dna merch - made with dignity, worn with attitude

"dna merch - made with dignity, worn with attitude" is the second annual band tee crowdfunding campaign of dna merch, a young social enterprise from Berlin.

• The band tees can be ordered exclusively online at startnext from 2nd of December until 8th of January!
• You decide the amount of the limited editions because only exactly as many t-shirts that are ordered during the campaign will be produced!
• Cutting and sewing of the t-shirts is done by the self-organised social worker cooperative Humana Nova. Every shirt will be shipped to you with a handnumbered greeting card from the workers!
• Humana Nova are located in Northwestern Croatia and are part of an autonomous community centre, which has originated out of the local punk scene!
• Humana Nova uses fabrics made from 100 percent Indian organic cotton. These fabrics are bought by dna merch from their Indian partner Fair & Organic and are shipped to Croatia to the worker cooperative.
• The prints are done by Humana Nova’s longstanding partner Printex. Printex applies water based eco-colours from the brands Bezema and Virus.

Most importantly:

• Parts of the campaign incomes go to the global grassroots worker network ExChains and are used to support garment workers in South Asia in their collective struggles for better working and living conditions. That deserves our and your solidarity! Why?
• Only through a strong organisation of the workers themselves can the poor working conditions in the global garment industry be improved!

You’ll find detailed information on how the campaign incomes are used further down under „How will we use the money if the project is successfully funded?“

Our vision is a world in which good and human working and living conditions are a matter of course!

Our campaign goals are ...

• Spread as many as possible band tees among all those beautiful people out there!
• Create as much as possible awareness for the following questions: What are good working conditions in the current economic system? And how do they emerge?
• Inspire as many people as possible to get in touch with other people, to organise together, and to not accept the state of things as something that cannot be changed for the better! Be it at work, in one’s town or in the world!

Who are the people that should support our campaign?

All people, ...

• who actively want to support an alternative economic structure that puts people before profit!
• who want to ‚walk their talk‘!
• who want to be part of an international solidarity project that has proven to create real social impact!*
• who are not just in it for the music and who want to support their favourite band in their commitment!
• who love to have strictly limited t-shirts that additionally also match with their stance and attitude!

*Over the last years garment workers organised in the ExChains network pushed through higher minimum wages, made governments withdrew plans to cut unemployment and pension funds and created strong international links to support each other across borders. See http://tinyurl.com/z22r44z, http://tinyurl.com/j9y4ppo and http://tinyurl.com/jblq7wn.

How excactly is the price per t-shirt calculated and how does the split of profit look like?

Split of profit

• 25% Band: 2,29 €
• 25% dna merch: 2,29 €
• 25% Humana Nova: 2,29 €
• 25% ExChains: 2,29 €

All numbers brutto incl. 19 % VAT

*The production and marketingh costs include e.g. costs for material, transport, sewing, design, prints, shipping, taxes, insurances, admin, promotion and distribution.

**The fees for the crowdfunding platform include all transaction costs and a voluntary commission from dna merch to startnext.

***dna merch will use the money to keep the project alive and to stock up on fabric.

****Humana Nova will use the money to invest in new sewing machines.

*****ExChains will use the money to finance local worker organizers in and around Bangalore, the capital of the Indian state of Karnataka. Around 500,000 people work there in the exportoriented garment industry.

Funding threshold (15,000 Euro)
If we reach together with you the funding threshold of 15,000 Euro it means that the project will be realised in a minimal version. All t-shirts will be produced and shipped.

Funding goal (30,000 Euro)
If you support us to the extent that of every shirt an average of 50 to 100 pieces are ordered, we’ll reach our actual goal and crack the 30,000 Euro mark! This will enable us to further move on with the building of a strong community of bands, artists, supporters and organisations, who take a stand against the poor working conditions in the global garment industry!