CONSUMER POWERED CONSERVATION
Wildlifeworks radical new approach to both wildlife
conservation and the fashion industry is a true inspiration.

Mike Korchinsky went to Africa on holiday. In Kenya he found so much poaching and general landscape destruction that he decided to do something about it. He bought a critical area (between Tsavo East and Tsavo West) where poaching was rife and he outlined a simple plan: the best way to protect endangered animals is to create a sustainable economic base for wildlife survival. If locals can earn enough to feed their families and send their children to school and understand the importance of critical wildlife around them ...they won’t kill animals and will persuade others to do likewise. So we - Wildlifeworks - gave them fair trade jobs, making organic tee shirts and Mike started selling in San Francisco.

In our first location in Rukinga, Kenya, Mike created an 80,000-acre wildlife Sanctuary, where elephants, cheetahs and 45 other large mammal species now roam freely. In addition, we built and operate our Eco-factory next to the sanctuary, where we employ members of the local community to create many of our products. Our promise to every customer is that we use the proceeds of our product sales to save endangered and threatened wildlife around the globe.

Some global targets for the new business have been set, for every £5 million sales - one new eco-factory/sanctuary combination (where possible). 1 million acres under wildlifeworks conservation control represents to us a reasonable achievement and would make some real planetary difference on wildlife and their habitats.

Wildlifeworks' mission is to harness the power of the global consumer to create innovative and sustainable solutions for wildlife conservation. We call our radical new approach "Consumer Powered Conservation".

And our products are as good for the planet as they are for your soul, made from organic cotton, and other environmentally friendly fabrics. Our clothes are fashion led and we hope that you like them for their intrinsic design and quality…not just the message alone. By purchasing a wildlifeworks product, you're wearing the brand that says you won't sit quietly by while the last wild things in the last wild places disappear forever.

Wildlifeworks originated in San Francisco and has now launched in the UK as wildlifeworks UK in February 2007 with a catwalk show at London Fashion Week. It is substantially unique in style but shares the same values, vision and production methods as its US counterpart. Not only has the Head of design, Barry Grainger, creatively placed the Wildlife Works message into every piece, every garment is uniquely inspired by various plants and imagery that are indigenous to Africa. Currently each organic garment is handcrafted onsite at the eco-sanctuary in Rukinga between Tsavo East & West Game parks on the Kenyan/Tanzanian border.

With a definite focus on fashion and a distinct mission to provide style alongside substance, wildlifeworks UK is committed to saving the world’s wildlife and producing high quality, organic and fair trade compatible apparel on its own 80,000 acre eco-sanctuary in Kenya.

To view Wildlifeworks A/W 07 Collection >>