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Illuminati II is a cotton company producing products from organic and fair trade cotton grown in Uganda. The company is owned by the holding company Noir Illuminati II Holding and was established by Danish fashion designer Peter Ingwersen in 2005 with the aim of ensuring socially sustainable practices by controlling aspects of the supply chain.[1] The company's two fashion lines, Noir and Bllack Noir distribute the company's products.[2]
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Noir has presented its designs at Estethica, the eco-sustainable initiative by the British Fashion Council during London Fashion Week,[3] as well as at Copenhagen Fashion Week. In 2009 and 2010, Noir won Ethical Brand of the Year at the DANSK Fashion Awards.[citation needed]
The company's cotton is grown in the Gulu district of northern Uganda in partnership with Bruce Robertson from Gulu Agricultural Development Ltd, which is responsible for day-to-day work with farmers. Bruce Robertson currently works with 10,000 farmers in Uganda in a cooperative set-up which excellences in crop rotation allowing for not only cotton to be grown on their plot of land but also other crops like chilli and sesame. Local Gulu Agricultural Development Ltd trainers, who support the growing of organic cotton, supervise the harvest. Once the harvest is over, the local farmer sells his crop to Gulu Agricultural Development Ltd. who then pays for the harvest by the fair trade principles. The crop is certified by Union. Once the cotton is spun locally in Kampala, the capital of Uganda, the yarns are transported to Turkey and woven into the final Illuminati II fabrics.[4]
Peter Ingwersen initially founded the fashion brand Noir in 2005. Due to extensive difficulties in finding organic yarn goods, Noir was compelled to produce its own fabrics in order to ensure all links of the supply chain could live up to the code of conduct. Illuminati II was founded to supply the fashion brand with organic and fair trade cotton textiles as well as refining and improving the quality of the cotton currently being produced in Uganda to obtain a quality which was applicable for a luxury brand.[5] The company's name, Illuminati, was chosen in reference to the act of shedding light, referring to its aim to provide an alternative to products produced through exploitation of the environment and poor labour conditions.[6]
The company aims to support smallholder farmers in Uganda and to eventually maintain its entire production line in the country. The fair trade certification of the cotton ensures a fair price and focus on good working conditions for the farmers and respect for the local communities involved.[4] CSR is implemented by adherence to the principles of the UN Global Compact. The local partner, Bruce Robertson, is organic and fair trade certified by Union, which ensures that all ILO conventions are adhered to and that the farmers get a fair price for their crop.
All textile processing chemicals used by Illuminati II have GOTS certificates (Global Organic Textile Standard).[4] Illuminati II has been accepted into Material ConneXion's library of innovative materials, the world’s largest library of advanced, innovative, sustainable materials and with a team comprising PhD material scientists and material specialists.[7]
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