make sure that we bring our customers ethically produced clothing - announced its support for Earth Day (tomorrow, 22nd April) by offering all its staff members a half-day leave to work on the environmental project of their choice.

"In our constant communication with facility owners, buyers, trade associations, governments, labour leaders, relevant NGOs and consumers, it is clear that the term 'sustainability' for the environment and the planet means action by us all", WRAP's President and CEO, Steve Jesseph said. "To support Earth Day, our offices will close at noon, April 22, to allow all staff members to work on the environmental project of their choice. We encourage all WRAP-certified facilities, and all those with a concern for the environment, to actively support Earth Day 2009."

By the way, "The Green Generation" is the theme for Earth Day 2009, campaigning on three fronts:

1. A carbon-free future based on renewable energy that will end our common dependency on fossil fuels, including coal.
2. An individual's commitment to responsible, sustainable consumption.
3. Creation of a new green economy that lifts people out of poverty by creating millions of quality green jobs and transforms the global education system into a green one.

Want to know more about Earth Day?

Meanwhile, in looking at this news on the WRAP website we also noted that WRAP is developing an enhanced environmental program called "WRAPe" scheduled to launch this year. We look forward to being able to report more.

Our client - Quad Safari

We've featured many of our clients that use our clothing to promote events, but here's something a little different in that Quad Safari not only kit out their own people with Hoodies and T-Shirts supplied by Pier 32 but also sell them on to the public as fashion clothing.

Quad Safari sell their clothing on their site and through their online shop. Visit the shop to see the huge importance placed on the fact that these garments are manufactured by Starworld in Egypt to the exacting WRAP (Worldwide Responsible Accredited Production) standards. The clothing's environmental credentials with Oeko-Tex 100 certification are also very important.

Charles Barry of Quad Safari told us:

"Pier 32 has been great to work with; everything from the help in designing the artwork, to delivering on time, they have been professional from start to finish. Quad Safari chose Pier 32 above the rest, because we demand high quality garments that are hard wearing, affordable and ethically sourced. The Starworld clothing is considerably better quality than other personalised clothing that you see."

If you, like Quad Safari, want people to go on wearing the clothing because of the promotional benefit it brings then we think that our design service is just what you need helping to turn a potential promotional throwaway into something that you'd want to wear again and again. With the WRAP and Oeko-Tex certifications, and their hard wearing characteristics, Starworld garments also provide that all important "keep me, I'm special" feeling that you get when you are given or buy something with a little more value than the crowd.

Quad Safari are happy that they are getting clothing that will be of long term promotional benefit to them; contact us at Pier 32 to find out how we can help you.