What does a socially responsible apparel company really look like?
What drives their innovation, their mission?
And are they activists, entrepreneurs, or both?
On today’s show, we’re exploring this role between ethical garment manufacturers, distributors, and buyers with our friends at Ethix Merch.
In 2001, Ben Cohen, co-founder of the ice cream company Ben & Jerry’s, wanted to create a socially responsible apparel company, so in 2002, backed with $1.5 million from Cohen’s Venture Fund, SweatX was formed, the LA Times reported then, “SweatX plans to raise consumer awareness of working conditions in garment shops while proving to other manufacturers that it’s possible to pay a ‘living’ wage and still earn a profit, say those involved in the start-up.” SweatX closed in 2004, but three former SweatX leaders were inspired by that experience and formed the company Ethix Merch.
In 2007, they hired their first employee who would become the CEO. That employee? Our guest today: Daniel Cardozo, activist CEO of Ethix.
Ethix Merch is a business whose mission is to connect socially responsible organizations with ethically sourced merchandise. For example, for readers of our trends newsletter The Backpack, you might recall a story we highlighted that Ethix was a part of, it was from the organization Climate Town whose popular video on YouTube was titled “Fast Fashion is Ruining Merch”. Ethix helped the creators of Climate Town find merch grown and made in the USA, yes, grown or as they call it, from dirt to shirt.
Join us as we talk with Daniel about their role in bringing clients and ethically made merch, together.
And did you know that we’re facing a crisis of creative thinking in this industry?
It’s a crisis because client demand has never been more sophisticated, from trends to design to sourcing, we struggle to think faster and more creatively in a fast-paced, deadline driven industry. Well, Todd Henry, author of the best-seller, The Accidental Creative, is one of my favorite influencers around creativity. In fact Todd has been a major influence to many of the amazing speakers we’ve brought to the stage over the years.
At skucon on Jan 12th, Todd will share, “How to be brilliant at a moment’s notice.” helping us build the tools for ingenuity. Not only is Todd joining us — but one of the fastest-rising experts on the economy, Kyla Scanlon, author of the book In This Economy will be sharing her insight into the 2025 economic outlook and don’t miss our amazing closing keynote, Ben Higgins, from "The Bachelor" fame, as he shares how to build a generous business plus industry pros Sandy Gonzalez, Shelley Stewart, Kate Nash, Mikas Agarwal, Nick Latuer and a few surprise guests too. Skucon is almost sold out so if you’re thinking about it — act now and secure your tickets today at skucon.com!