Miksani

Miksani will be donating a 100% silk ‘Sundress’ from our Spring / Summer 2010 collection to "Donate Design to HEAL Africa" (www.healafrica.org).

Our US agents Bel Esprit will be working with HEAL Africa, a medical relief organization that provides surgical and medical care to the victims of rape due to military conflict in the Democratic Republic of Congo.  HEAL Africa has set up a network of "safe houses" for women to provide them with support, both physical and emotional, as they return to their communities after treatment.

The program provides education, training (particularly in seamstress skills), as well as micro-loans and grants to these women to help them create sustainable businesses.

Bel Esprit will be raising funds, along with assistance from the fashion industry through donations of expertise and production patterns to help the women learn industry-standard production. Keep an eye out for the ‘Shop for Charity’ section of the Bel Esprit website (www.belesprit.net) coming soon…

We will be showing our Spring / Summer 2010 collection at the Fair Trade and Upcycled Fashion Show at the National Waterfront Museum, Swansea on Friday 5^th March 2010.

The show starts at 7pm and tickets are available in advance from The Environment Centre (01792 480200).

From September 2009 all our 100% organic cotton garments will be carbon neutral in association with Piqqo (www.piqqo.com).

You can find out what projects your garment is helping to fund and see how you are making a difference to the environment by tracking your garment’s unique serial number on the Piqqo website. You can also use the ‘Piqqo Diary’ application to track and monitor your carbon footprint and compare it with friends.

The offsets have all come from a reforestation project in Mexico that helps local land owners to manage their forest in a sustainable way. With the carbon emissions calculated from all stages of a garment’s lifecycle by Piqqo, when you purchase an organic cotton Miksani product you can be sure it is 100% carbon neutral. We’ve have chosen to offset the garment emissions through the Scolel Té project in Mexico.

A pair of Miksani 100% mohair cable knit mittens (RRP £25) and 100% mohair Holey legwarmers (RRP £25) are up for grabs as part of the Ask Jeeves giveaway.

Visit www.uk.ask.com/dressjeeves/giveaway to enter!