PUMA, one of the most socially-conscious brands in the apparel industry,  is kicking off the second season of its charitable Project Pink, aimed at fighting breast cancer in the USA. During the previous year of the program, which was started last summer, the brand raised over $60,000 donation to the Breast Cancer Research and Education Fund at Magee-Womens Foundation. Now, through a series of sport-related events, new line of sport gear and activity to raise more money for a new organization battling breast cancer (to be named here), the brand continues its program with the help of Project Pink spokeswomen, female soccer athletes (Amy Rodriguez, Leslie Osborne and Tasha Kai among others) and PUMA Women’s Soccer Ambassador Julie Foudy, who teamed up with PUMA in late June.

A new investigative report from Greenpeace, called ‘Dirty Laundry’ features the problem of toxic water pollution resulting from the release of hazardous chemicals by the textile industry in China. Greenpeace accused the Chinese conglomerate supplying Nike, Adidas, Lacoste and other leading brands in discharging hormone-disrupting chemicals and other toxins into the country’s major water systems. Questions about corporate responsibility for the firms they do business with were raised up. 

On June 23, Nike re-opened its major 1948 store in Shoreditch. In the summer of 2008, Nike launched 1948 in an abandoned East London railway arch. Part retail space, part creative playground, 1948 ‘was about the constantly shifting space between art and athleticism,’ as explained in on the store’s web site. The space has undergone an extensive re-design in preparation for the Olympic and Paralympic Games in 2012.