Signals & Stats : Daily Signals

Mutual exchange

By Maks Fus Mickiewicz 03 : 05 : 2016 Camper : Ethical Fashion Initiative : Whole System Thinking

Ethiopia – Camper has teamed up with the Ethical Fashion Initiative to create a range of shoes made entirely by local artisans.

The mutual exchange is designed to help improve workers’ access to employment, knowledge and skills
A limited-edition range of shoes, mixing Camper’s aesthetics with those of local artisans, has been created

Camper, Ethical Fashion Initiative and Louis Nderi, Ethiopia

In particular, the brand wants to celebrate the decades of shoe-making expertise that local artisans are said to have acquired, as well as textiles typical of the region.

The initiative began in 2015, and since then the brand has produced collections that consist of a vegetable-tanned leather boot and a sandal available in several kaleidoscopic colourways.

Camper has also helped bring about improvements with shoe-making capacity-building, innovation in leather tanning, and better management and manufacturing processes at HAFDE, its partner tannery.

‘We are extremely pleased to work with Camper, a family-owned company with strong values and a long-term perspective on our collaboration,’ says Simone Cipriani, head of the Ethical Fashion Initiative. ‘Beyond developing the collection and providing work for Ethiopian shoe-makers, Camper has provided us with guidance on developing the capacity of the artisans.’

The Big Picture

Since 2010 we have been tracking brands that stand up for positive causes. Camper has taken this a step further by supporting Whole-system Thinking rather than just shouting about it.