Ergobaby has partnered with Every Mother Counts to create a Guest Designer Series launched in September.

Ergobaby chose Every Mother Counts, a maternal health advocacy and mobilization campaign, founded by Christy Turlington Burns, because of their commitment and efficacy in spreading the message of prenatal care and safe delivery conditions around the world. The inaugural designer is founder Christy Turlington Burns, with future personalities to be chosen as the collaboration develops.
EMC aims to increase education and support for maternal mortality reduction globally and engage new audiences to better understand the challenges and the solutions while encouraging them to take action to improve the lives of girls and women worldwide.
Ergobaby’s Guest Designer Series will facilitate awareness and support of this vital issue, with a portion of the proceeds of each sale directly benefiting EMC

The launch collection is made up of four distinct and functional products; two Carriers, Not-Just-A-Diaper Bag and a “hands free” Waist Pack in the ‘Umba’ pattern. Ergobaby made great efforts to source the textile design from Africa in order to serve women in the region economically, in addition to its support through EMC. The distinctive “Umba” pattern was created by a small business woman in Togo**, who provides for her children through textile design, and chosen by Turlington Burns to merge the unique sensibilities of African textile design with a stylish, one-of-a kind twist on products parents use every day.

“ I FOUNDED EVERY MOTHER COUNTS TO HELP RAISE AWARENESS ABOUT THE GLOBAL TRAGEDY OF MATERNAL MORTALITY. HUNDREDS OF THOUSANDS OF WOMEN CONTINUE TO DIE NEEDLESSLY EACH YEAR DUE TO COMPLICATIONS OF PREGNANCY AND CHILDBIRTH BUT THE TRUTH IS THAT WE CAN PREVENT UP TO 90% OF THOSE DEATHS .

THROUGH PARTNERSHIPS LIKE THIS ONE WITH ERGOBABY, WE WILL BE ABLE TO HEIGHTEN AWARENESS FOR MATERNAL HEALTH AND HOPEFULLY INSPIRE MILLIONS OF PEOPLE TO TAKE ACTION ON THIS ISSUE . TOGETHER WE CAN MAKE A DIFFERENCE . ”    Christy Turlington Burns

TAKE A WALK ON THE WILD SIDE
Its your chance to win a free sweater from Toto Knits! Is there an animal (or beast) sweater that you would like done that they don’t make?

All you need to do is let them know. The best suggestion will win a free sweater! Let your imagination go WILD and enter to win by emailing your suggestion to info@totoknits.com

Hand-made with love in Kenya

Toto Knits is a collection of ethically made knits for babies and children, made with the softest organic cotton and using bio-friendly dyes. Made by a group of single mothers on the outskirts of Nairobi, each piece is made to order- whether you design your own or choose from their own styles they can ship internationally – expect one week to knit the sweater and about two weeks for shipping.

Based in Hackney, East London, British label Nixie Clothing was established in 2006. Now in their 8^th season the brand has grown into a mature, high end girl’s fashion label. Their bohemian, ‘English eccentric’ brand esthetic has secured Nixie’s reputation as one of the foremost sustainable children’s clothing brands worldwide.

Exclusive, timeless and vintage inspired, the collections are a combination of sustainable wools and cottons accented with carefully curated pieces from their archive of heritage silk scarves and textiles.

Nixie’s inspirations draw on such disparate imagery as arid deserts after the rain falls (SS12), the contrast between concrete and colour (AW12/13), 1970’s picture books, the diverse East London community Nixie’s management team live and work in, along with Nixie’s ever growing collection of vintage textiles. The brand is particularly inspired by vintage silk scarves; especially in the increasingly rare pictorial designs where the link between propaganda, fashion and poster design was made.

Not only are all the garments individually and lovingly constructed, Nixie’s company ethos is unique.

What distinguishes Nixie as a brand is it’s product innovation season after season and it’s refusal to follow trends. Instead they are driven by their own unique design vision whilst striving to meet the challenge of being ethical in all aspects of their business.

Fashion cannot be luxurious if it is not sustainable; Nixie endeavors to support the change.

Nixie is stocked in such stores as Harvey Nichols London, Alpaca Japan, Small Lounge Frankfurt, Baby Bird South Korea, Uno de Uno Mexico, of course online at Nixieclothing.com and in their quirky East London boutique.

Design your own tutu with Tutu Pour Mon Deux. What girl doesn’t love a tutu? and remember with this wonderful company, when you buy from their range, you are giving back by supporting the Boston Children’s Hospital. Free Shipping for you if you type in ‘HEART’ at the checkout.

Looking for a unique, but amazing, baby bag? Something to throw all those nappies | change of clothes | bottles | bibs etc into?

We have found some very cool bags that will make you feel very special and you get to support a group of women in a remote part of Pakistan. Have a read about PollyandMe

 
Prompted by a MiniHipster fan’s comment about Zara’s allegedly accepting of slave-labour working conditions, we decided to post this story found in Forbes on August 17th 2011……..

Spanish high-street retailer Zara has been accused of allegedly accepting slave-labor working conditions supplanted by more than 30 of its outsourced plants running in Brazil. During an episode of the investigative TV show called A Liga (The League) reporters visited a factory where Bolivian immigrant workers were caught in slave-like conditions in garment production for the Galicia-based company, which is part of the Inditex group. Inditex’s owner, billionaire Amancio Ortega, is listed by Forbes as the 7th richest person in the world, with a net worth of $31 billion.

Zara, which was once described by Louis Vuitton fashion director Daniel Piette as “possibly the most innovative and devastating retailer in the world,” is a vertically integrated retailer, producing about 11,000 distinct items annually and controlling most of the steps on the supply-chain, designing, manufacturing and distributing of its products. About 50% of the clothes and accessories sold by Zara are manufactured in Spain, while 26% are produced in the rest of Europe and 24% in Asian and African countries and the rest of the world where labor is somewhat cheaper.

The company’s strategy when outsourcing products with a longer shelf life, such as basic T-shirts and denim, is to design “pilot clothes” that will ultimately serve as models for its suppliers, which often end up by handing the production to third part factories. According to Sao Paulo’s Ministry of Work intelligence officers, in just one of the outsourced factories manufacturing clothes for Zara 33 clandestine workshops have been located, where at least 50,000 clothing items have been produced in the past three months.

In one of the workshops, a Bolivian worker explained to the reporter that a pair of Zara jeans – which in Brazil is sold for roughly R$ 200 ($126) – has a working cost of R$ 1,80 ($1.14). Such sum is divided equally between all the people involved in the production system, which on the case of the pair of jeans takes about seven individuals. The workers average monthly income is of about R$ 900 ($569) for a shift of no less than 12 hours. Working safety conditions found in these factories were also critical. A fire extinguisher had an expiration date of 1998.

Founded by Amancio Ortega in 1975 in the Galician city of La Corunã, Zara rose to prominence in the mid-1980s soon after the company began its international expansion. With its low-priced lookalike products of popular higher-end clothing labels, today Zara is present in more than 78 markets worldwide, with a network of more than 5,000 stores and 92,000 employees.

Although still a major shareholder in Inditex, Amancio Ortega stepped down as the group’s chairman last month. Inditex’s chief executive Pablo Isla was chosen by Ortega as his successor in the running of the retail empire. As an “incentive,” the billionaire presented Isla with 221,264 shares of Inditex, which are worth €13.7 million ($19.8 million) at market prices.

UPDATE: In a statement, Zara’s representatives said that the accusations of slave-labor made against the retailer represent a “serious breach in accordance with the Code of Conduct for External Manufacturers and Workshops of Inditex.” They also countered that all factories responsible for unauthorized outsourcing have been asked to regularize immediately the situation of the workers involved. “The Inditex group, along with Brazil’s Ministry of Work, will strengthen the supervision of the production system of all its suppliers in the country to ensure that such cases do not occur again.”

Source: Forbes.com

 
It doesn’t take an early childhood education degree to know that exploitation of any kind is damaging and criminal, so justice must be served, for the betterment of all of society.

In the Maori language, nohi nohi means, “to be small”. In Japan, Kodomo Nohi, one of the most popular national holidays, is a day to celebrate children. And, in Hawaiian, Nohi means brightly colored and vivid. So, that makes a Nohi Kid a bright, vivacious little thing just oozing with personality. All Nohi products are made from Bamboo

(just a reminder: Bamboo is known to be the fastest naturally growing plant on earth, making it renewable and sustainable. It is able to reproduce and grow without fertilizers or pesticides. Bamboo’s growth characteristics enable it to spread rapidly across large areas and this improves soil quality in degraded and eroded areas of land)

And all of their fabric is 100% skal-certified organic cotton and fiber from bamboo,  pre-shrunk, and ready for your washer and dryer. They also use low-impact and water based inks for printing and comply with all CPSIA guidelines and regulations to ensure that all products are lead-free.

We asked Janel Jones, owner of Nohi Kids a bit about her new collection…………..

“My inspiration for this collection (and really, all collections) is simply kids.  Kids move, play, jump, and get dirty all day.  I wanted to create a line that let them do all of these things with ease and comfort and without restriction.  Really, Nohi clothes are casual basics with a fashionable twist.  They can run and play and be on the best dressed list.   It was also important to me to be as eco-friendly as possible while still incorporating bright colors and modern graphics.”

You know we love to write about ethical products at MiniHipster and whenever we read or see something new that is related to kids fashion we just want to share. Toto Knits is our new find.

Founded by Erin Brennan Allan, Toto Knits is a line of organic cotton knitwear ethically made by a group of single mothers in Kenya. Working closely with Mary Wambui- who oversees the knitters- Erin designs fun and funky pieces that children will love.

The knitters are paid by the piece which allows them to work as much or as little as they like.  It’s all about putting family first- especially for moms. All the products are made from locally grown organic cotton and they use bio-friendly dyes.  Each piece is made with love and signed by the knitter. The knitters are single mothers often marginalized due to lack of education or opportunities.

Here are some of the lovely women knitters….

Have a go – you can pick your style, colours, buttons and even a funky hand-crocheted accent to make your own bespoke sweater. Fun for creative little ones (and big ones too!) to try their hands at fashion design.  We made up a couple of designs for ourselves:

Fully stoked is an Australian Company that is committed to ethical and sustainable business practices. They are a company that’s all about giving something back… the fully stoked philosophy: getting out there and making a difference.

Their number one rule is to be absolutely Fully Stoked about what they’re doing at every level. (what a great way to run your life and your business!) Their number 2 rule – everything they do is driven by the strong moral and ethical obligation they feel towards protecting the earth and all that it supports. Giving something back. Ensuring that their business practices are in line with their beliefs.

They want their fans to be fully stoked too!! While they strive to provide cool products of great quality, they also want to offer things that are even more valuable. When someone chooses to buy ‘fully stoked’ – they’re not just choosing the earth, they’re also choosing sweat-shop free. They even have the opportunity to buy clothing that is made from sustainably grown cotton.

You’ll also be fully stoked about the fact that they endeavour to source clothing and products that are ethically and sustainably produced, non-exploitative and where possible made from organic materials. Oh, and Hugh Jackman is a Full Stoked fan.

In its ongoing committment to baby skin care, Swedish brand LUDD are offering all parents of children whose babies have a skin condition such as dermatitis and, under doctor’s recommendations, need to wear eco-dyed, organic cotton clothing a 25% discount on all their orders through LUDD online.

This gorgeous brand of babies jumpsuits, pants and accessories are all made with 100% eco friendly organic cotton, which, whether your baby has a skin condition or not, is so important to young, growing skin.