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A JEWELLERY designer from the West End is going to Mongolia to tell some of the world's most important business leaders about ethics.
Vivien Johnston will travel to the Asian country next week to discuss the importance of ethics in the precious metal mining and jewellery trade with some of the biggest mining organisations on the globe.
The 30-year-old, a Glasgow School of Art graduate, has been an advocate of ethical jewellery since setting up her business, Fifi Bijoux, last year.
She uses only materials from traceable sources and mining communities where there has been no arms, drugs or human trafficking.
Her produce has attracted the attention of big name stores such as Harvey Nichols.
Vivien said: "My presentation is about the importance of transparency and on-the-ground ethical practice in mining precious metals in today's conscientious consumer-buying climate.
"Also, the presentation is to show it works as a business model and there are jewellers who have an established market for known ethical provenance materials and how we need certification schemes to prevent the unscrupulous abusing the system and simply paying lip-service to it."
The equivalent of the anti-fur campaign for the bling generation, ethical jewellery is jewellery has become a big issue in the USA with stars like Kanye West drawing attention to the issue.
However a major problem has been the high cost of traceability.
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While it is easier for luxury producers to keep full account of where their materials come from, it is tougher for designers like Vivien who produce for a less exclusive sector and have the final high street cost to think about.
Nonetheless, in the past Vivien has donated a percentage of profits to charities involved in aiding the victims of atrocities in gold and gem mining areas.
Glasgow has become a hotbed of ethical fashion and syle in the past 12 months.
Earlier this year Carolyn Manson opened Bolshie, the first boutique in Scotland to sell exclusively ethical clothes and accessories.
Vivien Johnston
They say you have to suffer for beauty, but Vivien Johnston would disagree! She has set up Fifi Bijoux, an ethical jewellery company, with the express purpose of ensuring that all the precious metals and stones she uses in her pieces are sourced from countries where human rights are respected and the environmental impact of mining is minimised.
Vivien Johnston
Vivien spent several years working in the jewellery industry before she decided to branch out. Experience taught her that despite political efforts to curb the trade in so called 'blood diamonds', the raw materials for the industry were still being imported from countries where conflict existed. When Vivien was commissioned to make an ethical wedding ring it seemed like a natural step to think about creating a business plan for a whole range of ethical jewellery. The initial commission came from a man who was himself an entrepreneur and political figure, so he was able to help and advise her on how to develop her strategy.
Working as head of design for a large jeweller taught Vivien to be innovative and to encourage innovation amongst her staff, but the actual mechanic of setting up in business was a new experience for her. Raising the funding to create her first collection meant tapping into every possible resource, and for help and advice she approached her local Business Gateway Service. With the company still in its infancy Vivien is very realistic about how much hard work she has ahead of her: "I can't afford myself the conceit that I have overcome the skills I lack. I just work round them. I learn constantly".
In 2006 Fifi Bijoux launched its first collection which was showcased at London Fashion Week in 2007. Although Vivien refuses to class herself as a success as yet, the range has generated a great deal of media interest and she is on the road to achieving her long term aim of making Fifi Bijoux the ethical equivalent of Louis Vuitton
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