Social enterprises in the creative industries are employing people in need, such as HIV-positive women in Tanzania by SEW Tanzania, to produce fashion accessories and textiles. These social enterprises aim to be financially sustainable while also providing social benefits. Other examples mentioned are an Australian business that promotes positive social change through fashion and homewares, and an upcycler in Brisbane who teaches workshops on transforming old clothes into new sustainable pieces to reduce textile waste. The article discusses how social enterprises integrate social goals into their business practices.

1. CAROLINE TUNG
FRIDAY 12 SEPTEMBER, 2014
Social enterprises in the creative industries are championing global change and
exploring upcoming innovations in ethical design.
Sewing Mamas employed by SEW Tanzania show off their creations. Image: http://www.
dumbofeather.com/diy/sew-tanzania/ (http://www.dumbofeather.com/diy/sew-tanzania/)
Ten years ago, Happy W, a single mother from Arusha, Tanzania, was desperate
for an income after testing positive to HIV AIDS.
Left with three sons to feed and clothe, the odds were against her.
In Africa, the chance of finding a job once infected with the disease is almost
impossible due to stigma.
Australian creative businesses take on world stage

2. Happy’s life turned around in 2009 when she joined SEW Tanzania
(http://www.sewtanzania.com/pages/about-us), a social enterprise founded by
Melbourne lawyer Jessie Smith that employs HIV positive women
(http://www.smh.com.au/national/sewing-for-selfsufficiency-in-tanzania-
20130430-2ir2k.html) to create bags at a factory in Arusha, Tanzania.
From its beginnings at a refugee camp in Ghana and following a shift into
Tanzania, the SEW Group is now a part of a surge in social enterprises, with
businesses from Australia’s fashion and design industry taking unprecedented
measures to develop global connections. Profits from SEW merchandise sales
offer women a path to independence while providing sustained funding for
current and future development.
A model that is gaining global attention
(http://www.parracity.nsw.gov.au/work/doing_business_in_parra/social_enterprise),
social enterprises generate profit or surplus to further business activities guided
by a social, environmental or cultural purpose, or a combination of such causes.
‘Social enterprise is often a win-win model,’ said Virginia Bruce, CEO
(http://au.linkedin.com/in/virginiabruce) of REAL Group
(http://au.linkedin.com/in/virginiabruce), which promotes social, ethical and
sustainable design and living. ‘There is a consensus amongst many global
leaders that our future needs to harness the entrepreneurial spirit and skills
that have been the foundation of the developed world.’
‘The UK and US have definitely been leading this space, however Australia is
catching on,’ she said.
With a 25-year history in successful international brand development
implementing strategies for brands such as Warner Bros and Mattel, Bruce
believes social considerations will be crucial to the effectiveness of any business
in the future.
‘The next generation of creative thinkers, particularly the Millennial Generation,
feel that social imperatives should naturally be integrated into what they do,’ she
says. ‘In 10 years this will just be the normal practice.’
The REAL Group currently owns four social enterprises: the SEAT Project
(http://www.seatproject.org/), Hands That Shape Humanity
(http://www.handsthatshape.com/about/) (a business promoting positive social
change through a travelling multimedia exhibition and designer range of
fashion, jewellery and home wares), the REAL Store
(http://therealstore.com.au/about) and the REAL Collective brand and business
consultancy.

3. The REAL Store in Woolloomoolo, Sydney. Image: supplied/courtesy of Virginia Bruce
Each business stems from the ideas and vision of a creative individual. Although
the enterprises are respectively unique, they share an underpinning notion that
to be truly sustainable, the designs sourced from international artisan
communities and individuals must be deemed ‘superior’ – something that
consumers ‘truly want to buy’ – in order to provide a financially sustainable
business model.

4. Part of Bruce’s creative vision is realised through the REAL Store, a gallery and
showroom exhibiting products that reflect social, ethical and sustainable design
and living.
Following a presentation in Sydney by esteemed fashion commentator Marion
Hume (http://www.marionhume.com/?page_id=254) about a social enterprise
model initiated by the UN (joined by International fashion forces such as Vivien
Westwood and Stella McCartney in mentoring African artisan communities), a
collaboration between the REAL Group, MYER department chain and the UN
Ethical Fashion Initiative emerged.
Five top Australian designers including Jayson Brunsdon, Fleur Wood and
Manning Cartell designed tote bags produced by an artisan community in
Nairobi. Proceeds go towards the ongoing development of the REAL Foundation’s
Arts mentoring program, which is part of a partnership with the University of
New South Wales Art and Design.
The development of mentoring programs has helped to form lasting connections
between artistic communities and advocates of social wellbeing, as well as
benefiting marginalised social groups.
SEW Australia Mentor Nicki Lees spent almost a year working with women in the
city of Arusha, Tanzania. One of the main ways SEW supports women is by
employing them to produce Fair Trade Conference Bags made of recycled
materials.
‘Basically, it’s for conferences who want an ethical element to their business,’
Lees says. ‘[The bags] are all made out of recycled products, and the [local
Tanzanian] Kitenge material around the side [of the bag] is what the women
wear.’
A recent partnership was born when SEW founder Jessie Smith
(http://www.abc.net.au/radionational/programs/drive/passport3a-jessie-smith2c-
criminal-lawyer-and-social-entrepre/5015094) approached designer Zoe Weir
(the designer behind high-end Melbourne label Zoe Elizabeth
(http://www.zoeelizabeth.com.au/)) with the idea of starting a collaboration.
The first collection was a sell-out. Developed in 2013, the range has evolved over
the past two years, with a line-up of new accessories and garments in 2014
including pouches, pillows and bags.
The second collection was recently showcased at Melbourne Spring Fashion
Week’s World Designer Runway alongside Weir’s Spring/Summer 2014 collection
of signature Liberty of London cotton bikinis, vintage-inspired dresses, crotchet
cardigans, hair garlands and espadrilles.
‘Accessories are a great way to use up the excess fabric from when I
manufactured,’ Weir says. ‘We don’t want any wastage.’

5. Textile Beat founder Jane Milburn wears a sustainable 'history skirt', one of her
upcycled creations. Image: Patria Jannides/courtesy of Jane Milburn
Brisbane-based founder of Textile Beat (http://textilebeat.com/about/) Jane
Milburn is working on her own way of reducing textile waste.
The upcycler has sold garments, hosted workshops and recently showcased
upcycled work (http://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/queensland/textile-beat-to-
promote-sustainable-fashion-at-green-heart-fair-20140509-zr7fw.html) at the
Green Heart Fair (http://www.citysmart.com.au/greenheartfair), teaching people
how to ‘chop and change’ old clothes into stylish and sustainable pieces.
According to Milburn, the global consumption of textiles and fibre apparel has
increased at three times the rate of the population increase. She aims to spread
the concept of ‘slow fashion’, contradicting commercial mainstream fashion.
‘The way things have gone in the fashion and clothing industry is that we have a
high turnover,’ Milburn says. ‘We are always seeking something new, and when
it doesn’t work, we just move on to the next thing.’
A trained agricultural scientist hailing from a rural background, Milburn uses
sustainability as a guiding philosophy to educate others about ethical fashion.
‘To me, it’s about natural resource use and how we can reduce the waste of
fibres,’ she said. ‘ They’re perfectly good, but because of the junk, it gets a hole in
it and ends up going into landfill. I am looking at ways to change that.’
Unlike recycling (the process of breaking down consumer materials that are
remade into lesser quality products), upcycling adds value to waste products by
remaking it into an item for a better purpose. Upcycles can take the form of
garments that suit a person’s current taste and needs.
‘My model for doing things differently is to engage our own skills and creativity
to change clothing suit our needs,’ Milburn says.

6. Her online campaign (http://www.sewitagain.com/about/) sewitagain.com, where
she posts daily upcycled pieces created from her home studio, aims to inspire
upcycling of pre-loved natural fibre garments and revive the art of home sewing.
Fashion for the environment and fashion for the home unite under Melbourne-
based brand Feliz (http://felizhome.com.au/), which produces a handmade range
of ‘quirky and fun’ bedlinen and cushions. Their products are made using
certified 100% organic cotton which is either screen printed and constructed in
Melbourne, or woodblock printed by Bagru Textiles
(http://www.bagrutextiles.com/page/43) in India, a social enterprise that is
committed to improving artisan wages, and assisting a Bagru community fund in
areas such as education, environment and entrepreneurship.
‘We feel so excited by the opportunity to create ethically and sustainably
produced items and even more excited that so much of this can be achieved
locally,’ designers Mel and Jane said in a statement on their website
(http://felizhome.com.au/about/).
For Milburn, sustainable fashion is about teaching others how to ‘utilise clothing’
rather than ‘racing out to buy the next thing’, while Bruce believes ‘harnessing
the creativity of [the arts] industry as the visceral force for positive social change
can be extremely inspiring.’
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Caroline Tung is a second-year student at Monash University.