Canadian politicians are fuming – they’ve discovered that Canada’s Olympic uniforms are being made in China!  But Tu Ly, one of the designers who created them, is unapologetic about the situation.  In an interview he made a robust defence of the decision to manufacture in China, ‘I would like to challenge these politicians to give up their cell phones made in China or their TVs, then maybe they’d really be on an even plane,’ he said. Ly added that his company has a code of vendor conduct to ensure its suppliers operate under fair working law and respect the environment.

But New Democrat MP Paul Dewar isn’t happy. ‘This is our Olympic team. We should be ensuring that all of our Olympic athletes are … wearing Canadian-made textiles and all of their uniforms should be made in Canada.’ The decision has sparked such controversy because the Canadian clothing manufacture market is in something of a decline at present.

The Hudson Bay Company, for whom Ly works, said that Asia is the only readily-available source for the specialist fabrics featured in the eco-friendly designs, which are specifically mandated to help athletes cope with Beijing’s heat and humidity. These innovative fabrics include bamboo, cocona and organic cotton. But the line of Olympic Supporters apparel is being made in China too, and that may be a more difficult case to fight, as souvenir buyers probably won’t be travelling to China!

For the last summer Olympics, Roots Canada made the athletes’ uniforms at home and outfitted Canada’s Olympic teams for every Olympics from 1998 to 2004.

Canadian Olympic team modelling their uniforms courtesy of JP Moculski, The Canadian Press

Most people now accept that the climate change debate has shifted from whether we need to act to what we must do and how best to do it – and the clothing industry has been in the forefront of both innovation (organic and sustainable clothing) and criticism (sweatshops and carbon footprints).  The Climate Change Summit 2008 is notable for the input that is being given by big hitters in the garment and textile industries.  Taking place at the Regent’s Park Marriot Hotel between 12 and 12 February, the Summit offers delegates opportunities to explore the enormous changes that lie ahead and aims to help them discover how to make a virtue out of necessity.

Key topics include: climate initiatives that achieve both environmental and business objectives; designing climate change messages to win the support of sceptical consumers (in other words, how to communicate with your customers without being accused of ‘greenwashing’); a complete guide to using offsets and taking advantage of carbon trading; ways to report a company’s climate change objectives and achievements for maximum impact; and most crucially – how to manage the many risks of climate change. Speakers who have a major stake in the garment and textile industries include:

• Anabel Drese from Timberland
• Mike Barry, Head of Corporate Social Responsibility for Marks & Spencer
• Philip Charles Gamett, Director of the Continental Clothing Company. 

National insights will be provided by:

• Jane Milne , Director of Business Environment at The British Retail Consortium
• Ellen Gladders, Manager for the Community and the Environment at Tesco. 

Learn more at: http://www.ethicalcorp.com/climate/
International Conference Delegates courtesy of Oxfam