Management School researchers collaborate with Vivienne Westwood
Earlier this year, Dr Jo Meehan and PhD student Olly Kennedy collaborated with Vivienne Westwood in Milan, Italy, to produce a training video on modern slavery for their supply chain and procurement teams.
The training is part of Vivienne Westwood's Corporate Social Responsibility programme that seeks to build on the firm’s long history of activism in the Arts, climate change, and human rights. Material developed by Jo and Olly provides employees and suppliers with an overview of the emerging academic research and has been designed to challenge decision makers and poses critical questions around business and personal responsibility.
Isabella Tonelli, CSR Coordinator at Vivienne Westwood, commented “This year has taught us the importance of connection, collaboration, and knowledge sharing. We wanted to create and offer a training program that would educate and raise awareness on fashion supply chain risk and modern slavery on our Vivienne Westwood e-learning platform. Working with academia and experts on the matter was crucial, and I would like to thank Jo and Olly for contributing to our knowledge sharing system. We believe it will make a positive impact on our employees and suppliers”.
Jo and Olly’s outreach work draws on the ongoing research with the UK Home Office, Crown Commercial Service, and the Liverpool City Region’s Combined Authority. Alongside Dr Bruce Pinnington and PhD student Nathan Davies, they are rapidly growing their partnerships and reach within the international modern slavery community and are supported by the Faculty’s Centre for the Study of International Slavery (CSIS).
Olly said, “It’s fantastic to see iconic international organisations like Vivienne Westwood taking modern slavery seriously, and to explore their role in creating radical change to ensure equitable treatment of workers wherever they are in the world. Modern slavery is not just an issue for businesses, it needs action by governments, consumers, and academics as we all have a part to play. Our research team is part of a rapidly growing network and we'd encourage anyone who is interested in being part of our work to contact us.”