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Photo of Elise Epp a smiling woman with long dark hair wearing a blue and red knit dress.

Learning from Extraordinary Clients

Business Law Students make a difference helping critical not-for-profits

January 27, 2025 — 

What do a Winnipeg graphic designer, international human rights, fashion industry activism, a more sustainable environment and law students at the L. Kerry Vickar Business Law Clinic all have in common?

A desire to make the world a better place! Let’s explain.

Elise Epp, a passionate graphic designer from Winnipeg, is spearheading a movement in the fashion industry, blending creativity with activism. As the co-founder and Executive Director of a national not-for-profit, Fashion Revolution Canada, she is a key figure in advocating for a cleaner, safer, fairer, and more transparent fashion industry.

Fashion Revolution Canada campaigns for a global fashion system that prioritizes environmental conservation, human rights, and ethical practices over profits, and is part of the larger world-wide Fashion Revolution.org, the world’s largest fashion activism movement, mobilising citizens, brands and policymakers through research, education and advocacy.

Elise’s career started in music, earning a Bachelor of Music and working as a professional musician and singer before transitioning to graphic design. Today, she works as an award-winning Senior Graphic Designer at the International Institute for Sustainable Development (IISD), where her creativity aligns with her commitment to sustainability.

In 2018, Elise co-founded the Winnipeg chapter of Fashion Revolution Canada, later becoming the Country Coordinator in 2021. Her impactful work earned recognition in 2020 when she was named as one of CBC’s 40 Under 40.

Law students at the L. Kerry Vickar Business Law Clinic are proud to assisted Elise Epp and Fashion Revolution Canada.  

Fashion Revolution’s Mission

When asked why Fashion Revolution Canada’s mission is important, Elise explained that it is a movement that goes beyond individual brands or countries. Its overarching goal is to make the fashion industry safer and fairer by tackling systemic issues. They break it down into smaller goals but there is an acknowledgement that the problems are systemic and intertwined with other fights for justice. Fashion Revolution is about feminism, colonialism, environmental justice and labour rights. Elise believes that connecting with local communities is also central to the mission.

Key Goals and Involvement

Elise described Fashion Revolution’s two-fold goals: building a passionate grassroots movement and using that momentum to push for larger legal reforms. Elise’s involvement in Fashion Revolution began after the 2014 Rana Plaza collapse, which killed over 1,100 workers in Bangladesh. This tragedy drove her to start the Winnipeg chapter, seeking to create a community focused on slow fashion, explaining that when the Rana Plaza garment factory collapse happened, she couldn’t look away. “I had very little money to spend on clothes, but when I tried to buy fast fashion after that I saw the images from the collapse in my head and I couldn’t do it. I started the Winnipeg chapter with a few friends in 2018 because I wanted to have a slow fashion community here.”

Impactful Campaigns

One of Fashion Revolution’s most impactful campaigns is the #WhoMadeMyClothes movement, which encourages consumers to ask brands about the origins of their garments. This initiative was sparked by the Rana Plaza disaster, where brands were unaware their products were being made in the factory. Elise also highlighted the #NoMorePolyester campaign, which challenges the widespread use of polyester and other synthetic fibers, as these materials contribute to environmental harm due to their petroleum-based origins.

Modern Slavery Legislation

Canada has taken some steps with the Fighting Against Forced Labour and Child Labour in Supply Chains Act S.C. 2023, c. 9, referred to frequently as the new Canadian Modern Slavery Act, which came into effective January 1, 2024, that attempts to hold companies accountable for forced and child labor in their supply chains. The Act makes it so Directors and officers can be personally fined up to $250,000 for offences related to the Act, such as non-compliance with reporting obligations or knowingly providing false information concerning their supply chains. This legislation encourages directors and officers to place greater importance on transparency, accurate reporting, and developing robust risk management systems to avoid liability and protect both personal and corporate reputations, all with the object of reducing force labour and child labour in corporate supply chains.

When we asked Elise about her thoughts. Elise shared:

When the Modern Slavery Legislation came out we wanted to be optimistic – a little change in the right direction is better than no change, right? But it can also make people feel like they are done and can move onto something else. It really will come down to how the legislation is implemented, but ultimately it’s just another report corporations need to write, not standards for operating.

Helping clients on their journeys toward success

When asked how legal assistance from the Business Law Clinic helped Fashion Revolution Canada in achieving its objectives, Elise said:

I knew nothing about starting or running a non-profit, but I took the leadership role with an “I can find out” attitude. When I started leading the Canadian branch, we were really just a collection of lightly associated city teams. The Clinic has guided us through all the confusing government forms in the non-profit registration process, and once we did that, the Clinic has helped us set up our by-laws and policies . . .  the Clinic was the only way for us to afford robust legal documents that protect our organization so we can focus on the work.

For more information about Fashion Revolution Canada, you can follow their  Instagram, visit their website, learn about the Global Fashion Revolution Transparency Report that can be found here,  and follow the local Fashion Revolution Winnipeg chapter on Linktree.

Learning from extraordinary clients

Law students help clients through the L. Kerry Vickar Business Law Clinic and also learn from their clients. In this case, law students learned from Elise Epp about the power of individual determination, community activism, the interconnection between different fights for justice and that positive change is also the responsibility of everyone working together.  

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