Annual

Report in Brief
The Fabric Social
Year in review: July 2014 July 2015.


For a more extensive analysis of our activities, please refer to our Integrated Corporate Social Responsibility Report. This shorter
report is intended to be a snapshot of our activities and finances in the interests of accessibility and transparency. For enquiries or
more in-depth information, please contact fi@thefabricsocial.com or visit www.thefabricsocial.com/about-us

ABOUT US.












The Fabric Social is an ethical fashion social enterprise, working with conflict-affected women to end
their economic isolation. Our Co-Founders are three young Australian women Fi, Katie and Sharna.
Our pilot project in Assam works with women silk weavers living in a former rebel village. We
generate income and opportunity by selling clothing to the international market, but primarily to
Australia where our connections lie.

We use the profits to pay our weavers a fair income for their work and to invest in the communities
with which we work. We develop the business literacy of our weavers through a smartphone app
that tracks income, quality control and production. We are not a charity; we promote an alternative
market driven poverty alleviation model.


ORGANISATION










3 Founders:
Katie Rose
Sharna de Lacy
Fiona McAlpine

Current volunteers and interns:
Ally Deam Fashion Design
Megan Schipp Monitoring and Evaluation
Molly McCormick Logistics and Design

Khamseng Bohagi Field intern and translator

Ellen Tirant Production intern
Blertina Shabani Digital Media intern

Past 2014 volunteers:
Amruta Pendarkar Business Development
Sam Page iOS Development
Rupert Dance Web Development

Katie Rose is currently attending the School of Social Entrepreneurs WA Incubator, due to
graduate in October. This has and will provide mentorship and funding opportunities, as
well as build upon Katies business nous.

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Sharna de Lacy is living across Assam and Meghalaya, focusing on production methods and product
development in the field. She works closed with Ally Deam and Ellen Tirant on creating new pieces
for the Spring release of the Bija collection.

Fi is based in San Francisco and works on fundraising, communications and tech.

MAJOR ACCOMPLISHMENTS 2014-15









Silk weaving workshop established
Khadi weaving workshop engaged
3 clothing items developed, tested, marketed and released (The Bija Collection)
Website established www.thefabricsocial.com


MINOR ACCOMPLISHMENTS 2014-15










20 solar lamps and chargers distributed
First baseline questionnaire completed
Crowdfunding campaign completed
First pop-up market attended at Australian High Commission Christmas Mela New Delhi
Second pop-up market attended in The Hague at WILPF peace conference
Blog established The Fabric Social Journal
Christmas card fundraising campaign completed


IMPACT SUMMARY.











When we think of all the things we have achieved in one short year, we get pretty excited. Operating
on the smell of an oily rag and a lot of volunteer love, we have (more than) doubled the daily wage of
the weavers with which we work, bringing the dormant looms back to life. We cannot overemphasise
the importance of financial sustainability for these women and their communities. Not only does it
put food on the table, a small sustainable wage frees these women up to be full and active
participants in their communities. These women are dynamos, but it is hard to be an agent of change
when all you can think about is how you will afford the basics.


Our impact has been fortified by our collaborations. We have partnered with a great Aussie up and
coming designer Ally Deam, who produces zero waste minimalist designs with the silk and khadi
fabrics we create. We are working with CodeCloud, an education organisation that crowd-sources
tech support. They currently have 20 novice developers working on a smartphone app for our
women to use in the field, as a basic logging and business tool. We have integrated solar electricity
into our project with Melbourne-based social enterprise Illumination Solar. The solar chargers will
be used to charge the smartphones, ensuring the app can still operate during monsoon and other
times when electricity is scarce. As a bonus, the solar lamps produce light for the women to work at
any time of day or night, increasing their capacity for income generation.

We have set up a replicable and scalable model to support weaving communities who have lived
under the shadow of armed conflict. These women have amazing skills and make amazing fabric,
they are just missing a market linkage to the outside world. This is exacerbated by their physical
geographical isolation as well as the fact that no one wants to work with conflict-affected
communities. We think our achievements are pretty fantastic, and are actively seeking funding to
scale and grow our impact.


SOURCES OF FUNDING









Major Funders:
Crowdfunding: $9,000 AUD
Prize money from PayPal Australia People Rule Competition: $9,000 AUD
Personal loan from family supporter: $5,000

Minor Funders:
Monthly donations: $600
International Womens Day Drive: $400


PRODUCTION AND SALES SUMMARY.








Note: all dollar amounts are in Australian Dollars AUD and are approximations.

Customers:
61% Australia based
49% International

Suppliers and Producers:
85% Assam based
15% Pan-India based
(100% India based, 85% conflict affected, 100% women).

Fabric production costs:
Eri price per metre: $8-$13 (depending on season)
Khadi price per metre: $6.5
Er-khadi mix per metre: $11

Production cost including garment assembly:

Jody shirt: $25
Roy shirt: $22
Rees shirt: $47

Average postage cost per item:
Australia: $20
International: $35

After 200% Sales mark-up:
Sales price Jody: $90
Sales price Roy: $80
Sales price Rees: $145

Sales:
Christmas card sales: $1100
Online clothing sales: $4349
Market sales: $655
Total revenue (including monthly donations): $6,704
Total expenditure (pilot project budget): $18,900


LOOKING AHEAD

While entering the market as a new player is difficult, we have achieved steady growth and
expansion in response to demand. TFS has good growth potential, which has been proven
by the developed brand presence in the Australian market.

With increased production stability, we are now able to create inventory and attend more
pop-up markets and special events bricks and mortar opportunities. These increase
community engagement as well as providing a sales opportunity. This is where we will
focus our energy in the second half of 2015.

We will continue to build our communications presence through an ongoing content plan.
The Fabric Social journal receives very good traffic, and we will continue to share our
experiences across media platforms.

The Fabric Social has recruited a dedicated group of supporters through its feminist support
network, as well as through the crowdfunding process, social media and blogging. By
engaging with a community of consumers that already practice ethical consumerism, TFS
seeks to convert supporters of the idea into purchasers of its products. Conversion
optimization and sales development is an ongoing challenge, which is why TFS sets small
achievable goals during this crucial development stage.

We look forward to the coming year, where we will have the opportunity to yield the benefits of our
high set-up costs and the extensive consultation, monitoring and evaluation processes we have put in
place. We have come to understand where money is best spent, and have finished one complete

production and sales cycle. We have learned a lot, and look forward to building our small business
into financial independence, and achieving our social mission: to support women weavers and
thereby lift the burden of poverty from conflict-affected communities.

Thank you to all our volunteers, funders and supporters around the world. We could not have done it
without you.


The Fab Sosh Team.