The Social Outfit’s primary focus is to remove barriers to training and employment for refugee and new migrant women. We also contribute to the circular economy and positively impact public discourse, advocating for better employment pathways for refugees and more ethical, sustainable fashion industry.
In our 10th year, we have reach 1,000 training outcomes and 100 jobs for refugee and new migrant women in Sydney, and we are not stopping there.
This is our progress to date:
Through our employment programs we’ve paid over $1.85million in Australian wages to refugee and new migrant women. Of the 116 people employed, 62 were retail trainees.
The Social Outfit was their first Australian job for 82% of those we have employed.
Of those who exited The Social Outfit, transitioned to further employment.
Engaged in paid work experience with us, including 114 in our “Earn and Learn” sewing programs
Trained in our specialist sewing programs, which include community outreach classes on domestic machines, and industrial sewing programs delivered in our professional manufacturing studio.
Participated in our Community Print Projects, which involve creating collaborative artworks that are then printed on fabric for our clothing collections.
Graduated from our 3-month Retail Training Program. For 83% The Social Outfit was their first Australian job. 80% of whom successfully transitioned to ongoing employment.
Engaged in one-off classes. We added online learning programs in 2020 in response to the Covid-19 lockdowns, classes on offer include sewing, craft and financial literacy.
We are taking the steps to be more mindful and sustainable in our choices:
We have saved over 14 tonnes of fabric from Landfill.
85% of our garments are made from donated and dead stock fabric. With many items made to order as part of our slower fashion model which aims to reduce overproduction.
Every sewer is paid above Australian Award wages.
The Social Outfit choses to pay more than the standard award wage, which is regulated and set by the government. Financial Literacy training is also provided and aimed to empower our community, building on their financial and money knowledge to help them navigate their finances in Australia.
We use plastic free packaging on our in-store and online orders.
Every order placed online via The Social Outfit's website is packed in plastic free and compostable packaging. In our store, we use only recycled paper to wrap and pack our sales.
